Norway - Islands of Jan Mayen and Bouvet as parts of a serial transnational nomination of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge system

The Mid-Atlantic Ridge is a submarine mountain chain forming the boundary between the North and South American Plates and the European and African Plates. The continents are moving away from each other and volcanic activity has created a submarine ridge stretching from the Norwegian Sea to the southern Atlantic Ocean. In places the ridge rises above sea level, creating islands and groups of islands belonging to five nations. The Norwegian islands of Jan Mayen and Bouvet form the northern and southern supramarine extremities of the ridge. The other supramarine points are islands and cliffs belonging to Brazil, Great Britain, Portugal and Iceland. All of Iceland has been created by this geological process. The active zone stretches across the whole of Iceland, from southwest to northeast, and is clearly visible, for example, at Thingvellir (inscribed on the World Heritage List in 2004).