Because of it's location on the Eurasian plate, Great Britain does not experience volcanic activity. However, Britain is home to many beautiful but dormant volcanoes, most of which are located in Scotland. Most of these volcanoes are ancient. In fact, the "super volcanoes" of Moore, Skye and Run in western Scotland are estimated to be about 60 million years old.
Why exactly does Great Britain have zero volcanic activity? It happens to do with it's exact location on the Eurasian tectonic plate. When tectonic plates come together, if one plate is denser than the other it will move under the lighter one. In this process of subduction, the high temperature melts rocks and creates magma. According to the
British Geological Survey, when the magma comes up through the earth, it creates a volcano. However, since Great Britain is nowhere near the edges of a tectonic plate, new volcanoes don't occur.
Since volcanoes happen quite frequently in Iceland, the UK air traffic control service NATS occasionally issues "
ash warnings" to help protect the European aviation industry. from massive ash clouds.
Great and informative post! Even though Britain does not have volcanoes, it is interesting that it is home to so many dormant ones. It is hard to imagine how long it look for the plates to shift and move so that the volcanoes eventually are in Britain. - Carly Burgess
ReplyDelete