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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.
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.
Eldvörp–Svartsengi (Icelandic pronunciation: [ˈɛltˌvœr̥p–ˈsvar̥(t)sˌeiɲcɪ]); "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 ...
Iceland's location astride the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, where the Eurasian and North American Plates are moving apart, is partly responsible for this intense volcanic activity, but an additional cause is necessary to explain why Iceland is a substantial island while the rest of the ridge mostly consists of seamounts, with peaks below sea level.
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 Reykjanes volcanic belt (previously also known as the Reykjanes Peninsula ridge, [12] or Reykjanes Peninsula volcanic zone [13]: 17511 ), one of the present day volcanic zones of Iceland, is connected to the submarine Reykjanes Ridge and consists (depending on author) of 3 to 6 or even 7 volcanic systems, arranged en echelon, i.e. more or ...
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 ]
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 .