A short primer on Iceland's volcanoes

With the most recent eruption of Bárðarbunga (pronounced: bartha boonga) and 2010’s infamous eruption of Eyjafjallajökull, there’s now quite a bit of interest in Iceland’s volcanoes. So, we thought we’d expand on the subject a bit and provide a little more information about Iceland’s many volcanoes and the country’s volcanology.

Iceland may not spring to mind when you think of places with lots of volcanoes. This is simply because Iceland is still a relatively unknown country.  But, Iceland is a very active hot spot because the country itself straddles two tectonic plates, the North American plate and the Eurasion plate on what’s call the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. These two plates are pulling away from each other, in what scientists call a divergent boundary. If you travel to Iceland, you can literally see places where the land is splitting apart - the best known is at Thingvellir National Park just outside of Reykjavik.

Because of this divergent boundary, the Earth’s crust (lithosphere) becomes thinner which brings hot magma closer to the surface. You’ll see evidence of this all around Iceland: hot springs, bubbling mud pools, geysers, steam rising from the ground (this is how Reykjavik got its name by the way. Reykjavik means “smoky bay”) and, of course, volcanoes.

And, boy, does Iceland have its share of volcanoes. In fact Iceland has approximately 130 volcanic mountains (many are dormant), and 18 of them have erupted since the first settlers came to Iceland in around 874 A.D. These volcanoes are parts of volcanic systems, of which Iceland has 30 active ones.  Historically, the most dangerous volcanoes in Iceland are Grimsvotn, Laki (actually a series of craters) and Katla. Going further back, there was the so-called Skaftaeldar (part of Laki) eruption in 1783-1784 which was the most fatal volcanic event, killing approximately 50% of Iceland’s livestock population which led to starvation and the death of 25% of Iceland’s human population!  This eruption also caused crop failures in Europe, and may have caused droughts in India.  Add it all up and the Skaftaeldar eruption is estimated to have killed 6 million people. That would make it the deadliest in world history, and a very sad event indeed.

And, you can best believe that Icelanders take the science of volcanology seriously.  Here, we have advanced monitoring systems on all the active volcanoes and systems. They have an advanced warning systems and have studied, thoroughly, the places that would be hard hit in the case of a significant eruption.  Also, you’ll notice if you travel to Iceland, that much of the country is uninhabited. In many cases this is by choice; the reason being safety.

On a much more positive note, Iceland in modern times has learned to harness this tremendous thermal energy and put it to good use.  Clean and renewable geothermal power plants produce about 25% of Iceland’s power needs and almost 100% of its heating needs.  People enjoy numerous geothermally-heated swimming parks, as well as abundant and inexpensive hot water.  

So there you have it, a little bit about Iceland’s volcanoes which have literally shaped this island-nation and are woven into the very fabric of Icelandic culture. From Berjaya Hotels, offering 9 hotel locations including two Reykjavik Hotel locations: Berjaya Reykjavik Marina Hotel and Reykjavik Natura. Visit www.icelandairhotels.com to learn more.

Learn more about Iceland’s most recent eruption.