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Events in the year 2023 in Iceland .
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Events in the year 2023 in Iceland .
Iceland is an island country at the confluence of the North Atlantic and Arctic oceans, east of Greenland and immediately south of the Arctic Circle, atop the constructive boundary of the northern Mid-Atlantic Ridge. The island country is the world's 18th largest in area and one of the most sparsely populated. It is the westernmost European country when not including Greenland and has more land covered by glaciers than continental Europe. Its total size is 103,125 km2 (39,817 sq mi) and possesses an exclusive economic zone of 751,345 km2 (290,096 sq mi).
Iceland experiences frequent volcanic activity, due to its location both on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, a divergent tectonic plate boundary, and over a hot spot. Nearly thirty volcanoes are known to have erupted in the Holocene epoch; these include Eldgjá, source of the largest lava eruption in human history.
Hengill is a volcanic table mountain situated in the south-west of Iceland, to the south of Þingvellir.
Grindavík is a fishing town on the Southern Peninsula of Iceland, not far from Þorbjörn, a tuya.
Eldey is a small, uninhabited island about 13 kilometres off the coast of the Reykjanes Peninsula in southwest Iceland. Located west-southwest of Reykjavík, the island of Eldey covers an area of about 3 hectares, and rises to a height of 77 metres (253 ft). Its sheer cliffs are home to large numbers of birds, including one of the largest northern gannet colonies in the world, with around 16,000 pairs. This colony can now be watched live via two webcams that are located on top of the island.
Southern Peninsula is an administrative unit and part of Reykjanesskagi, or Reykjanes Peninsula, a region in southwest Iceland. It was named after Reykjanes, the southwestern tip of Reykjanesskagi.
The geology of Iceland is unique and of particular interest to geologists. Iceland lies on the divergent boundary between the Eurasian plate and the North American plate. It also lies above a hotspot, the Iceland plume. The plume is believed to have caused the formation of Iceland itself, the island first appearing over the ocean surface about 16 to 18 million years ago. The result is an island characterized by repeated volcanism and geothermal phenomena such as geysers.
Brennisteinsfjöll is a minor volcanic system, with crater rows and small shield volcanoes on the Reykjanes Peninsula in southwest Iceland.
Reykjanes is a small headland on the south-western end of the Reykjanes Peninsula in Iceland, giving the main peninsula its name. Volcanic action is responsible for forming the entire peninsula. The nearest town is Keflavik.
The geological deformation of Iceland is the way that the rocks of the island of Iceland are changing due to tectonic forces. The geological deformation help to explain the location of earthquakes, volcanoes, fissures, and the shape of the island. Iceland is the largest landmass situated on an oceanic ridge. It is an elevated plateau of the sea floor, situated at the crossing of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and the Greenland-Iceland-Scotland ridge. It lies along the oceanic divergent plate boundary of North American Plate and Eurasian Plate. The western part of Iceland sits on the North American Plate and the eastern part sits on the Eurasian Plate. The Reykjanes Ridge of the Mid-Atlantic ridge system in this region crosses the island from southwest and connects to the Kolbeinsey Ridge in the northeast.
The volcanic system of Krýsuvík, also Krýsuvík-Trölladyngja volcanic system, is situated in the southwest of Iceland on the Reykjanes peninsula. It is located in the middle of Reykjanes and on the divergent plate boundary of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge which traverses Iceland. It was named after the Krýsuvík area which is part of it and consists of a fissure system without a central volcano. However, there are some indications—namely, the discovery by geophysical methods of what scientists interpret as a buried caldera, combined with the well-known, vigorous hydrothermal system above it—that an embryonic central magma chamber may already exist or be actively developing.
Þorbjörn is a 243 m high volcanic mountain next to the town of Grindavík (Gullbringusýsla) on Reykjanes peninsula, Iceland. Blue Lagoon can be easily seen from the summit.
The Reykjanes Peninsula in southwest Iceland is the continuation of the mostly submarine Reykjanes Ridge, a part of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, on land and reaching from Esja in the north and Hengill in the east to Reykjanestá in the west. Suðurnes is an administrative unit covering part of Reykjanes Peninsula.
Keilir is a Pleistocene subglacial mound or perhaps a conical tuya on Reykjanes Peninsula in Iceland. Basal area is 0.773 km2, summit area 0.004 km2, basal width 0.99 km, summit width 0.07 km, volume 0.0362 km3.
Fagradalsfjall is an active tuya volcano formed in the Last Glacial Period on the Reykjanes Peninsula, around 40 kilometres (25 mi) from Reykjavík, Iceland. Fagradalsfjall is also the name for the wider volcanic system covering an area 5 kilometres (3 mi) wide and 16 kilometres (10 mi) long between the Eldvörp–Svartsengi and Krýsuvík systems. The highest summit in this area is Langhóll. No volcanic eruption had occurred for 815 years on the Reykjanes Peninsula until 19 March 2021 when a fissure vent appeared in Geldingadalir to the south of Fagradalsfjall mountain. The 2021 eruption was effusive and continued emitting fresh lava sporadically until 18 September 2021.
The 2023–2024 Sundhnúkur eruptions are an ongoing series of volcanic eruptions in the Reykjanes peninsula, near the town of Grindavík, Iceland. The first eruption started on the evening of 18 December 2023, at the Sundhnúkur crater chain north of Grindavík, with lava spewing from fissures in the ground. The intensity of the eruption and accompanying seismic activity decreased early on 19 December 2023, with lava seen spreading laterally from both sides of the newly opened fissures. The eruption was described as the largest in the Reykjanes Peninsula since the beginning of eruptive activity in 2021, with lava fountains, up to 100 metres (330 ft) high, and was visible as far away as the capital Reykjavík, 42 kilometres (26 mi) away. The eruption ended on 21 December 2023, after the Icelandic Meteorological Office said no lava was erupting after a flight over the volcano, but clarified that it was "too early to declare the eruption over." Sundhnúkur is a crater row and currently active volcanic fissure that is part of the Reykjanes Peninsula rift zone.
Eldvörp–Svartsengi ; "fire cones–black meadow" in Icelandic also Svartsengi volcanic system) is a volcanic system in the southwest of Iceland on the Southern Peninsula, southeast of Keflavík International Airport and north of the town of Grindavík. Made up of fissures, cones and volcanic craters, it had been relatively inactive for several centuries until 2020, 2022 and 2023 when seismic activity occurred in connection with nearby Fagradalsfjall eruptions. Then the system itself erupted in December 2023 and January 2024.
Sundhnúkur is a crater row and volcanic fissure in Iceland, part of the Reykjanes Peninsula rift zone. It is the location of the 2023–2024 Sundhnúkur eruptions.