Silfra (Icelandic pronunciation: [ˈsɪl(v)ra]) is a rift formed
in the divergent tectonic boundary between the North American and Eurasian plates
and is located in the Þingvallavatn Lake in the Þingvellir National Park in Iceland.
What formed Iceland?
Iceland formed by the coincidence of
the spreading boundary of the North American and Eurasian plates and a hotspot or mantle plume
– an upsurge of abnormally hot rock in the Earth ́s mantle. As the plates moved apart, excessive eruptions of lava constructed volcanoes and filled rift valleys.
What is unique about the Silfra fissure in Iceland?
Silfra is a fissure between the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates in Thingvellir National Park that was formed in 1789. It's the
only place in the world where you can dive or snorkel between two tectonic plates
, which drift apart at a rate of about 2 cm a year.
What type of plate boundary formed Iceland?
The tectonic plates whose turbulent interactions formed Iceland, are the Eurasian tectonic plate and the North American tectonic plate. Spanning the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, Iceland emerged as a result of
the divergent, spreading, boundary
between these two plates and the activity of Iceland ́s own hotspot or mantle plume.
What is the crack in Iceland a part of?
The Silfra crack in Iceland is
a rift between the American and Eurasian tectonic plates
. In some parts of this freshwater rift, a diver can touch both continents at once! Divers love Silfra because the water is so clear that you can see more than 100 yards ahead of you.
What lives in the Silfra fissure?
Throughout the rest of the year, the only fish who live in the Silfra fissure are
the Dwarf Char
, a subspecies of the Arctic Char. These range in size from a few centimetres, to approximately 10cm maximum, and live down in the darker recesses near the rocks and as such are not often spotted by divers or snorkelers.
How wide is the Silfra fissure?
Silfra consists of a large tectonic fissure. It ranges from
up to 60 feet/20 meters wide
to spots narrow enough that divers can put one hand on the North American continent and the other hand on the Eurasian continent simultaneously.
How was Iceland born?
Iceland is a relatively young island in the geological sense, being formed
about 20 million years ago by a series of volcanic eruptions in the Mid-Atlantic Ridge
, but it is still growing from fresh volcanic eruptions. The oldest stone specimens found in Iceland date back to ca. 16 million years ago.
Is Iceland expanding?
The island owes its existence to a large volcanic fissure in the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, where the Eurasian and American tectonic plates meet. Even today,
the country is growing by about 5 cm per year
, as it splits wider at the points where two tectonic plates meet. … Iceland is the least populated country in Europe.
Is Iceland made of lava?
Iceland's entire surface is made of volcanic rock
, most of it basalt — the rock that forms when lava cools. Iceland's towering cliffs and jagged islands and reefs are all made of basalt.
Why is Iceland geologically unique?
Brief geological setting of Iceland
The reason that Iceland is so unique is
because it is centered on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge
, which is an active spreading rift of two large continental plates; the North American Plate and the Eurasian Plate.
Is Iceland made of granite?
Yes, that's what it appears to be – here on the flanks of the Mid-Atlantic rift, partial melting of the mantle yields basalt and partial melting of the basalt has apparently generated a granite. …
A granite in Iceland
!
Why is Iceland so unique?
Iceland is known the world over as the land of ice and fire. As well as containing a multitude of glaciers and snow-peaked mountains, volcanoes are also dotted around the island. … What makes this volcano unique is
the fact that you can actually go inside the magma chamber!
What two continents can you touch in Iceland?
Iceland's Silfra fissure is one of the only places where you can dive between two continents. In some cases the space is so narrow, you can touch
North America and Europe
at once.
Was Iceland once underwater?
Iceland may be the last exposed remnant of a nearly Texas-size continent — called Icelandia — that
sank beneath the North Atlantic Ocean about 10 million years ago
, according to a new theory proposed by an international team of geophysicists and geologists.
Is there a black beach in Iceland?
Iceland boasts a number of black beaches awash with silky dark sand including
Diamond Beach on the eastern coast
near to Iceland's highest mountain peak Hvannadalshnúkur, and Djúpalónssandur Beach on the west coast near Snæfellsjökull National Park.
