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This list of volcanoes in Iceland only includes major active and dormant volcanic mountains, of which at least 18 vents have erupted since human settlement of Iceland began around 900 AD. Subsequent to the main list a list is presented that classifies the volcanoes into zones, systems and types.
Iceland experiences frequent volcanic activity, due to its location both on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, a divergent tectonic plate boundary, and being over a hotspot.Nearly thirty volcanoes are known to have erupted in the Holocene epoch; these include Eldgjá, source of the largest lava eruption in human history.
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 Svartsengi and Krýsuvík systems. [17] No volcanic eruption had occurred for 815 years on the Reykjanes Peninsula until 19 March 2021. Part of the Reykjanes volcanic zone (RVZ).
Eyjafjöll is the name of the southern side of the volcanic massif together with the small mountains which form the foot of the volcano. The word jökull [ˈjœːkʏtl̥] , meaning glacier or ice cap, is a cognate with the Middle English word ikil surviving in the -icle of English icicle .
Öræfajökull (Icelandic pronunciation: [ˈœːrˌaiːvaˌjœːkʏtl̥] ⓘ; 'Öræfi glacier' or 'wasteland glacier') is an ice-covered volcano in south-east Iceland. The largest active volcano and the highest peak in Iceland at 2,110 metres (6,920 ft), it lies within the Vatnajökull National Park and is covered by part of the glacier.
Grímsvötn is a basaltic volcano which has the highest eruption frequency of all the volcanoes in Iceland. It has a southwest-northeast-trending fissure system. The massive climate-impacting Laki fissure eruption of 1783–1784 took place in a part of the same Grímsvötn-Laki volcanic system. [ 3 ]
The Hofsjökull volcanic system (also Hofsjökull-Kerlingarfjöll volcanic system) contains the largest active central volcano in Iceland. [3] It is called Hofsjökull ( Icelandic : " temple glacier", Icelandic pronunciation: [ˈhɔfsˌjœːkʏtl̥] ⓘ ), after the icecap of the same name.
The volcano's frequent large and often initially explosive eruptions have covered much of Iceland with tephra, and these layers can be used to date eruptions of Iceland's other volcanoes. Approximately 10% of the tephra created in Iceland in the last thousand years has come from Hekla, amounting to 5 km 3 (1.2 cu mi).