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

Iceland, located in the North Atlantic, is a prime geological environment for volcanoes due to its position straddling a mid-ocean ridge and possibly riding over a Hawaiian-style hot spot. With more than 100 volcanoes, 33 of which are active, Iceland is home to examples of every type of volcano on Earth, each with its own eruptive pattern. This makes the island nation a special challenge to volcanologists and 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. The unique features of each volcano, such as eruptive history and the glaciers that cap many of the volcanoes, are used to inform the scientists that study them.

Check out the March/April issue of EARTH Magazine to learn more about the science behind the headlines. In this issue, read 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.

Keep up to date with the latest happenings in Earth, energy and environment news with EARTH Magazine online at http://www.earthmagazine.org/.