Earth, Wind And Fire

Linda Lou Burton posting from Perlan, Reykjavik, Iceland – I am rendered speechless. Bet you thought you’d never hear me say that. But when it comes to volcanoes, the forces of nature can overwhelm. A volcano is the attention-getter in the room, the loud, showy extrovert that demands to be noticed. And Iceland is, pure and simple, a hunk of volcanic aftermath. Which keeps on growing. And going. Remember the Great Rift Valley in Africa, where we’ve been hanging out the last few weeks? Tectonic Plates, continental movement? The same thing is going on in Iceland — it straddles the North American and Eurasian plates, and they are moving apart. And below that rift/underwater crack is a magma hotspot (the Iceland Plume) that results in Iceland being one of the most active volcanic regions in the world. They have a volcanic eruption about every three years – one happened near Keflavik airport in August but calmed down just before we got here. There are about 30 active volcanic systems on this small island today. I won’t get into the details of types or activity (as I’m speechless about the whole thing), but Perlan’s exhibits can set you thinking. Here are the pictures I took and “what’s happening” in their own words and descriptions.

Dynamic Beauty

Iceland’s volcanoes, earthquakes, and glaciers keep it geologically young, active, and spectacularly beautiful. Land is created and destroyed here faster than anywhere else in the world. Straddling divergent tectonic plates, Iceland stretches by about two centimeters per year. The sea erodes the shore at about the same rate. Mountains, islands, lakes and gorges come, go, and transform. It’s a land whose story always seems to be starting a new chapter.

Iceland Becomes an Island

Continents drift. The ocean widens. The land bridge can no longer survive. The mantle plume props up the western arm of the land bridge, but it ultimately crumbles and tumbles into the ocean. Only Iceland endures, an island at last, riding the very forces that destroyed the land around it. Furious volcanoes, earthquakes, and glaciers continuously renew and reshape isolated Iceland, replenishing rock and soil as quickly as they are worn away.

Now let me switch floors in this beautiful building full of Iceland’s wonders so I can show you the aurora borealis (beautiful sky!), the story of water, and the life that exists in this splendor.

Next Post: Sky, Water and Life

Perlan https://www.perlan.is/

Center Hotels Plaza, Reykjavik, Iceland https://www.centerhotels.com/en/hotel-plaza-reykjavik