Land of the Midnight Sun

     My first thought when thinking about volcanoes and their relationships to Norway was that there were none. I figured that Iceland's volcanoes were the closest to having any sort of effect on Norway but after a bit of research, I learned that Norway has a major volcano very close to it!       As a volcanic nation, the Norwegian sea holds hundreds of active volcanoes nearly two miles below the surface. For this blog, we won't be focusing on those, but it is fascinating to learn that so many volcanoes exist under the ocean! For this week, we will be diving into the understanding of the Jan Mayen Volcano!                                                Named after the Jan Mayen Island, located in the Norwegian Sea, this basaltic stratovolcano exists along the island, surrounded by high cliffs. A stratovolcano's type of eruption can usually begin with explosions of ash and end with the release of thick flowing lava.                  With the dangers that come from a volcano

     Norway's mainland is a location that is very fortunate to not have a high concentration of earthquake activity. Active volcanoes and fault lines aren't located close enough, so the dangers of earthquakes are minimal, but not completely absent. A factor that is the cause of the seismicity within and around Norway is a post-glacial rebound. A post-glacial rebound is the rise of landmasses that have sunken from the enormous weight of ice sheets. When a post-glacial rebound occurs, the Earth's crust sinks into the asthenosphere. This is known as isostatic depression. These two photos below show the seismic activity and magnitude of Norway. I find it very interesting that the edges of the country have a higher impact rate, but while looking at the photo on the bottom right, we can see that most of the intensive earthquakes take place within the middle of the country.      In Norway, seismic activity is monitored by the Norwegian Seismic Array NORSAR. They communicate, shar

     The study of tectonics and the location of their plates are very important to understand because it helps geologists understand the effects they have on the countries around the globe. Our main focus in this blog is the natural hazards in Norway and their causes and effects from nature itself. Tectonics, which are large-scale geological activities that create landforms such as continents and ocean basins shape this beautiful world we live in. With that said, there is also a duality that comes from tectonic plates, that being natural hazards! Norway once originally belonged to the Baltic Plate, an ancient tectonic plate that later fused from the colliding of Siberia, creating the Ural Mountains and becoming the Eurasian Plate we have today.      The Eurasian Plate is both an oceanic plate, as well as a continental plate, being the third-largest plate on Earth! It contains nearly all of Europe, Russia, and some areas of Asia. The west side of the Eurasian Plate currently shares a di