The White Falcon - 12.06.1987, Page 9

In
and S
about
Iceland
Compiled from Iceland 1986: Country and
Population
Yolcanoes in Iceland have historically been
confined to the axial rift zone that runs through the
country to three off-ridge areas. An axial rift is a
rift in the Earth's crust situated directly on the
Earth's axis. The axial zone stretches from the
Reykjanes Peninsula, where both Keflavik and
Reykjavik are located, northeast towards the
Langjokull area. There it is displaced by fault
movement about 100 kilometers to the east; its
northern part runs from Vatnajokull to the north
coast. The off-ridge areas, the Snaefellsnes-
Myrar area in the west, Oraefajokull in the south-
east and the South Iceland volcanic belt, are a geo-
graphically direct continuation of the North Iceland
axial zone. The South Iceland belt has been the
most productive volcanic area in the country in
Iceland's historic times.
Characteristic of Icelandic volcanoes is the mass
production of lava (magma that escapes during a
volcanic eruption), and a great variety of volcanic
phenomena, more than is usually present in the
type of mid-ocean rift system upon which Iceland is
situated. The volcano Krafla, in northern Iceland,
has erupted nine times since 1975, and has shown
that some of the central volcanoes are part of a
fissure swarm tens of kilometers long, from wh'
magma rising from beneath the volcano can escape.
A new term, "volcanic system," has been intro-
duced to describe the two types of volcano found In
Iceland. It is possible that they represent stages
in the evolution of the island.
The fissure swarm is probably the least evolved
of the two types found here, because it doesn't have
a centralized volcano and is probably fed by magma
rising almost directly from beneath the fissure.
The second type, a central volcano, is developed
In the fissure system. Under the central volcano
lies a magma reservoir from which magma escapes
upward and laterally into the fissure swarm. This
coincides with rifting and widening of the swarm, as
has become normal during recent activity in the
Krafla volcanic system. The Askja system Is also
of this kind. In historical times, probably 18
different volcanic systems have been active out of a
total of approximately 25 in Iceland.
The largest volcanos in Iceland are the central
volcanoes, Many or them are cone volcanoes like
Snaefellsjokull, which is visible from Reykjavik,
Eyjavjallajokull in the south and Oraefajokull,
Iceland's highest mountain. In 1362, Oraefajokull
erupted and completely destroyed the rural settle-
ment at its foot. On Easter in 1875, Askja had an
explosive eruption that caused great damage in
eastern Iceland and spread ash to the Baltic Sea.
The most famous volcano in Iceland is Mount
Hekla. In the middle ages, Hekla was believed to be
the mouth of Hell. Hekla is, as volcanoes go, a
young central volcano. It sits on a fissured ridge
built up by repeated eruptions along a six to seven
kilometer long fissure. Its activity goes in cycles,
each one beginning with a highly explosive eruption
after a long dormant period. The last cycle began
in 1104 A.D. with an eruption that destroyed the
village of Thjorsardalur. Hekla's 15th eruption was
in 1980/ai.
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Snndag
8:30 a.m. Lutheran Communion
Service, chapel
(First and Third Sundays)
9:15 a.m. Protestant Sunday School
(Contact chapel at 4111 for
class location.)
9:30 a.m. Catholic Mass
11:00 a.m. CCD (Sept, thru May, High
school, Family Services)
Schedule of religious services
Fridag
11:00 a.m. Protestant Morning Worship
(Communion-First Sundays)
12:30 p.m. Catholic Mass
Lav Reader Services
9:30 a.m. The Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-Day Saints,
Elementary School
10:00 a.m. Church of Christ, Family
Service Center
12:00 p.m. Gospel Service, Elementary
School
2:00 p.m. Christian Science, chapel
3:00 p.m. Pentecostal Full Gospel
Fellowship, chapel
7:30 p.m. Jewish Sabbath, for
more information
contact chapel
WeBkdags
11:30 a.m. Catholic Mass (Mon.-
Thurs. chapel and
first Fri.)
Contact the chapel at 4111 or
4211 for other activities.
June 1Z, 1987
9