Description
This 3D model covers an area of about 150 x 20 m and depicts a major N–S-trending dip–slip normal fault (with a 10-m vertical offset) and volcanic structures within the Krafla Fissure Swarm, in Northern Iceland. Faulting is associated with tilting of the hanging wall section, next to the fault, with the same dip-direction as the fault. This setting is very different from that observed in normal faults affecting non-volcanic rocks, where the tilting of the hanging wall block occurs with an opposite dip-direction to the fault. The fault, affecting 7-ka-old lava flows (Saemundsson et al., 2012), strikes about N10°, being almost orthogonal to the overall spreading direction across the Nothern Volcanic Zone of Iceland, which is about N106° (Hjartardóttir et al., 2016). The area is also affected by several fractures and marked by the presence of periglacial morphologies known as ‘pingo’, formed in response to the growth of ice lenses within the soil.

Credits: UAV-based survey and 3D DOM by Bonali F.L.; funding from MIUR project ACPR15T4_00098 (http://argo3d.unimib.it/). Description of the model by Alessandro Tibaldi and Federico Pasquaré Mariotto.

References

  • Hjartardóttir, R., Einarsson, P., Magnusdóttir, S., Bjornsdóttir, Þ. and Brandsdóttir, B. (2016) Fracture systems of the Northern Volcanic Rift Zone, Iceland: an onshore part of the Mid-Atlantic plate boundary. In: Wright, T. J., Ayele, A., Ferguson, D. J., Kidane, T., Vye-Brown, C. (eds), Magmatic Rifting and Active Volcanism. Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 420, 297-314.
  • Pasquaré Mariotto F., Bonali, F. L., & Venturini, C. (2020). Iceland, an Open-Air Museum for Geoheritage and Earth Science Communication Purposes. Resources, 9(2), 14.
  • Saemundsson, K., Hjartarson, A., Kaldal, I., Sigurgeirsson, M.A., Kristinsson, S.G. and Vikingsson, S. (2012) Geological map of the Northern Volcanic Zone, Iceland. Northern Part 1: 100.000. Reykjavik: Iceland GeoSurvey and Landsvirkjun.