List of volcanoes in Iceland

There are too many presumed extinct or now inactive volcanic features to list all of these below, so most monogenetic volcanoes can not be mentioned individually. This list of volcanoes in Iceland only includes major active and dormant volcanic mountains, of which at least 18 vents have erupted since human settlement of Iceland began around 900 AD. Subsequent to the main list a list is presented that classifies the volcanoes into zones, systems and types. This is in the context that there are several classification systems and many of the volcanoes may have separate shallow magma chambers and a deeper common magma source.

Where a major vent is part of a larger volcano this is indicated in the list comment. Since some of these vent eruptions have been very large, disruptive or been regarded in popular culture as a separate volcano they have been included in the list but where this is not the case it is not appropriate to duplicate or create entries. So for minor vent eruptions since human occupation see the more comprehensive list of volcanic eruptions in Iceland.

Volcanic zones and systems
Iceland has four major volcanic zones related a divergent tectonic plate boundary, and a hot spot:
 * the Reykjanes volcanic zone (RVZ), subdivided into the Reykjanes Ridge (RR) (the Mid-Atlantic Ridge South of Iceland) and the Reykjanes Volcanic Belt (RVB) (on the main island);
 * the West Volcanic Zone (WVZ);
 * the East Volcanic Zone (EVZ) (extended to the Westman Islands, south of the main island as part off the off rift, South Iceland Volcanic Zone (SIVZ) );
 * the North Volcanic Zone (NVZ).

The Mid-Iceland Belt (MIB) connects them across central Iceland.

In Iceland's EVZ, the central volcanoes, Vonarskarð and Hágöngur belong to the same volcanic system; this also applies to Bárðarbunga and Hamarinn, and possibly to Grímsvötn and Þórðarhyrna. The classification of volcanic systems depends on volcanology studies and has evolved with time. For example while Grímsvötn and Þórðarhyrna have similar eruptive compositions, as of 2020 Þórðarhyrna had not been studied in enough detail to have assurance that these are not two separate central volcanoes of two separate volcanic systems. The southern tip of the EVZ propagating rift is an off rift region called the South Iceland Volcanic Zone (SIVZ), that often has more evolved magma and thus explosive eruptions. North of Iceland, the Mid-Atlantic Ridge is called Kolbeinsey Ridge (KR) and is connected to the NVZ via the Tjörnes Fracture Zone (TFZ). Also the South Iceland Seismic Zone (SISZ) is another fracture zone, which connects the EVZ and WVZ. Both fracture zones include their own volcanic systems, smaller than those in the MIB.

There are also two intraplate volcanic belts: Öræfajökull or Öræfi, (ÖVB) on the Eurasian plate, and Snæfellsnes (SVB) on the North American plate. It is proposed that the east-west line going from the Grímsvötn volcano in the Mid-Iceland Belt (MIB) to the Snæfellsnes volcanic belt (SVB) shows the movement of the North American Plate over the Iceland hotspot.

Other Sources

 * Thor Thordarsson, Armann Hoskuldsson: Classic Geology in Europe 3. Iceland. Harpenden, Terra, 2002
 * External links below