Iceland Aaron R. Shay Iceland Iceland is an island created by volcanoes, the land however does...

IcelandAaron R. Shay

Iceland

• Iceland is an island created by volcanoes, the land however does contain ice, though the amount of ice is misleading to the extent of its latitude and name. It is covered by glaciers to the extent of only 11 percent

• Has a flourishing fishing industry

*Native Iceland people

• Iceland boasts a literacy rate in the ninety-ninth percentile

• Iceland is not currently part of the European Union, however it is part of the European Economic Area (EEA), which allows it to participate in the European single market without joining the European Union.

• There native language is Icelandic which is a Northern Germanic language

Note: Relative high Latitude, just south of Arctic Circle

*http://www.vidiani.com

• The Capitol of Iceland is Reykjavik, consequently this is the location of where I will show a climograph in a preceding slide

• 64° 7’ 52” N/ 21° 56’ 20” W

*http://solotravelerblog.com

Reykjavik

• Capital of Iceland • Latitude of 64° 7’ 52” N• Longitude of 21° 56’ 20” W• The areal extent of the town is 106 square

miles

Koppen climate zonefor Reykjavik, Iceland

(Cfc)

• Mild midlatitude climate• Marine west coast• Cfc (wet all year; cool summer)

• Other regions that experience this climate include:• Northern Alaskan Panhandle• Southern point of Chile• Australian Alps

*Inches *Fahrenheit

Climograph of Reykjavik, Iceland

• With a land mass largely controlled through the ocean a temperate environment often emerges, this is shown by little fluctuation of temperature and precipitation. On average the annual temperature difference between the warmest and coldest month is a mere 20°F, and precipitation change is only 1.7” comparing the wettest to driest month of the year.

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To stimulate the Cfc climate additional climographs are shown below:

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Yakutat, Alaska

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Punta Arenas, Chile

*Inches *Fahrenheit *Inches *Fahrenheit

Cfc cont’d

• By definition these regions are situated on the western side of continents usually between 40° and 60°

• Consequently these climates are subject to the westerlies.

• This climate area in Iceland is relatively small, only the southern coastal front is classified as Cfc

Ocean Current

• The warm north equatorial waters feed the Gulf Stream which flows northward

• The flow of warm Gulf Stream water is then diverged to the East to form the North Atlantic Drift

• The North Atlantic Drift reaches Europe where the water divides north forming the Norwegian stream and South forming the Canary stream

• Even through this extensive journey there is still warmer water reaching Iceland

*http://reinep.wordpress.com

• The key factor is that the warm ocean current creates warmer bodies of air over the island

• The extent of the water effect out weights any effect of typical land mass to water situations

• One might assume that the cold high pressure land would induce off shore winds in contrast with the ocean, however most any effect of this is overburdened by the generally warm ocean current

Wind Patterns• By definition of the latitude of Iceland the

Westerlies have little to do with Iceland, however they play a larger picture than what first may appear

• The extensive ocean current that feeds Iceland with warm water is due to the prevailing westerly winds off the subtropical highs.

• These anticyclonic conditions catapult the Gulf Stream northward

• There are other factors that cause Gulf Stream to flow this direction but the Westerlies are the main assister, other reasons why the flow is northward are as such:– Natural pole ward flow of warm water to colder– Salinity difference, the gulf is denser from it’s salt

content

*http://besthike.wordpress.com

• The Westerlies are met by the Polar Easterlies at this location

• This creates cyclonic conditions however precipitation is moderate because the average temperature is still cold enough to not induce extensive amounts of rain.

*Cold air has low water vapor capacity

Dust Storms

• Iceland has over 7500 square miles of sandy deserts– Glacial deposits and volcanic eruptions

• Cyclonic conditions updraft dust and send over to U.K.

• Major air pollutant to other parts of the world

http://reaganiterepublicanresistance.blogspot.com

Pictures of volcanic eruption and dry land with snow

Land-Water Contrast

• So what effect does the oceans and winds have on Iceland’s climate?

• Well with out these factors Iceland would look about like Greenland does!

Wikipedia.org/Greenland eastcoast.jpg

• Enhanced color infrared satellite picture

Latitude

• What all these factors do is emplace an island at 66°N and still have moderate temperatures

• You can expect cloudy days here being that the island resides at the same location as the polar front

• You can’t escape light/dark differences at this latitude. Don’t expect to get over four hours of light in the dead of winter

Fishing

• Cod is the cornerstone of the fishing industry off the shores of Iceland

*http://photography.nationalgeographic.com

• Iceland was one of the first to set quotas on how many fish could be caught

• Regulates that only residence of Iceland may fish with in there set boundaries– 200 mile boundary around Iceland

• The term “Cod Wars” was coined• Because of there stability they are able to

export a sustainable amount of fish every year

Time permitting

• Formation of Iceland– Hot spot and Mid-Atlantic Ridge– Glaciers effect– Heating of Homes– Island enlargening

http://fionamariecarter.wordpress.com

http://www.lonelyplanet.com

Works CitedGoodeve, Emily D. "Iceland And The European Union." Scandinavian Studies 77.1

(2005): 85-104. Literary Reference Center. Web. 27 Oct. 2013

Hess, Darrel, Tom L. McKnight, and Dennis Tasa. McKnight's Physical Geography. New York: Learning Solutions, 2011. Print.

"Icelandic Language." Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6Th Edition (2013): 1. Literary Reference Center. Web. 26 Oct. 2013.

"Iceland Met office: Monthly Averages for Reykjavik". Iceland Met Office. 2012. Retrieved on 4 January 2013.

"NOWData - NOAA Online Weather Data". National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Retrieved 2013-03-09.

Rosenberg P. D. , et al. "Aircraft-Based Observations And High-Resolution Simulations Of An Icelandic Dust Storm." Atmospheric Chemistry & Physics 12.22 (2012): 10649-10666. Environment Complete. Web. 25 Oct. 2013.

Webster, Donovan. "Cod World: Can Iceland Save Its Fisheries Without Killing Its Fishing Industry?." Virginia Quarterly Review 87.3 (2011): 4-33. Literary Reference Center. Web. 24 Oct. 2013.

"World Weather Information Service – Punta Arenas". May 2011. Retrieved 3 March 2011.

Valdimarsson, Hedinn, et al. "Icelandic Coastal Sea Surface Temperature Records Constructed: Putting The Pulse On Air–Sea–Climate Interactions In The Northern North Atlantic. Part I: Comparison With Hadisst1 Open-Ocean Surface Temperatures And Preliminary Analysis Of.." Journal Of Climate 19.21 (2006): 5652-5666. Academic Search Elite. Web. 22 Oct. 2013.