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To have a single volcano warm up an island the size of Iceland and located in a northern Europe climate, how hot does a volcano have to be, or what type of volcano does it need to be? I want the volcano to warm up the island turning it into a tropical jungle.

I don't want to include hot springs or magma tunnels near the surface as key factors, but I am not excluding them, as long as the reasoning behind having them is explained.

Also this preferably only affects this island, not the rest of the region or continent.

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    $\begingroup$ A single volcano cannot do this Iceland has more than 30 volcanoes, and is nowhere near this warm. $\endgroup$
    – John
    Commented Nov 22, 2020 at 5:51
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    $\begingroup$ Did you try to ask this over at Earth Science? $\endgroup$
    – JBH
    Commented Nov 22, 2020 at 19:00
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    $\begingroup$ You can ask there. You just need to ask from a "real" perspective (e.g., "Is it possible for a single volcano to turn an island the size of Iceland into a tropical jungle?"). While we have some great geologists here, I've not seen them post in a while. So you might get a better response. However, you should also be prepared to face some harsh realities. A volcano might warm the ground, but it won't warm the air. They call Iceland, "Iceland," for a reason. Enough ground warming to create an average 80℉ air temp some 30 ft above the ground would likely cook the plants 6" below the ground. $\endgroup$
    – JBH
    Commented Nov 22, 2020 at 23:36
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    $\begingroup$ @JBH this question would probably be closed on SE, as being speculative/hypothetical. Questions like this are literally why worldbuilding stack exists. $\endgroup$
    – John
    Commented Nov 23, 2020 at 15:37
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    $\begingroup$ @John Actually, most stacks accept questions about hypothetical situations (can a volcano exist that...). What they don't accept are questions about fantastic situations (how can Dr. Evil get all the volcanoes to blow at the same time?). And one of the biggest reasons for the real world question debate was that if we don't draw lines, we become Stack Exchange's dumping ground, and that is not why the worldbuilding Stack exists. $\endgroup$
    – JBH
    Commented Nov 23, 2020 at 18:12

2 Answers 2

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You probably have a wrong understanding of how volcanism affect an area if you state that

I don't want to include hot springs

For one, if the magmatic chamber is close enough to the surface to affect its temperature, not having any hot spring means you have no underground water at all, and that's pretty unrealistic.

Additionally, having a tropical jungle is not just a matter of temperature, but also of precipitation. Oregon is known for having a rain forest, but it's far from being a tropical region. It "just" gets a lot of rain. Again, availability of water is important.

If you want to achieve what you envision, you probably need to have large hot springs constantly pouring out hot water, which percolates on the ground keeping it warm. The evaporation of the water, condensing as mist on larger area, can keep the whole island moist and with more favorable temperatures than just the geographical location would allow.

Don't forget however that the closer to the poles you get, the longer the nights in winter are. Plants also need light, and without that they are not going to grow. But maybe that can be tweaked with having only yearly plants growing big, with no trees.

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  • $\begingroup$ alright so how much heat or the type of volcano needed then? with all that factor? $\endgroup$
    – Li Jun
    Commented Nov 22, 2020 at 5:34
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This is impossible via regular physics (though you can just hand wave it with magic) no volcano can provide enough ambient heat over long periods to keep an entire island warm not even if it was entirely covered with perpetually hot and liquid lava.

If you would like a northern region with rainforest like clime you will need a combination of water and air currents as well as precipitation. You will not get a tropical rainforest without handwaving and magic but you can get a temperate rainforest!

You'll need a warm current hitting a continental shelf bringing with it lots of precipitation and keeping the seas ice free (see the Pacific Northwest for an example of this) place your volcanic island a little ways off this continental shelf, the taller the volcano the better since this will catch more precipitation, try a cone volcano.

This will give you something a bit like what you asked for though not quite.

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    $\begingroup$ On an island that size it is impossible. it might be possible on a small enough island in which the entire habitable portion was inside the rim of volcano (aka Aogashima) and even then it would be difficult to make habitable. $\endgroup$
    – John
    Commented Nov 23, 2020 at 15:42

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