Iceland review - 2012, Page 27

ICELAND REVIEW 25
Relatively new lava, and a popular playground in the new residential area Ásvellir in the town of Hafnarfjörður.
plate to the east, which are separating at a
rate of about 2 cm per year. The Reykjanes
peninsula is therefore a very young geologic
feature, and it is still growing and active. But
the activity is episodic and not continuous.
Long periods of quiet, lasting several hun-
dred years, are followed by bursts of activity,
with several eruptions occurring in rapid
succession. About one thousand years ago,
around the year 1000 AD, an episode of
volcanic activity began on the Reykjanes
peninsula, which lasted with some breaks
for about 350 years. The map shows the dis-
tribution of the lava flows from this episode
and later lava flows from other eruptions
in historic time. We know that another
earlier episode took place about two thou-
sand years ago. How soon will we have to
face a new episode? It is not a question of
if, but rather when it will start that worries
geologists who have studied the volcanic
history here, including the region around
the metropolis of Reykjavík.
When the last episode began, around
Kleifarvatn