You are standing on the top of Stórhöfdi - the hill on the south of Heimaey island. You are about 1290 km from continental Europe, about 1930 km from North America and only 19 km from a really new island, which is called Surtsey. The name originated from the name of a mythological giant Surtr, a god of Fire.

Origin of the island

The Surtsey island was born from sea water on 14^th November 1964. The first man, who saw the birth of island, was a cook from Ísleifur II. trawler.

This erruption was surprising, but there was a predictor one week ago. The seismograph in Reykjavik (110 km from there) noted weak quakes in crust. Another sign of something abnormal was reported by another research ship - the sea was a little warmer in this area than usual. The normal temperature is about 7°C during that season, but this time it was 9°C.

A 4-kilometer-long black cloud raised from the place a few minutes after discovery. It contained fragments of earth, steam and volcanic gas. This mix comes from the seabed, 130 m under the sea level, but it was muffled by pressure of water. When the mass of earth reached the sea level, the cloud could continue to atmosphere. Explorers could observe intensive eruptive processes in the whole area. The island was about 500 m long and reached a height 45 m after one week's activity. A continuos outburst of lava began to give the island more circular shape and it had 900x650 m on 24^th November. The proccess took 43 months and it ended on 5^th June 1968, when the island had the biggest diameter - over 1300 meters.

Erosion

After several months, after the end of erupting, the erosion processes began. There are strong winds - it causes high waves, which spawns erosion processes, mainly on the southeastern part of the island. Some large areas completely disappeared in the ocean but the sea movements helped to create a sandy hook in the northern part of the island, called Norðurtangi.

Researchers estimate that erosion removed about 0,024 km³ of solid material. That is approximately 1/4 of all the material which was above the sea level. The original height of the island was 171 meters above the sea level but it is about 154 m now (2008). Studies predict, the island will become a mere group of cliffs composed from palagonite tufas in 2160.

In spite of nonactivity of the island for 30 years it is not extinct - scientists measured 129°C (sporadically even 153°C) in a depth 2 m below the ground.

Colonization

Shortly after the birth of the island, it was declared a nature reserve for research on colonization the new territory by plants and animals. Entering the island is strictly prohibited - only scientists who study invasiveness of plants and animals can visit it (after complete decontamination). There is only a small hut for research team and a place for landing helicopter. The hut is a safe place for contingent shipwrecked people too.

The first plants which planted the island was mosses (1967) and lichens (1970). The first acidophilous plants were observed in 1964 (seeds were brought to the island as a part of birds' excrements) and the first tree on the island was a small willow (4 metres, 1998). There are about 69 kinds of plants now (30 out of them permanent).

If you are the lucky one and stand on the island you can see 12 kinds of birds such as. petrels, guillemots, gulls and puffins. From the ship, you can see seals and orca whales near the island. There are many fish and crabs, too.

Surtsey was added on the UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2008.

Sources:

www.wikipedia.org

www.vulkaner.no

www.surtsey.is

www.nasa.gov

Interesting log(s):

• 10^th July 2021, log from Tip12: with close photos of Surtsey Island from a cruise ship.

The tasks and questions you need to answer:

1. In which year the island Surtsey had the biggest diameter?

2. You are standing on the top of Stórhöfdi hill. How high is it? Please, measure it with your GPS device.

3. If you have a nice weather, you can see two glaciers on the mainland. The bigger (and the far) is called Mýrdalsjökull and it is on Katla volcano. See under azimuth 52° to the second (smaller and nearer glacier) and write me a name of it.

4. Voluntary condition: Take a picture with you and Surtsey island (GPS device is welcome, but not necessary on the photo) and upload it to your log. Great place to take a picture is on N 63 25.343 W 20 17.520, or you can go to the west cliffs on the hill Stórhöfdi. Remember - the Surtsey is the furthest island between two nearer (look on the first photo of listing).

   
   

Please, write me all your answers on my email dan.beranek[email]gmail.com