Geology of Iceland

_{Courtesy Nordic Volcanological Institute}

Iceland sits squarely on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, where the Eurasian and North American crustal plates are born in volcanic fire. You can easily see how the youngest rocks appear in the middle, and as the plates move apart the oldest rocks end up at the eastern and western ends of the island. This is a unique place where the processes normally hidden in the deep sea are visible on land.

In addition to volcanoes and geysers, Iceland has glaciers and ice caps, shown in white. The combination of volcanism under ice creates odd landforms like tuyas and unusual phenomena like jökulhlaups. The hardy inhabitants endure the bitter winters with the help of abundant hot springs and geothermal energy.