NAT

Geology

The islands of the Atlantic Ocean created by the volcanism of the Middle Atlantic Ridge are The Azores, Bermuda, Madeira, The Canary Islands, Ascension, St. Helena, Tristan da Cunha, and others. The divergence of the ridge started in the north about 150 million years ago and 90 million years ago in the south. Iceland is the largest island on the ridge because of the additional volcanism caused by the hot spot under the country, which moves slowly towards the northwest across it.

These unique circumstances on the ridge probably are the reason for the country’s existence, because the tectonic movement of the plates and the related volcanism would not have sufficed. The country probably would have looked very differently if the hot spot were the sole reason for its creation, probably something similar to Hawaii. The plate tectonics move the plates apart, towards east and west, and both the American- and Eurasian systems move to the northwest across the hot spot.

Photo Credit: Scoundrelgeo

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