Iceland has a high concentration of active volcanoes due to unique geological conditions. The island has about 130 volcanic mountains, of which 18 have erupted since the settlement of Iceland in 874 AD. Of these 130 volcanoes, the most active and volatile is Grímsvötn. Over the past 500 years, Iceland's volcanoes have erupted a third of the total global lava output. Although the Laki eruption in 1783 had the largest eruption of lava in the last 500 years, the Eldgjá eruption (of 934 AD) and other Holocene eruptions were even larger. Iceland has four volcanic zones: Reykjanes Ridge, the West and North Volcanic Zones and the East Volcanic Zone. The Mid-Iceland Belt connects them across central Iceland. There are two intraplate belts on Iceland, the Öræfajökull and Snæfellsnes. The central volcanoes, Vonarskard and Hágöngur belong to the same volcanic system, this also applies to Bárðarbunga and Hamarinn, and Grímsvötn and Þórðarhyrna. It is proposed that the line Grímsvötn volcano, Mid-Iceland Belt (MIB) to Snæfellsnes volcanic belt shows the movement of the North American Plate over the iceland hotspot.
New Zealand Volcanics
New Zealand's active volcanoes are confined to the Taupo Volcanic Zone, a belt which extends from Tongariro National Park to White Island. Ruapehu (9,175 ft) is the highest peak in the North Island and carries its only permanent snowfield, within which is a hot crater lake. Since 1889 more than 12 steam eruptions and four ash eruptions have been recorded.
In addition to the active volcanoes, there is geological and radiocarbon-dating evidence that the following districts have experienced volcanic activity within the past few hundreds or thousands of years, and further eruptions there may be expected.
The most violent of all the eruptions of the past few thousand years took place at Taupo about 1,830 years ago, when pumice was erupted over several thousand square miles. Previous eruptions have occurred in the same locality. Other pumice eruptions have occurred in the Maroa and Okataina volcanic centres, the latter including Tarawera. These places remain as potential danger spots.