Iceland · Fissure vent
Skjaldbreiður
Prestahnukur
- Type
- Fissure vent
- Elevation
- 1385m
- Last eruption
- -3350
- Type
- Fissure vent
- Country
- Iceland
- Region
- Atlantic Ocean / Iceland Neovolcanic Rift Volcanic Province
- Elevation
- 1385m
- Coordinates
- 64.583, -20.666
- Last eruption
- -3350
- Tectonic setting
- Rift zone / Oceanic crust (< 15 km)
- Landform
- Cluster
- Major rock type
- Basalt / Picro-basalt
Geological summary
The Prestahnúkur volcanic system is located on the W side of the Langjökull icecap at the west margin of the Western Volcanic Zone, and overlaps with the Hengill volcanic system north of Lake Þingvallavatn. It is about 90 km long and 15 km wide, with a subglacially erupted rhyolite peak and associated rift zones to the N and SW that have erupted during the Holocene. A large part of the volcanic system is underlain by early to mid Pleistocene plateau basalts. Olivine tholeiite basalt lava shields have erupted during the Holocene.
From Wikipedia
Skjaldbreiður is an Icelandic lava shield formed in an eruption series roughly 9,500 years ago. The extensive lava fields produced by this eruption flowed southwards and formed the basin of Þingvallavatn, Iceland's largest lake, and Þingvellir, the "Parliament Plains", where the Icelandic national assembly, the Alþing, was founded in 930.
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Eruption history
3 recordedGlossaryDetailed timeline
- 3350 BCEVEI 0Geological estimate3350 BCE – end unknownSköflungur
- 6950 BCEVEI 0Geological estimate6950 BCE – end unknownGeitlandshraun II
- 7550 BCE (±500 yrs)VEI 0Geological estimate7550 BCE – end unknownSkjaldbreidur
Nearby volcanoes
External links
⚠ For reference only. Not for emergency response.