Iceland 2003
Keck Junior Research Project
Geology of an Abandoned Oceanic Rift:
The Skagi Area, North-Central Iceland
Iceland 2003 Keck Project group:
listed back to
front in four
rows and left to right
Back: Scott Pelletier (Pomona) and Rick Hazlett (Pomona)
3rd row: Marian Kramer (Smith), Deanne Rider (Wooster), John
Winter (Whitman)
2nd row: Amanda Bissell (Colorado College), Ashley Meganck
(Whitman),
Katie Ackerly (Williams),
Neth Walker (Washington and Lee), Brennan Jordan (Whitman/Wooster)
Front: Dave Auerbach (Carleton) and Paige McClanahan (Williams)
Director: Brennan Jordan
(The
College of Wooster/Whitman College)
Other Faculty: Rick
Hazlett (Pomona College) & John
Winter (Whitman College)
Overview:
Nine students representing the twelve school Keck
Consortium joined the faculty on a month-long research expedition
in north-central Iceland. The study is being conducted in and
around
the Skagi Peninsula (Keck
Project Page). The Mid-Atlantic Ridge is exposed above sea
level
at Iceland (Fig. 1) due to the
interaction
of the ridge with a hotspot (generally interpreted as a mantle
plume).
Plate motion causes the ridge to migrate westward off of the
hotspot.
The ridge periodically ‘jumps’ to recenter on the hotspot, abandoning
the
old ridge (Fig. 2). The last
ridge-segment
to be abandoned goes through the Skagi area and Snæfellsness
Peninsula;
it was abandoned around 7 Ma. Anomalously, a period of magmatic
rejuvenation
occurred in the Skagi area between 2.5 and 0.5 Ma. The geology of
the Skagi area includes rhyolitic volcanic centers in addition to the
basalts
(Fig. 3). Rhyolites are more common in
Iceland than most people appreciate, constituting ~15% of exposed
igneous
rocks. We are studying the basalt stratigraphy, the younger phase
of basaltic volcanism, rhyolitic eruptive centers, silicic intrusive
complexes,
and regional structure. Field work will be supplemented by
petrography,
geochemistry, and Ar/Ar-geochronology.
Post-project
summary (pdf)
Photo Galleries:
