Just finished reading Christina Sunley's novel, The Tricking of Freya. I love her description of Iceland's geology and its effect on California, my home. "Think of the earth like an egg with its shell cracked. We're standing on one of those cracks. Right here is where the North American Plate meets the Eurasian Plate. Right through the middle of Iceland. And underneath, lava rises up and pushes the two plates apart. That's what causes earthquakes in California. California is on the opposite side of the North American Plate. Iceland is pushing California into the ocean."
I visited one of the rift sites at the end of the Reykjanes Peninsula. Leif the Lucky Bridge marks the boundary between the North American plate to the west, and the Eurasian plate to the east, which are moving apart at a rate of about 2 cm per year.
Leif the Lucky Bridge spans the Alfagja rift valley
Alfagja Rift Valley
Another rift valley can be seen at Þingvellir, one of Iceland's most important historical sites, where the Vikings established the world's first democratic partliament, the AlÞing in 930 A.D.
Pingvellir
Below are stones shaped from the forces of the plates. I took many photos to inspire new shapes for my constructions when I return.
Rock shapes
rock shapes
rock shapes
rock shapes