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Is it normal for there to be such a long (4km!) fissure with lava erupting? I always was under the impression a pit formed and then filled with lava which would
by voisin 3y ago
Is it normal for there to be such a long (4km!) fissure with lava erupting? I always was under the impression a pit formed and then filled with lava which would then overflow out the sides, rather than a long rip in the earth like this.
- bradrn 3y agoYes, this is pretty normal for a basaltic volcano such as this one [0]. This is also what happened on Mauna Loa recently [1]. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fissure_vent https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fissure_vent [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2022_eruption_of_Mauna_Loa https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2022_eruption_of_Mauna_Loa
- mr_toad 3y agoIceland sits on top of the Mid Atlantic Ridge where the continental plates are being pushed apart. More common volcanoes are associated with subduction zones where plates collide.
- xg15 3y agoGood observation. I think this would be highly uncommon anywhere else in the world (at this length) but it's normal for Iceland. The reason is that Iceland's vulcanism is driven by a hot spot that sits right on top of the middle oceanic ridge (where tectonic plates emerge from the mantle, as opposed to coastal subduction zones where they travel back into the mantle). The ridge is normally on the seafloor and this is one of the very few places where it runs on land. This makes Iceland's volcanism so special and specifically interesting for science. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iceland_hotspot https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iceland_hotspot