SMB _004

Description
The model encompasses an area of about 250×380 m; the 160m-high cliff is made of a succession of Tertiary basaltic lava flows gently dipping to the left (west). The succession is crosscut by a 6.5-m-thick inclined sheet dipping about 55° to the right (east). Looking with attention at the geometry of the lava succession on either side of the inclined sheet, it is possible to notice that each single lava bed is vertically offset of about 5 m, with a downthrow of the hanging-wall block. This evidence enables suggesting that the inclined sheet was emplaced along a normal fault. The dip and kinematics of the fault is coherent with the tilting of the lava succession to the left. The area is located in eastern Iceland, whitin Tertiay age units. Further details on the dykes and geology in eastern Iceland can be found in Walker (1974), Gudmundsson (1983), Jóhannesson and Sæmundsson (1998) and Gudmundsson et al (2014).

Credits: UAV-survey and 3D DOM provided by Fabio L. Bonali, Federico Pasquaré Mariotto and Elena Russo; funding is from MIUR project ACPR15T4_00098 (http://argo3d.unimib.it/). Model description by Alessandro Tibaldi.

References

  • Gudmundsson, A. (1983). Form and dimensions of dykes in eastern Iceland. Tectonophysics, 95(3-4), 295-307.
  • Gudmundsson, A., Pasquarè, F., Tibaldi, A. (2014). Dykes, sills, laccoliths, and inclined sheets in Iceland. In Physical Geology of Shallow Magmatic Systems (pp. 363-376). Springer, Cham.
  • Jóhannesson, H., & Sæmundsson, K. (1998). Geological map of Iceland, 1: 500,000. Bedrock Geology. Natturufraedistofnun Islands, Reykjavik.
  • Walker, G. P. (1974). The structure of eastern Iceland. In Geodynamics of Iceland and the North Atlantic area (pp. 177-188). Springer, Dordrecht.