Geology of the Faroe Islands

Countless volcanic eruptions built up a huge basalt plateau that covered almost the entire Faroe–Rockall region, together with the southeastern part of Greenland.

One volcanically silent time period was especially long and resulted in the deposition of several sedimentary layers of varied composition, including strata rich in organic material that subsequently have generated considerable volumes of coal.

Over the 54 million years since the last flows erupted, plate tectonics has slowly moved the Faroe Islands away from the active volcanic region, which today is concentrated in Iceland and along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge.

Meanwhile, the majority of the Faroe–Rockall Plateau has subsided beneath sea level while erosive forces–especially during the last few million years of alternating glacial and interglacial periods–have sculpted the landscape into their present-day shape.

The overall thickness of volcanic and intervening rock layers of the Faroe Islands is more than 6 kilometres (3.7 mi), of which only 900 metres (3,000 ft) is located above the present sea level.