The location and alignment of the Reykjanes Ridge is consistent with both older and newer volcanic areas of Iceland. It can be shown that five parallel areas of volcanic activity have developed durning the last 24 million years. Moreover, they follow the model of convection rolls closely:
The timing is marked in the map according to this table:
The table is from https://orkustofnun.is/gogn/Greinar-starfsmanna/Arni-Hjartarson-2003-PhD-heil.pdf
This regularity forms a base for us for realizing the real nature of what we call ‘rift jump’. Also, it shows that the convection rolls under the country marked with wide red lines are quite dominant when it comes to volcanic activity and rift process. Nature is not simple, so the other layers underneath also affect the surface. Therefore, to fully analyze the formation of Reykjanes Ridge, the related volcanic zones and volcanic belts, the whole pattern of convection rolls has to be taken into account. Remember that the wide, red lines are upwelling lines. In between, there is one line (thinner) that is downwelling. Thereby you can visualize the scope of each convection roll extending NE-SW (at 120 km depth). When more familiar with the system, you can also visualize the lower layers with additional convection rolls.
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