The land of fire and ice: A guide to volcanoes in Iceland

Iceland’s landscape is like no other. Alongside the icy glaciers, serene fjords, and stunning black beaches, the country is also home to some of the world’s most active volcanoes.

These geological marvels have defined Iceland’s scenery, history, and culture, impacting the land and the people for centuries. The fascinating mix of active and dormant volcanoes also draws visitors from around the globe, offering the unique chance to look into Iceland’s past and learn more about what shaped the country we know today.

Want to know more about these natural wonders? We’ve put together a handy guide covering key topics and facts about Iceland’s volcanic history.

From the number of volcanoes in Iceland to which ones are worth a visit, here’s everything you need to know about these emblematic natural wonders.

Across Iceland, there are around 130 volcanoes, ranging in size and formation. The majority of Iceland’s volcanoes are dormant – meaning they’ve not erupted for a long time – but 32 are considered active volcano systems, meaning they’ve erupted relatively recently and are likely to erupt again.

Note that some of the 32 volcanic systems that belong to the active volcanic zones of Iceland last erupted thousands of years ago. You can find all the details in the comprehensive online Catalogue of Icelandic Volcanoes.

Thankfully, Iceland is very prepared for potential eruptions, it’s in our DNA! The country’s incredible nature has given us excellent training and expertise to deal with unique situations.

Rest assured: Active volcanic systems are closely monitored by experts for any changes, and there are evacuation and safety procedures in place for if/when they start showing signs of increased volcanic activity.

Iceland is home to different kinds of volcanoes, each with their own unique appearance and formation.

Most of the country’s volcanoes are stratovolcanoes, which are stereotypical cone-shaped formations, usually with a crater in the middle. Iceland also has plenty of shield volcanoes, characterized by their much flatter, dome-like shape built up by successive eruptions. To understand more about types of volcanoes and how they’re formed, there are excellent resources online.

In Iceland, many of the volcanoes are covered by glaciers (making them subglacial or glaciovolcanoes) like Grímsvötn, hidden underneath the stunning Vatnajökull ice cap (along with a handful of other sub-Vatnajökull volcanoes), and Eyjafjallajökull, under the glacier of the same name.

(A hint: if the volcano name ends in -jökull, it’s likely subglacial. The word jökull means glacier in Icelandic. However, not all subglacial volcanoes in Iceland have such a name: Katla volcano is underneath Myrdalsjökull glacier.)

Iceland also experiences fissure eruptions – when lava erupts from a kind of elongated fracture or crack in the Earth’s crust. The famous Laki eruption in 1783 is an example of one of these fissures in action; the current volcanic activity on the Reykjanes peninsula is made up of fissure eruptions.

Here are a few handy Icelandic words, to help you make sense of some place names:

• dalur – valley

• eldfjall – volcano (literally ‘fire mountain’)
• eldgos – eruption
• fell or fjall – mountain
• hellir – cave
• hraun – lava or lava field
• hverir – hot springs or geothermal field
• jökull – ice cap or glacier
• vatn – lake

Iceland experiences major volcanic activity because of where it’s located. The island sits between two tectonic plates, the Eurasian Plate and the North American Plate. These tectonic plates are moving slabs of rock that make up the Earth’s crust, and as they move apart, magma – hot, semi-liquid rock that sits under the Earth’s surface – rises to fill the gap. As the magma builds up, things get hotter and the pressure increases so much that the Earth’s crust opens, creating a volcano.

Because Iceland sits right above the point where the tectonic plates are moving away from each other, also known as diverging, this process has happened a lot, leading to the formation of over 100 volcanoes in Iceland.

The boundary where the Eurasian and North American tectonic plates meet and move apart from each other is known as the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, which you can see on the map. The ridge corresponds to the location of most of Iceland’s active volcanic systems.

Visitors can see clear evidence of the ridge at the Bridge Between Continents on the Reykjanes peninsula, and at Þingvellir National Park.

Predicting if and when a volcano is going to erupt is no easy task. Scientists can check how much magma is building up below the rock formations, as well as the heat and the pressure, but it’s tricky to pinpoint exactly when a volcano is going to blow.

For this reason, it’s also hard to say how often volcanoes erupt in Iceland. On average, volcanic activity happens every five years or so, but this can range from imperceptible activity under glaciers to full-on eruptions.

Take a look at our dedicated page for up-to-date information on Iceland’s most recent volcanic eruptions, which have occurred on the Reykjanes peninsula after 800 years of inactivity.

Volcanoes can be found across the island, with most of them located in the Westfjords. In fact, around 100 of Iceland’s volcanoes can be found here, but, since the Westfjords are part of Iceland’s oldest landmass, all the volcanoes here are dormant.

The remaining 32 active volcanic systems in Iceland are spread out across the rest of the country, with most running from the southwest to the northeast of the island, in the vicinity of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge.

To help you get an idea of the layout, check out the comprehensive and interactive Catalogue of Icelandic Volcanoes. It details the volcanic systems currently being monitored in Iceland by the authorities, with plenty of information for those who’d like to dig deeper (from classification of activity level to eruption histories, and more).

The best way to find out more about Iceland’s volcanoes is to go and see them for yourself! With plenty of hiking routes and lava fields to explore, you can get up close and personal with volcanoes across Iceland. Plus, there are lots of interesting exhibitions and museums that help bring these geological wonders to life.

Here we give our top picks for the best volcanic attractions around Iceland, plus a map that covers volcanoes and volcano-related wonders – from long-dormant craters to lava tunnels and fascinating evidence of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. It also includes the many fantastic exhibitions that help give context to the geological turmoil that‘s a part of Icelandic life.