Geology !

No, I am not planning to give a lecture on Geology here, I am not even beginning to touch the surface. I just would like to try to explain, why Iceland is so special.
Now, Iceland is lying just on top of the Middleatlantic Ridge (marked in green)
here the North-American and the Eurasian plate are moving apart, approximately by 1.8cm / year. So Iceland is actually growing. Where else in the world can you see plate tectonics so clear ?
on the left North - America and on the right Eurasia !!!! And Shoam just in the middle !
(Sorry to all the serious Geologists for this over simplification)
Well, lets go on like this: The gap is filled by magma (this explains all the volcanoes, hot springs...)
and as Iceland is just south of the arctic circle, we have many glaciers and little vegetation to hide the geology.
Getting interested ? Try some more serious www sites: