Author(s)

Maryam Khodayar^1*, Sveinbjörn Björnsson²

¹Iceland GeoSurvey (íSOR), Reykjavík, Iceland.
²National Energy Authority (Orkustofnun), Reykjavík, Iceland.

The diverging plate boundaries in North Iceland and its shelf display a complex tectonic at the Kolbeinsey Ridge (K-R), the Northern Rift Zone (NRZ), and the Tj?rnes Fracture Zone containing the Grímsey Oblique Rift (GOR), the Húsavík-Flatey Fault (HFF), and the Dalvík Lineament (DL). While active deformation is well-known, the structural pattern is sporadically mapped and a comprehensive account of the upper Tertiary-present deformation is not fully at hand. To address the gaps, this paper provides new regional tectonic maps with continuous coverage, and detailed analyses of the deformation. Faults, open fractures, prominent joints and volcanic edifices were identified on Multibeam/Single beam, Spot 5, and Digital Elevation Model, and subjected to multidisciplinary structural analysis and correlation with selected data. Some of the results are: 1) Six sets constitute the structural pattern. The N-S rift-parallel normal faults are 1/3, and the shear fractures of the transform zone and the oblique rift 2/3 of the fracture population. The en échelon arrangements above deep-seated shear zones indicate dextral slip on WNW to NW, and sinistral slip on NNE to ENE faults, conformable with earthquake data. 2) During the polyphase tectonic, the six sets led to basin and horst formation, block compartmentalisation, rotation, horsetail splay, rhomb-graben in relay zone of strike-slips, and volcanism. 3) Listric faults are absent and the steeply-dipping faults are antithetic, synthetic, or form extensional flower structures above 4 km depth. The Plio-pleistocene/present syn-sedimentary deformation caused a deep half graben in the Eyjafjarearáll Basin (Ey), fault growth, rollover, and sediment onlaps, with some of the faults still active. 4) The plate boundaries of K-R/Ey, GOR/?xarfjreur/NRZ, and DL delimit a major microplate labelled here as Grímsey-Tj?rnes-Dalvík. 5) The WNW earthquake cluster in GOR corresponds either to a blind horsetail splay fault or to initiation of a transform segment parallel to the HFF. The described tectonic-sedimentary-magmatic deformation is relevant to other diverging plate boundaries where similar sets control the hydrocarbon and geothermal resources.

Kolbeinsey Ridge, Iceland Northern Rift Zone, Tjörnes Transform Zone, Grí-msey Oblique Rift, Grímsey-Tjörnes-Dalvík Microplate, Magmatic/Sedimentary/Tectonic Processes

Khodayar, M. and Björnsson, S. (2018) Structures and Styles of Deformation in Rift, Ridge, Transform Zone, Oblique Rift and a Microplate Offshore/Onshore North Iceland. International Journal of Geosciences, 9, 461-511. doi: 10.4236/ijg.2018.98029.