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| Thingvellir National Park in Iceland |
Scientists have now studied three different parts of the divergent ridge (area where the ocean plates are slowly sliding away from each other) that crosses Iceland from southwest to northeast. The slow movement and separation of the ocean plates can cause cracks in Earth’s crust, through which hot magma from the planet’s interior rises to the surface. As a result, a large number of volcanos have emerged along the divergent boundary.
Using a geodetic GPS, the scientists have now been able to measure the movement of the plates over time. The data used in the study is based on measurements from almost 100 ‘fixed’ measurement points. The information from the measurement points have made it possible to draw maps that show in what way the plates are moving away from each other and how large the deformation zone is.
Continuous subsidence in the Thingvellir rift graben, Iceland: Geodetic observations since 1967 compared to rheological models of plate spreading, Md. Tariqul Islam, Erik Sturkell, Peter LaFemina, Halldór Geirsson, Freysteinn Sigmundsson, Halldór Ólafsson. J. Geophys. Res. Solid Earth, 121, 321–338, doi:10.1002/2015JB012306.
