Almost running through the middle of Iceland is the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, the divide between the North American Plate and the Eurasian Plate. Iceland's Hekla and Katla volcanoes stand on either side of the ridge in the Southern part of Iceland.
Hekla began showing signs of unrest around June 5, 2011 - as sensors began to pick up unusual movements in the Earth's crust. Mount Hekla is one of Iceland's most active volcanoes, usually erupting every ten years. However, Hekla has been quiet for the past eleven years in terms of active eruptions - the last eruption took place in February, 2000. Moving South-East to Katla, one of the largest volcanoes on Iceland, a big melt sent floodwaters cascading across the Mýrdalsjökull glacier, with floodwaters making their way to the sea destroying two bridges on the way down.
There is a very nice video by Helecopter.is on
Irish Weather showing the changes in the glacier and the extent of the flooding. The flooding took place on July 9, 2011 following the slight tremors at Hekla days earlier.
I personally, think that the July 9 eruption at Etna is related to what was happening on Iceland. The reason is the upward movement of the African Plate. I don't see it as the African Plate simply moving upward; but that the plate is twisting - almost rotating - as this movement triggers changes all the way from Iceland to Southern Italy and the Mediterranean. In a way Iceland is still in a primordial state as the glaciers continue to form the landscape and perhaps so is the Mediterranean.
Earthquake Report:
Etna Erupts 9/7/2011
The ongoing plate boundary activities not only show signs of tectonic stress release; but there is also the process of changing landscapes, tectonic design, rifts forming, volcanoes erupting, earthquakes and tsunamis. All this is part of Europa's ancient past:
A volcano avalanche in Sicily 8,000 years ago triggered a devastating tsunami taller than a 10-story building that spread across the entire Mediterranean Sea, slamming into the shores of three continents in only a few hours. Ancient Tsunami Devastated The Mediterranean
Although this was a truly spectacular event of its time, smaller eruptions and avalanches occur on Mount Etna until today.
A devastating tsunami every century in the Mediterranean
Tsunamis can occur in European waters due to earthquakes caused by the African Plate drifting northwards underneath the Eurasian Plate.
Ten percent of all tsunamis worldwide occur in the Mediterranean. On average, one disastrous tsunami takes place in the Mediterranean region every century. Geological research and historical records report of many powerful tsunamis that have taken the lives of thousands over the ages. Greece and southern Italy are mostly affected. Tsunami Alert System
In our time the beautiful Mediterranean appears stable and peaceful .. it is a seismic active region .. but no one has seen the kind of devastation experienced in 1628 BC at the end of the Minoan Civilisation and later in 365 AD when 50,000 people lost their lives in Alexandria. In today's world we imagine that the past 2,000 years of tectonic stability is normal and usual for the Earth ...
Iceland & The Mediterranean
Okay, Iceland is way up in the North Atlantic, an Island of "Ice and Fire" .. covered in glaciers with active volcanoes and in my view still forming in an almost primordial state. The landmass emerges from the backbone of the "Mid-Atlantic Ridge". Sicily and Mount Etna live down South in the Mediterranean, where temperatures can rise - on average - to 35°C [95°F]. Iceland and Sicily do not seem to have a lot in common; but historically they may be related.
People today do not seriously consider that we live on a dynamic changing Planet, on which landmass upheavals are common. Two thousand years may seem a lot to humans who live up to 80/90 cycles around the Sun - but two thousand years is less than a nano-second to the Earth. In my mind the events, in 1628 BC that ended the Minoan Civilisation and devastated the Mediterranean coast, were part of a much bigger picture of events that probably stretch all the way to Iceland.
Irish Tree Rings and an Event in 1628 BC
In prehistoric times, oaks growing on the surface of Irish raised bogs were recording rare extreme events.
These extreme events are characterized by the simultaneous occurrence of the narrowest rings in the lifetime of trees throughout a wide geographical spread of sites.
Significantly the dates of these extreme 'narrowest ring' events coincide with the estimated dates for major volcanic eruptions as recorded in the Greenland ice-cap. One of these events occurs in the decade of the 1620s BC and coincides very precisely with a previously suggested volcanic event at 1626 BC (now 1627 BC) put forward by LaMarche.
One is led to the inevitable conclusion that some major hemispheric event took place in the decade of the 1620s BC, and a strong circumstantial case can be constructed that the event was volcanic in origin. Since the dating is based on precisely dated tree rings no further refinement of the date of the event - probably 1628 BC - is required. Thera Foundation
I do not think that everything unfolded in 1628 BC .. but that generally there was an age of upheaval affecting probably the entire world. However, at the same time unusual catastrophic changed affected much of Europe, altering Scandinavia and reaching all the way to Iceland. Although some researchers point to a possible asteroid impact, already we are seeing increasing tectonic upheaval worldwide with no asteroid impact. If anything, it is more likely effects from the Sun and the orbits of Mars, Jupiter and Saturn as well as the Moon.
