Countries of the World/COUNTRYS.BIN/dp/0163/01639.txt

Text File | 1991-06-25 | 24KB | 434 lines

$Unique_ID{COW01639}
$Pretitle{422}
$Title{Iceland
Iceland Country and People}
$Subtitle{}
$Author{Sigurd A. Manusson}
$Affiliation{Iceland Review}
$Subject{iceland
km
sq
species
common
miles
country
north
south
eruption}
$Date{1978}
$Log{}
Country:     Iceland
Book:        Iceland Country and People
Author:      Sigurd A. Manusson
Affiliation: Iceland Review
Date:        1978

Iceland Country and People

The Country

Geography

     Iceland, the second largest island in Europe, lies close to the Arctic
Circle, between latitude 63 degrees 24-and 66 degrees 33-N and between
longitude 13 degrees 30-and 24 degrees 32-W. It is about midway between New
York and Moscow as the crow flies. It has a total area of 39,756 square miles
(103,000 sq. km.).

     From north to south the greatest distance is about 190 miles (300 km.),
from west to east about 300 miles (500 km.). The coastline, including fiords
and inlets, is about 3,700 miles (6,600 km.) long.

     There are numerous islands around the coasts, some of them inhabited,
largest of which are the Westman Islands to the south (pop. almost 5,000),
Hrisey to the north (pop. about 300), and Grimsey on the Arctic Circle (pop.
about 70). The shortest distance from Iceland to Greenland is 180 miles (287
km.), to the Faroe Islands 265 miles (425 km.), to Scotland 499 miles (798
km.), and to Norway 606 miles (970 km.).

     Geologically Iceland is still a young country, and the process of its
formation is still going on. Iceland is in large part a table-land broken up
by tectonic forces. Its interior consists entirely of mountains and high
plateaus, devoid of human habitation. Its average height is 500 m. above
sea-level, the highest point being Hvannadalshnukur in the Oraefajokull
glacier in Southeast Iceland, reaching a height of 6,950 feet (2,119 m.). The
biggest lowland region is the coastal plain of South Iceland.

     The country is, with the exception of its southern coast, richly indented
with bays and fiords, from most of which great and small valleys run deep into
the highlands. A striking feature in the landscape are the numerous gaping
fissures running in a N-S direction in the north and in the NE-SW direction in
the south. On the whole the country is rugged, abrupt and jagged, and the
variety of its scenery immense.

Volcanoes

     Iceland is one of the most active volcanic countries in the world. There
are about 200 post-glacial volcanoes, at least 30 of which have erupted since
the country was settled in the 9th century A.D., while the number of recorded
eruptions is about 150. On the average an eruption takes place every fifth
year. Nearly every type of volcanic activity found in the world is represented
in Iceland, the most common being fissure eruptions. One of these, the nearly
20 miles long crater-row Lakagigar, with about 100 separate craters, poured
out in 1783 the biggest lava flow known to have been produced by any volcano
in the world since the beginning of history, covering 218 square miles. The
gases and ashes from this eruption poisoned the grasslands, causing great
havoc to farming and resulting in one of the greatest famines in Iceland,
followed by thousands of deaths.

     Shield volcanoes of the Hawaiian type, like Skjaldbreidur near
Thingvellir, are also numerous, but the only one active in historical times is
the new Surtsey volcano. Almost all the cone volcanoes of the Fuji type are
icecovered, the largest of them being Oraefajokull (6,950 ft.),
Eyjafjallajokull (5,464 ft.), and Snaefellsjokull (4,730 ft.). Explosion
craters are also quite common.

     The most famous Icelandic volcano is Hekla, which was renowned throughout
the Catholic world in the Middle Ages as the abode of the damned. Since its
first recorded eruption in 1104, which destroyed vast areas, including the
Thjorsardalur settlement, Hekla proper has erupted 15 times, causing great
damage in the surrounding countryside. At the beginning of its eruption in
March 1947, the eruption column rose to 100,000 feet and the lava covered 25
square miles. The eruption lasted 13 months. In May 1970 a large number of
small craters in Hekla erupted, the lava flow lasting for some two months.

     The volcano Katla, hidden beneath the ice of the Myrdalsjokull, has
erupted at least 13 times since the settlement of Iceland, last in 1918. The
eruptions of subglacial volcanoes cause enormous floods which for instance in
the case of Katla may exceed the Amazon river in volume of water. Askja in the
northeastern highlands last erupted in 1961, but its eruption in 1875 was the
last to cause great damage in the country.

     The most dramatic recent volcanic eruption started the night of 23th
January 1973 in the only inhabited island of the Westman group, Heimaey. The
entire population of some 5,300 was moved to the mainland in a matter of hours
without any accident, a staggering operation. The eruption lasted until May
and half the town was submerged in lava while the rest was covered with thick
layers of ashes. The harbour and the most important fish-processing plants
were saved by the bold recourse of Icelandic scientists to cooling the
on-moving lava flow with sea water and eventually stopping it. The island was
considerably enlarged and the harbour vastly improved. Rescue and restoration
work went on all the time, and gradually most of the inhabitants returned to
their much altered domicile.

     Post-glacial lava covers about 10 per cent of the total area of the
country. The largest unbroken lavafield is Odadahraun, about 1,800 square
miles.

     Submarine eruptions are frequent off the coasts of Iceland, especially on
the ridge southwest of Reykjanes. The last submarine eruption, near the
Westman Islands, started visibly on 14 November 1963, building up three
islands; one of them endured and was named Surtsey, with an area of nearly 1.5
square miles. The eruption continued for more than two years, attracting
scientists and tourists from all over the world.

     Earthquakes are frequent in Iceland, but rarely harmful. The most
disastrous ones occurred in the southern lowlands in 1784 and 1896, leaving
many farms in ruin. The village of Dalvik in Eyjafjordur in the north was
partly destroyed by an earthquake in 1934. Following a minor volcanic eruption
near Krafla in the northeast, where the first major power station utilizing
natural heat was under construction, which started in December 1975 and
continued for a number of months, there were severe earthquakes for some
weeks, damaging part of the fishing village Kopasker in the northeast in
January 1976.

Geysers and Geothermal Heat

     Iceland is richer in hot springs and solfataras (high-temperature
activity) than any other country in the world. High-temperature activity is
limited to the new volcanic median zone where there are 14 solfatara fields.
They are characterized by steam holes, mud pools, and precipitation of
sulphur.

     The main high-temperature areas are Torfajokull east of Hekla and
Grimsvotn in the Vatnajokull glacier. Next in order of size are Hengill
near Reykjavik, Kerlingarfjoll, Namafjall, Kverkfjoll and Krysuvik south
of Reykjavik. The total power-output of the Torfajokull area, which is the
largest, is estimated to be equivalent to 1,500 megawatts. Some of the
high-temperature areas have workable sulphur deposits.

     Low-temperature areas with hot springs are found all over Iceland, but
they are rare in the eastern basalt area. There are about 250 geothermal areas
of this type with a total of about 800 hot springs. The average temperature of
the water is 75 Centigrade (167 Fahrenheit.).

     The biggest hot spring in Iceland, Deildartunguhver, has a flow of 150
litres (40 gallons) of boiling water per second. Some of the hot springs are
spouting springs or geysers, the most famous of which is the Great Geysir in
Haukadalur in South Iceland, from which the international word geyser is
derived. It would eject a water column to a height of about 180 feet (but has
been "laz