Divergence!

Hi!

Right now we are back at our hotel in Reykjavik, and reflecting on what we saw today. I didn't fall asleep the entire day even though I haven't slept for about 22 hours, The trip to Þingvellir

 was amazing, even though we didn't get to put a foot on either side of the plate boundary. Look below and you'll see what I mean:

http://science.nationalgeographic.com/science/photos/plate-tectonics-gallery/#/thingvellir-iceland_1247_600x450.jpg

The Eurasian plate is on the right and the North American plate is on the left. The cliff separates the two plates. I didn't even try to put one foot on both sides of the plate boundary! Here is a picture of where the boundary goes through Iceland:

http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/dynamic/understanding.html

The plate boundary cuts right down Iceland splitting it into 2 pieces. As I explained in my previous blog post, at a divergent boundary like here the plates spread apart and molten rock cools. Eventually Iceland will become 2 separate islands.

Iceland!

Hi!

Our plane (FI680) just landed in Keflavík Airport near Reykjavik. I'm exhausted. It's 11:45 PM in Seattle but here it is 6:45 in the morning. Our teacher advised us to sleep during the 7 hour flight , but no one did. Anyway we are going to drop our stuff off at a hotel in Reykjavik and then go to Þingvellir, a national park in Iceland 40 minutes away from here. It is the place where the North American plate diverges from the Eurasian plate. Here is a diagram of how a divergent boundary works:

http://www.divediscover.whoi.edu/tectonics/movements.html

Plates are pulled apart and molten rock from below comes up and cools at a ridge. This causes a lot of tectonic activity in the area. In fact, there is so much activity that Iceland's volcanoes erupt 1/3 of the global lava output. There very recently was an eruption in Eyjafjallajökull that shut down European air travel. Earthquake activity is also moderately high in Iceland. There were two earthquakes in Iceland in the past 30 years which were above magnitude 6. Anyway, I can't wait to get there. Apparently we will be able to see the place where the plates meet! Maybe I will be able to keep one foot on either plate!

Welcome to my blog!

Hi everyone!

I am Akhi and I am a student in an earth science class. Our earth science class decided to take a field trip and go around the world. We will explore plate boundaries to learn more about plate tectonics, something we studied this year. An assignment we have while we are on our trip is making a blog. This is my introductory blog entry. Right now I am in my earth science class in Seattle. Here is where Seattle is if you didn't already know:

http://trainweb.org/usarail/seattle.htm

Tomorrow we will leave to the airport. I just remembered- I have to start packing everything! I haven't even started! Oh no!
Note: This is a fictional blog.