Summary
Acid rocks make up about 10% of the whole Tertiary volcanic pile in eastern Iceland, or some 800 km1 of rocks between sea level and the summit level. Approximately half are extrusive flows, which range in form from steep-sided domes to tabular flows and have individual volumes of up to 2.5 km1. Most of the other half consists of acid pyroclastic rocks, in which ignimbrites (pyroclastic flow deposits) and air-fall tuffs or agglomerates are equally abundant. Composite lavas and mix-lavas, in which basic and acid magmas were erupted together, are common and so are the corresponding minor intrusions and pyroclastic rocks.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Askelsson, J., 1946 —A contribution to the geology of the Kerlingarfjöll. Acta Nat. Islandica, 1, no. 2.
Bailley, E. B. &W. J. McCallien, 1956 —Composite minor intrusions, and the Slieve Gullion complex, Ireland. Lpool Manchr Geol. J., 1, 466–501.
Bemmelen, R. W. van andM. G. Rutten, 1955 —Tablemountains of northern Iceland. Leiden.
Blake, D. H., 1964 —The volcanic geology of the Austurhorn area, south-eastern Iceland. Unpublished Ph. D. thesis, Univ. of London.
————— andG. P. L. Walker, 1965 —Some relationships resulting from the intimate association of acid and basic magmas. Quart. J. Geol. Soc. Lond., 121, p. 31–50.
Boyd, F. R., 1961 —Welded tuffs and flows in the rhyolite plateau of Yellowstone Park, Wyoming. Bull. Geol. Soc. Amer., 72, p. 387–426.
Cargill, H. K., L. Hawkes andJ. A. Lfdeboer, 1928 —The major intrusions of southeastern Iceland. Quart. J. Geol. Soc. Lond., 84, p. 505–539.
Carmichael, I. S. E., 1960A —The pyroxenes and olivines from some Tertiary acid glasses. J. Petrol., 1, p. 309–336.
—————, 1960B —The feldspar phenocrysts of some Tertiary acid glasses. Miner. Mag., 32, p. 587–608.
—————, 1962 —A note on the composition of some natural acid glasses. Geol. Mag., 99, p. 253–264.
—————, 1963A —The crystallization of feldspar in volcanic acid liquids. Quart. J. geol. Soc. Lond., 119, p. 95–131.
—————, 1963B —The occurrence of magnesian pyroxenes and magnetite in porphyritic acid glasses. Miner. Mag., 33, p. 394–403.
—————, 1964 —The petrology of Thingmuli, a Tertiary volcano in eastern Iceland. J. Petrol., 5, p. 435–460.
—————, andA. McDonald, 1961 —The geochemistry of some natural acid glasses from the North Atlantic Tertiary volcanic province. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta, 25, p. 189–222.
Dearnley, R., 1954 —A contribution to the geology of Lodmundarfjördur. Acta Naturalia Islandica, 1.
Gibson, I. L. andG. P. L. Walker, 1963 —Some composite rhyolite/basalt lavas and related composite dykes in eastern Iceland. Proc. Geol. Ass. Lond., 74, p. 301–318.
Guppy, E. M. andL. Hawkes, 1925 —A composite dyke from eastern Iceland. Quart. J. Geol. Soc. Lond., 81, p. 325–343.
Hawkes, L., 1924 —Olivine-dacite in the Tertiary volcanic series of eastern Iceland. Quart. J. Geol. Soc. Lond., 80, p. 549–567.
—————, andH. F. Harwood, 1932 —On the changed composition of an anorthoclase-bearing rock-glass. Miner. Mag., 23, p. 163–174.
—————, andH. K. Hawkes, 1933 —The Sandfell laccolith and ‘dome of elevation’. Quart. J. Geol. Soc. Lond., 89, p. 379–400.
Moorbath, S. andG. P. L. Walker, 1966 —Strontium isotope investigation of igneous rocks from Iceland. Nature, 207, p. 837–840.
Nockolds, S. R., 1954 —Average chemical compositions of some igneous rocks. Bull. Geol. Soc. Amer., 65, p. 1007–1032.
Noe-Nygaard, A., 1952 —A group of liparite occurrences in Vatnajökull, Iceland. Fol. Geogr. Danica, 1, no. 3.
—————, 1956 —Some liparite dykes from Raudhellar in Mórsárdalur, Iceland. Meddel. Dansk Geol. Foren., 13, p. 118–123.
Peacock, M. A., 1924 —A contribution to the petrography of Iceland. Trans. Geol. Soc. Glasg., 17, p. 271–333.
Sigvaldason, G. E., 1958 —Das Liparitvorkommen der Móskardshnjúkar auf Island. Beitr. Min. Petr., 6, p. 100–107.
Thompson, B. N., L. O. Kermode andA. Ewart, 1965 —New Zealand volcanology. Central volcanic region. N. Z. Geol. Surv. Handbk., Informn. Ser. 50.
Thorarinsson, S., 1944 —Tefrokronologiska studier på Island. Geogr. Ann. Stockh., 26, p. 1–217.
—————, 1949 —Some tephrochronological contributions to the volcanology and glaciology of Iceland. Geogr. Ann. Stockh., 31, p. 239–256.
-----, 1958 —The Öraefajökull eruption of 1362. Acta Nat. Islandica, 2, no. 2.
Tryggvason, T. andD. E. White, 1955 —Rhyolitic tuffs in lower Tertiary plateau basalts of eastern Iceland. Amer. J. Sci., 253, p. 26–38.
Tyrrell, G. W., 1949 —Petrography of igneous rocks from the Vatnajökull, Iceland, collected by Mr. F. W. Anderson. Trans. R. Soc. Edinb., 61, p. 793–801.
Walker, G. P. L., 1959 —Geology of the Reydarfjördur area, eastern Iceland. Quart. J. Geol. Soc. Lond., 114, p. 367–391.
—————, 1962 —Tertiary welded tuffs in eastern Iceland. Quart. J. Geol. Soc. Lond., 118, p. 275–293.
—————, 1963 —The Breiddalur central volcano, eastern Iceland. Quart. J. Geol. Soc. Lond., 119, p. 29–63.
—————, 1964 —Geological investigations in eastern Iceland. Bull. Volc., 27, p. 1–15.
-----, andR. R. Skelhorn, 1966 —Some associations of acid and basic igneous rocks. Earth Sci. Rev., 2.
Wright, F. E., 1915 —Obsidian from Hrafntinnuhryggur, Iceland: its lithophysae and surface markings. Bull. Geol. Soc. Amer., 26, p. 255–286.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
Paper read at the IAV International Symposium on Volcanology (New Zealand), scientific session of Nov. 27, 1965.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Walker, G.P.L. Acid volcanic rocks in Iceland. Bull Volcanol 29, 375–402 (1966). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02597164
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02597164