Iceland is often called the land of fire and ice because of its large glaciers and numerous volcanoes. Volcanic activity is a fact of life because, on average, one of Iceland’s 32 active volcanoes erupts every 3 years. Most eruptions do not cause much damage because in Iceland most people live outside the volcanically active zone. Many are not widely reported but one well-known eruption occurred in 2010, when the Eyjafjallajökull volcano erupted. The huge ash cloud drifted thousands of miles, leading to flight cancellations and travel chaos around the world.
Figure 1, above, shows that Iceland straddles the boundary between the North American and Eurasian plates. This is a constructive (or divergent) plate margin where magma from the mantle rises to make (or construct) new land. As plates move apart (diverge) seismic movements occur causing earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. Eruptions which occur at constructive plate margins tend to be less violent than those occurring at destructive (convergent) plate margins, where plates move towards each other.
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