LAVA TUBE LEIðARENDI

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LAVA TUBE LEIðARENDI

Journal Title: UNKNOWN - Year 2018, Vol 33, Issue 1

Abstract

In many ways, Iceland is a fascinating part of the Earth . Outside, it is covered with snow (as its name suggests) and surrounded by the sea, and inside, it glows (hence the colors of Iceland Àag: white, blue and red). Compared to the “leftover” Earth, it is often “extraterrestrial”. Its remarkable landscape is due to numerous (about 130), mainly basaltic volcanic mountains, ¿elds of lava, snow and ice, geysers, glacial glaciers and glaciers. Iceland belongs to the volcanic most active areas of the Earth because it is located on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, lying on the border between the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates that are moving one from the other. The Mid-Atlantic Ridge “passes” from the north to the south more or less in the middle of the island, and the uttermost southwestern part of Iceland (Reykjanes peninsula) continues to the Atlantic Ocean. About thirty kilometers south of Reykjavik, approximately in the area where the border of the Reykjanes peninsula lies, there stands Bláfjöll Mountain (Blue Mountain, see Figure 1) and the Stori-Bolli large crater of about 150 m in diameter. At the foot of Bláfjöll Mountain lies the Stóra-Bollahrauni lava ¿eld (see Figure 1), and in it the Leiðarendi lava tube (see Figure 2). Lava tubes are natural structures in the form of a pipeline through which the lava has traveled below the surface. During an eruption, the lava usually Àows through the channels where it remains hot, while the outer parts are cooling. During the cooling process, the outer channels begin to create walls because the lava solidi¿es. These channels can penetrate deeper and shape the tunnel that continues to Àow magma (less lava). Interestingly, the lava loses heat at such a Àow for only about 1ºC per kilometer of Àow (http://volcano.oregonstate.edu/lava-tubes). Such a tunnel can be described as a space that occurs when the surface part of a lava stream cools and cures, while the lava of less viscosity under this hardened surface layer continues to Àow. A broad lava-Àow ¿eld often consists of a main lava tube and a series of smaller tubes (http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/ Products/Pglossary/LavaTube.html), which are often called “volcanic veins”. Such tunnels can be ten meters wide or more and very long – ten or even more kilometers (e.g. on the Hawaii islands). The longest tunnel in the European Union is the Spanish “Cueva del VientoSobrado”, 17 kilometers long, and situated on Tenerife island (http://www.caverbob.com/lava.htm).

Authors and Affiliations

Gordan Bedeković

Keywords

LAVA TUBE LEIðARENDI

EP ID EP30191
DOI 10.17794/rgn.2018.1.7
Views 202
Downloads 5