Fissure swarms and fracture systems within the Western Volcanic Zone, Iceland – Effects of spreading rates

Abstract

The Western Volcanic Zone (WVZ) in Iceland is ∼120 km long and 40 km wide. It offers an opportunity to study rift zones in a local ultra-slow spreading area close to a hotspot. Fractures were mapped from aerial photographs and digital elevation models. Most surface fractures are located in the southern part of the WVZ. The majority of the fractures have a north-northeasterly orientation, some deviations occur from this, especially in the north part of the WVZ. Fracture orientations are therefore quite uniform in the southern, faster spreading part of the WVZ, but more irregular in the slower-spreading northern part. This suggests different stress fields in the north part, which could be due to the influence of the Hreppar microplate and possibly also due to stress fields induced by crustal deformation because of changes in glacial load in the area. Such glacially-induced stress fields may have similar or even more influence than crustal spreading in the slower spreading northern part of the WVZ. Lower fracture density towards the north within the WVZ suggests lower frequency of rifting events in the north part, in accordance with less spreading in the north as measured by GPS geodetic measurements.