This world map identifies several hotspots on the earth. Another magma source is required, possibly originating at the upper-lower mantle boundary of 670 kilometers depth. Imagine a blowtorch melting through the underside of a piece of metal, when suddenly the flame breaks through the upper surface. Plumes of deep mantle acts as blowtorches hidden within the earth, transporting and upwelling magma towards the surface. If the plume 'burns' through the lithosphere to the surface, the plume is termed a hotspot.
Earth scientists struggle to explain why Icelandic hotspot is centered on a mid-ocean ridge.
This valley is a surface expression of the Mid-Atlantic ridge, rifting Iceland in half. The left side of the valley represents the North Americn plate. On the right side of the valley, one can stand on the Eurasian plate. Due to constant refinement of computer models, these results inspire the objectives of this study. First, the modeling program Stag3D will be evaluated.