The Iceland Hotspot and its roots, the Iceland mantle plume, has attracted enormous global scientific interest during recent years. The research will try to answer some of the most challenging questions of the evolution of the earth and of crustal and upper mantle processes. New observations are needed for this research.
Studying the Hotspot dynamics, the causes of stress variations and their migration and effects require a huge amount of observations, technological development and scientific skills. It may lead to great advancements in understanding crustal processes which lead to earthquakes and volcanic hazards, not only in Iceland, but all over the world, and thus to mitigation of risks.
Studying the Hotspot dynamics requires multinational cooperation far beyond the present proposal.