Rit (Vísindafélag Íslendinga) - 01.06.1967, Side 205

E. GENERAL DISCUSSION
FUTURE ICELANDIC RESEARCH
CONCERNING MID-OCEAN RIDGES
AND THE UPPER MANTLE
S. Thorarinsson:
On the symposium which we are now finishing the desir-
ability of a close cooperation between Icelandic geologists and
geophysicists has been emphasized and the founding of the
Geoscience Society of Iceland justified. It has also been shown
how badly we need a reorganization of the geological research
in Iceland. The hest solution seems to he to unite most of the
geologists working in the country in a university institute,
closely cooperating with a geophysical institute.
When planning future Icelandic research with respect to
the mid-ocean ridges we have first to ask ourselves: to what
extent can the median zone of Iceland be regarded as typical
of the mid-ocean ridge system. We have also to take into
consideration the central position of Iceland within the North-
Atlantic basalt province and we should bear in mind that
Iceland is not only a part of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, but also
a part of the submarine ridge which runs from the East
Greenland basalt area via Iceland and the Faroes to the
British Isles. The study of this ridge has been largely neg-
lected. We should also ask ourselves, which geoscientific pro-
blems conceming the mid-ocean ridges can be studied more
easily in Iceland than elsewhere, and concentrate on these
problems.