#surtsey

[cillyscribbles]

a wee drawing i made after listening to a lecture on islands. surtsey & its inexplicable foxes enchanted me particularly.

[contremineur]

Surtsey This islet wasn’t here until a vent in the ocean floor coughed up lava, which exploded in cold water, then cooled into a volcano that broke sea-level: a pile of black and brownish red magma, plus scocia— that’s volcanic glass—once barren, now colonized by fulmars and guillemots, gulls looking for a layover between their here and there, and insects blown over (you can see the other islands, if you look hard, over there) and seeds left by birds, or green bits of who-knows-what that washed ashore so that a few tough plants— lichens, moss—got a toe-hold on whatever specks of dirt the wind dropped in. What sounds like a million years ago happened in 1963. Equipment in Keflavik picked up the first faint signs— a green flash on a black screen, an uptick on a seismograph out there. But it was the cook aboard a trawler wending its way around the Vestmann Archipelago—wiping his hands, glancing out a porthole, lost in some now lost thought—who spotted dark smoke out over the Atlantic. What he and the captain thought might be a boat on fire was the ash plume from those underwater blasts, which is to say it’s a work in progress— all of this, everything— Surtsey is shrinking, the wind and waves are wearing it away, it’s about half the size it once was and our being here is just a blip on some other, larger, mostly dark screen.

Matthew Thorburn, The cook’s story (from Facts about islands)

from here

I posted this poem a couple of years ago, but since then tumblr has helpfully removed all the formatting (line breaks and italic text), so let's hope this one weathers more favourably?

Surtsey in 1963 – from here

[ladyincarnate]

“Get away from them, or else...! I’m not as strong as them but I still have magic!”

~

Day 2: Surtsey / Tense / Using Power

The random generator gave me Surtsey or Faine, swimwear, tense and using power. So I wanted to try doing something with her magic circles - I’m not entirely happy with how it came out, but she’s adorable as always.

[earthstory]

Surtsey

On November 14th 1963, the crew of a fishing trawler off the coast of Iceland saw a column of dark smoke in the distance. They cautiously approached, concerned for another vessel in distress, but instead found something amazing: the brand-new island of Surtsey, born by fire, rising from the sea toward the sky. One week previously, seismometers detected the first signs of activity in the Vestmannaeyjar archipelago off of Iceland’s southern coast. This nation is no stranger to the rumblings of volcanic activity, though; all of Iceland was formed volcanically over the last 20 million years due to the coincidence in location between a hotspot and a mid-ocean ridge. More clues appeared in the last days before Surtsey breached the surface, including higher-than-average sea surface temperatures and the smell of sulfur at a nearby coastal village.

The eruptions that built Surtsey continued for three and a half years after the island first surfaced. The most dramatic events occurred in the first few months, when seawater was able to interact with the active volcanic vent. During this period, explosive eruptions flung large rocks as far as a kilometer away into the ocean, and a plume of ash and hot gases poured high into the sky. After the island grew higher and drier, however, the eruptions became more effusive, creating lava flows and fountains. Over time, the rate of activity diminished, until the last known eruption event ceased in June 1967.

In the decades since its explosive debut, Surtsey has changed a lot. Most notably, life has settled on the island. Plants, birds, seals, insects, and other organisms settled on Surtsey shortly after the island’s appearance. In addition, Surtsey has actually shrunken over time. Wave erosion has worn down the island’s coasts, and compaction of sediment and loose volcanic material has caused the island’s surface to subside. The island is unlikely to completely disappear into the ocean anytime soon, though, as the sturdy igneous core at the center of the island will resist erosion for many centuries. Don’t expect another eruption at Surtsey, either; other igneous material in the area suggests that each vent complex normally produces only one period of eruptions. However, the emergence of other volcanic islands elsewhere in the Vestmannaeyjar archipelago is very possible in the future.

-Ce

More information: The Surtsey Research Society, Iceland, https://bit.ly/2MhAfwe Image: NOAA, https://bit.ly/2MgVhLv

[minestland]

Vestmannaeyjarbær on the island of Heimaey. The harbour is the main port/town and heart of the Vestmannaeyjar Islands. This is a hand-held 8 shot stitched pano from the hugely underrated Fujinon XF18mm f/2. The lookout point is only halfway up Heimaklettur (279m) and it was far enough :-) View is looking SW - pretty much along the line of the mid-Atlantic Ridge. Major points of interest: at left - Eldfell (205m) responsible for nearly wiping out the town in 1973 and Helgafell in the background. The rumpled terrain at the left of the picture is the lava from Eldfell circa 1973 and what is really cool (sic) about this is the locals staved off the lava with cold water pumped out of the harbour. Lost a large part of the village but saved the town and made a better harbour. The cliff/hill/crag at right is Stóraklif but of major interest to vulcanologists is Surtsey - the small island volcano on the horizon just to the left of Stóraklif. The entire landscape is of volcanic origin and only 11-12,000 years old. Fuji XT2, XF18/2, 1/250th sec, f/10, ISO 200 - 8 shot stitch pano - handheld which is why it's a bit bendy. Not art as such - sometimes simple documentary is necessary :-) A big 'Thank You' to you all who view, fave and comment on my work. A very special 'Thank You' to the proud peoples of Iceland.https://flic.kr/p/EZWUwh

[aph-surtsey]

An awesome drawing made by @suckmyicelandick !

Their art is amazing! You should check them out!!

[abdulaziz2026]

ظهرت جزيرة سرتسي Surtsey island خلال ثوران بركان تحت الماء عام 1963 وسرتسي هي جزيرة بركانية صغيرة تقع بالقرب من الساحل الجنوبي لأيسلندا، تبلغ مساحتها 1.4 كم2 وتقع على بعد 32 كم من الساحل الجنوبي لآيسلندا.

[sunkentreasurecove]