Hello apparel amigos!
I am currently in
beautiful Iceland where there are glaciers and volcanoes galore! I was
backpacking through the countryside when I saw firsthand the effects of a
divergent plate boundary. I was minding my own business and tending to my
travelling herd when I noticed the remnants of ash all around me. I was near
the Grímsvötn volcano (64°33'23.48"N
17°41'52.17"W) when I observed
this, leading me to believe it was left over from a 21st of May 2011
eruption of ash that spread all the way to England. This ash was a result of
the magma reacting with ice and water to create ash particles. This is the most
active volcano in Iceland and last erupted lava in 2004, along with being responsible
for the largest known lava flow in 1783.
Iceland is an exceptional
volcanic island. It lies on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, the chain of underwater
volcanoes that runs through the North Atlantic Ocean, along which the Eurasian
and North American plates are moving apart at about 2.5 cm per year. These
are Divergent plates which means as the plates moved apart, excessive eruptions
of lava constructed volcanoes and filled rift valleys that formed the island of
Iceland. As the diagram below shows, this creation of space in the earth’s
crust allows magma to more easily seep through and create volcanoes or for deep
rifts to be created from separating land.
This next picture shows
how most of these active volcanoes lie along this boundary:
A real life rift valley:
Now here’s what you
came here for! These are some of my treasures from my trip to the land of fire
and ice! Off to the next place!
XOXO Babar Dagmar
Auttenberg XIII
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