Prestahnúkur
| Prestahnúkur | ||
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 Prestahnúkur right, Geitlandsjökull left |
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| height | 1220 m | |
| location | Icelandic highlands , Iceland | |
| Coordinates | 64 ° 36 ′ 0 ″ N , 20 ° 36 ′ 0 ″ W | |
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| Type | Subglacial volcano | |
| rock | Rhyolite | |
| Age of the rock | approx. 120,000 years | |
| Last eruption | 3350 BC Chr. | |
 Prestahnúkur (left) seen from the Kaldidalur slope |
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The volcano Prestahnúkur (German priest's summit ) - also spelling: Prestahnjúkur - is located in the west of the highlands of Iceland . It is 1220 m high and leans against a side glacier of Langjökull , the Geitlandsjökull , to which it is not assigned, but which is part of its volcanic system. The volcano is located in the municipality of Borgarbyggð .
Volcanism
Central volcano Prestahnúkur
The rhyolite mountain is a central volcano with its own magma chamber . The mountain has a volume of 0.6 km³.
At the high temperature area at its foot can be seen that Prestahnúkur is still active.
The central volcano was formed at the beginning of one of the cold ages in the Ice Age , more precisely at the transition from the Eem Warm Age to the Vistula Ice Age , when an approximately 700 m thick ice armor temporarily rested on it. It probably originated in a single series of eruptions.
Prestahnúkur belongs to the genus of rhyolitic tabular volcanoes (Tuyas) and as such has the special feature that no tephra deposits have been discovered on it so far , only various layers of lava and hyaloclastites . Pillow lavas are evidence of eruptions under an ice armor up to 700 m thick, a series of eruptions that lasted about 2–19 years. This means that the structure of the volcano proves the rapid growth of the ice sheet and the equally rapid cooling of this climate change.
To the volcanic system
The volcanic system, which some researchers also call the Geitland volcanic system , is 5–17 km wide and 70 km long.
It was examined in November 2009 by geologists from the Icelandic Meteorological Service based on recordings of series of earthquakes over the past few years. In doing so, the more precise position of the column systems that belong to it has been established. They reach below the Þórisjökull and Geitlandsjökull glaciers and are mostly oriented SW-NE.
The rock
Similar to the Bláhnúkur in Landmannalaugar is also Prestahnúkur largely of pitchstone , a rhyolitic rock.
This light-colored rhyolite rock of the central volcano was quite popular as a building material and was therefore mined, and in some cases also exported abroad. The mine is now closed.
The name
The name of the mountain comes from the fact that two priests in the 17th century, Helgi Grímsson from Húsafell and Björn Stefánsson from Snæfoksstaðir, dared to venture into a valley behind him, the Þórisdalur . In times of superstition - suspected ghosts and outlaws in the highlands - this was considered an outrageous act.
Location on the Kaldidalur highland slope
The highland slope Kaldidalur leads close to the mountain. You can also climb it from here.
See also
Web links
Photos
Scientific contributions
- Prestahnúkur in the Global Volcanism Program of the Smithsonian Institution (English)
- JA Stevenson, ea: Subglacial silicon eruptions: Wet cavities and moist cavities. American Geophysical Reunion, spring meeting 2007, bibcode : 2007AGUSM.V33B..04S - Comparison of the isl. Kerlingarfjöll and Prestahnúkur volcanic systems with Mexican volcanoes
- DW McGarvie, ea: Volcano-ice interactions at Presthnúkur, Iceland: rhyolite eruption during the last interglacial-glacial transition. Annals of Glaciology 45, 2007 On the Prestahnúkur volcanic system: Subglacial eruptions during the last Ice Age (PDF file)
- Sigurlaug Hjaltadóttir, Kristín S. Vogfjörd: Kortlagning sprungna í nágrenni Prestahnúks með smáskjálftum. Kortlagning jarðhita í gosbeltum Íslands, annar áfangi. Veðurstofu Íslands. Skýrsla VI. 2009-011 Report of the Icelandic Meteorological Office on the earthquake situation at Prestahnúkur from 1991 - 2008 with mapping of the column system, from November 2009, Icelandic with English. Summary and maps (PDF file; 5.7 MB)
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c Sigurlaug Hjaltadóttir, Kristín S. Vogfjörd: Kortlagning sprungna í nágrenni Prestahnúks með smáskjálftum. Kortlagning jarðhita í gosbeltum Íslands, annar áfangi. Veðurstofu Íslands. Skýrsla VI. 2009-011, p. 7 [PDF file] (Icelandic); Accessed June 20, 2011
- ↑ a b c Volcano – ice interactions at Prestahnu´kur, Iceland: rhyolite eruption during the last interglacial – glacial transition DW McGarvie, ea: Volcano-ice interactions at Presthnúkur, Iceland: rhyolite eruption during the last interglacial-glacial transition. Annals of Glaciology 45, 2007 [PDF file] (English); Accessed June 20, 2011
- ↑ Ari Trausti Guðmundsson: Living Earth. Facets of the geology of Iceland. Reykjavík, Mál og Menning, 2007, p. 193
- ↑ Íslandshandbókin. 1. bindi. 1989, p. 114
- ↑ Íslandshandbókin, ibid.