Comments on: The young island Surtsey

The young island Surtsey

carsonb — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 20:41:17 -0800

Surtsey was first observed on November 14, 1963, as a pillar of smoke on the water some ways south of Iceland. The very next day lava and tephra broke the surface of the Atlantic and by May, 1964 the formation had grown to 2.4 km². Over the next three years lava eruptions continued, coating the loose debris in a hard shell and protecting it from erosion. An island born. Naturally, Surtsey has been under close scientific observation since its emergence, and courtesy The Surtsey Research Society you can read published reports on the geology and biological colonization of this new earth.

By: dejah420

dejah420 — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 22:01:29 -0800

Wow, this is fabulous. Great find.

By: tellurian

tellurian — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 22:15:32 -0800

Nice one carsonb. It's doing better than Home Reef.

By: carsonb

carsonb — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 22:17:55 -0800

Wikipedia's List of recently born islands; only Surtsey and Home Reef are currently islands, and Surtsey is the only one that is expected to survive.

By: carsonb

carsonb — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 22:20:29 -0800

Oh, also, I learned of Surtsey while perusing the recent additions to the UNESCO World Heritage List.

By: Navelgazer

Navelgazer — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 22:30:28 -0800

I first read about this about fifteen years ago, and it's stuck in my head as a life-long dream to make sure I go there one day. Pretty sure it's still super-closed to the public, though. You know, for obvious and good reason. Still, maybe one day.

By: dawdle

dawdle — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 23:41:54 -0800

wow, this made my day. really. probably the coolest thing i've seen all year. yeah i have no life.

By: googly

googly — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 23:51:01 -0800

Fabulous. There are some remarkable photos on the SRS website. Thanks.

By: mattoxic

mattoxic — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 02:25:23 -0800

MINE!

By: Kattullus

Kattullus — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 04:28:19 -0800

That's funny, I just woke up from a dream about my friend who's a geologist in Iceland. Confidential to Navelgazer: It's possible to get there, if you ask the right people.