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Grímsnes

Grimsnes

Volcanic field · Iceland · 200m

A small pond about 60 x 100 m fills the bottom of the Kerid crater at the northern end of the Tjarnarhólar crater row in the Grímsnes volcanic system. The crater is elliptical in shape, 180 x 280 m. The Seyðishólar and Kerhóll cinder cones, visible in the background to the north, were active about 9,500 and 7,050 years ago respectively. Seyðishólar is the only Holocene eruption recognized to have had tephra dispersal outside of the volcanic field.
A small pond about 60 x 100 m fills the bottom of the Kerid crater at the northern end of the Tjarnarhólar crater row in the Grímsnes volcanic system. The crater is elliptical in shape, 180 x 280 m. The Seyðishólar and Kerhóll cinder cones, visible in the background to the north, were active about 9,500 and 7,050 years ago respectively. Seyðishólar is the only Holocene eruption recognized to have had tephra dispersal outside of the volcanic field. · Photo: Photo by Lee Siebert, 2008 (Smithsonian Institution). · Wikimedia Commons
Type
Volcanic field
Country
Iceland
Region
Atlantic Ocean Volcanic Regions / Iceland Neovolcanic Rift Volcanic Province
Elevation
200m
Coordinates
64.050, -20.883
Last eruption
-3500
Tectonic setting
Rift zone / Oceanic crust (< 15 km)
Landform
Cluster
Major rock type
Basalt / Picro-Basalt
Geological summary

Grímsnes is a relatively small volcanic system located SE of Thingvallavatn lake. It is displaced about 15-20 km to the east of the other en-echelon group of volcanic fields of the Western Volcanic Zone extending across the Reykjanes Peninsula. Its lava flows cover 54 km2 and were erupted from a group of 11 fissures that produced a series of NE-SW-trending crater rows. The eruptions of its basaltic lavas were considered to have been restricted to a relatively short interval between about 6,500 and 5,500 years ago, but radiocarbon dating showed that some of the lava flows were emplaced between about 7,400 and 8,900 years ago.

From Wikipedia

Grímsnes is a relatively small fissure or crater row volcanic system located in South Iceland, located south–east of Lake Thingvallavatn and east of the en echelon group of volcanic systems extending across the Reykjanes Peninsula, that erupted last in the Holocene.

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Eruption history

Summary (VEI over time)
Click a bar to see individual eruptions
7750 BCE~7557 BCE · 1 eruptions · max VEI 36398 BCE~6205 BCE · 1 eruptions · max VEI ?4659 BCE~4466 BCE · 1 eruptions · max VEI 04466 BCE~4273 BCE · 1 eruptions · max VEI 24273 BCE~4080 BCE · 1 eruptions · max VEI 34080 BCE~3886 BCE · 3 eruptions · max VEI 23886 BCE~3693 BCE · 1 eruptions · max VEI 03693 BCE~3500 BCE · 2 eruptions · max VEI 27750 BCE6784 BCE5625 BCE4659 BCE3693 BCE

Detailed timeline

  1. 3500 BCEVEI 2Geological estimate
    BCE 3500 – Ongoing
    Kalfsholar
  2. 3650 BCEVEI 0Geological estimate
    BCE 3650 – Ongoing
    Borgarholar
  3. 3750 BCEVEI 0Geological estimate
    BCE 3750 – Ongoing
    Raudholar
  4. 3900 BCEVEI 0Geological estimate
    BCE 3900 – Ongoing
    Kolgrafarholl
  5. 4000 BCEVEI 2Geological estimate
    BCE 4000 – Ongoing
    Alftarholl
  6. 4050 BCEVEI 0Geological estimate
    BCE 4050 – Ongoing
    Borgaholl
  7. 4270 BCE (±150 yrs)VEI 3Geological estimate
    BCE 4270 – Ongoing
    Kerholar
  8. 4450 BCEVEI 2Geological estimate
    BCE 4450 – Ongoing
    Selholl North
  9. 4500 BCEVEI 0Geological estimate
    BCE 4500 – Ongoing
    Selholl South
  10. 6250 BCEVEI ?Geological estimate
    BCE 6250 – Ongoing
  11. 7750 BCEVEI 3Geological estimate
    BCE 7750 – Ongoing
    Seydisholar

External links

⚠ For reference only. Not for emergency response.