Nebraska Academy of Sciences
Nebraska Academy of Sciences: Programs and Proceedings
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ORCID IDs
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4227-5059
Date of this Version
2026
Document Type
Brief or Summary
Citation
Filena, Irina (2026). Expanded Abstracts of the Nebraska Academy of Sciences Annual Meeting vol. 1, pp. 1–6.
Abstract
This upcoming Fulbright project is inspired by an ongoing debate in the scientific community about the tectonic origin of Iceland. A long-standing theory of Iceland’s formation by excessive magmatism at the Mid-Atlantic spreading center over the well-known hot spot (i.e., oceanic crustal affinity) was recently challenged by the alternative hypothesis that the Icelandic crust is continental in nature and is being stretched and gradually modified by magmatic processes. Based on this hypothesis, a new sunken continent, Icelandia, has been proposed. One of the foundations for the proposed Icelandia is the presence of felsic lavas (indicative of continental flavor in the magmatic source) documented in Iceland. The upcoming Fulbright study will include both field observations of felsic lavas and numerical modeling of Icelandic crust to test two alternative tectonic scenarios. A complementary educational component of the project will involve a group of 20 US students (sponsored by the University of Nebraska) in field activities in Iceland and provide them with networking opportunities with Icelandic colleagues.