James Stewart

We often talk about tectonics in the past tense, but in this case the problem is present, very present.

Iceland is a mere teenager in geological terms.

The oldest rocks found in the west fjords and the eastern fjords are just 16 to 18 million years old, which is basically yesterday compared to continental Europe's half-billion-year-old crusts.

And if you thought that was impressive, well, wait for this.

When you move south, the land gets even younger still.

It is only 3 to 7 million years old in places like the Reykjanes Peninsula.

And remember that name, it's somewhere we're going to come back to.

Now, just off the south coast is the youngest land on the planet.

In the 1960s, the island of Surtsey erupted into existence from beneath the sea.

The island is a pristine natural laboratory, allowing scientists a rare chance to study an island from birth, really.

Because it began as sterile lava with a known birthday, if you like, and has remained free of human interference thanks to strict protections, researchers can trace exactly how life builds an ecosystem, step by step, giving us an insight into processes analogues to the spreading of life on early Earth.

But Iceland's youth isn't only interesting for the sake of scientific research and this video.

It's dangerous.

Because young land means fresh lava.

And lots of it.

There are around 30 volcanic systems active across the island, and over 100 volcanoes have erupted in the last 10,000 years.

I say around 30 because nature doesn't draw neat boundaries.

It would be very helpful if it did.

Some systems here have obvious central volcanoes.

Others are long networks of underground fissures.