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Mid-Atlantic Ridge and adjacent plates. Volcanoes indicated in red.. In geological terms, Iceland is a young island. It started to form in the Miocene era about 20 million years ago from a series of volcanic eruptions on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, where it lies between the North American Plate and Eurasian Plate.
The oldest known source which mentions the name "Iceland" is an eleventh-century rune carving from Gotland. There is a possible early mention of Iceland in the book De mensura orbis terrae by the Irish monk Dicuil, dating to 825. [9] Dicuil claimed to have met some monks who had lived on the island of Thule. They said that darkness reigned ...
The United States Army abandons the military base in Keflavík, thus ending a 55-year U.S. military presence in Iceland. [citation needed] 2008: 29 May: A doublet earthquake strikes southern Iceland with a composite magnitude of 6.1 M W. [39] September: Iceland faces financial crisis following the collapse of the country's three major ...
Nevertheless, written Icelandic has changed relatively little since the 13th century. As a result of this, and of the similarity between the modern and ancient grammar, modern speakers can still understand, more or less, the original sagas and Eddas that were written some 800 years ago. This ability is sometimes mildly overstated by Icelanders ...
According to the ancient manuscript Landnámabók, the settlement of Iceland began in 874 AD, when the Norwegian chieftain Ingólfr Arnarson became the island's first permanent settler. [15] In the following centuries, Norwegians , and to a lesser extent other Scandinavians , immigrated to Iceland, bringing with them thralls (i.e., slaves or ...
This created a unique structure. [4] [dubious – discuss] The most powerful and elite leaders in Iceland were the chieftains (sing. goði, pl. goðar). The office of the goði was called the goðorð. The goðorð was not delimited by strict geographical boundaries. Thus, a free man could choose to support any of the goðar of his district.
It was designed with a Greek cross layout and contained a dome. In addition, over on the Western Hill, the Landakotskirkja church, also known as the Basilica of Christ the King was built. This church was also designed by Guðjón Samúelsson but with a Neo-Gothic style. The Landakotskirkja was the largest church in Iceland in 1929.
[27] [25] Iceland's cold climate slows plant growth, leaving the soil susceptible to the impact of strong winds. [25] Soil erosion, and land degradation in general, decreases biodiversity and the health of the surrounding ecosystems. [25] The government of Iceland and its people have undertaken many soil restoration projects.