EARTH: Where Fire Freezes: All Eyes, Ears and Instruments on Iceland's Volatile Volcanoes

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EARTH: Where Fire Freezes: All Eyes, Ears and Instruments on Iceland’s Volatile Volcanoes
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Maureen Moses (mmoses@americangeosciences.org)
3/31/2016

Alexandria, VA – Iceland is located in the North Atlantic straddling a mid-ocean ridge and possibly riding over a Hawaiian-style hot spot. This makes it is a prime geological environment for volcanoes: Iceland has more than 100 volcanoes, 33 of which are active. Iceland is also home to examples of every type of volcano on Earth, each with its own eruptive pattern. Thus, the island nation presents a special challenge to volcanologists as well as serving as an ideal natural laboratory for studying how volcanic processes evolve.

Scientists monitor changes using everything from GPS to streamflow to protect Iceland’s citizens and reduce the economic impacts of the eruptions when they occur. Learn just how different each volcano is and how unique features — such as eruptive history and the glaciers that cap many of the volcanoes — are used to inform the scientists that study them at: http://bit.ly/1SBZWB2.

EARTH Magazine brings you the science behind the headlines. In the March/April issue of EARTH Magazine, we have stories covering what we know about the lunar atmosphere, how changing tectonic plate orientation in Europe affected the Jurassic climate, and what scrape marks contained in fossil sites in Colorado can tell us about dinosaur courtship. Check it out here: www.earthmagazine.com.

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Keep up to date with the latest happenings in Earth, energy and environment news with EARTH Magazine online at: http://www.earthmagazine.org/. Published by the American Geosciences Institute, EARTH is your source for the science behind the headlines.

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The American Geosciences Institute is a nonprofit federation of geoscientific and professional associations that represents more than 250,000 geologists, geophysicists and other earth scientists. Founded in 1948, AGI provides information services to geoscientists, serves as a voice of shared interests in the profession, plays a major role in strengthening geoscience education, and strives to increase public awareness of the vital role the geosciences play in society's use of resources, resiliency to natural hazards, and interaction with the environment.