The Nomination of Surtsey for the UNESCO World Heritage List

Nomination of

SURTSEY for the UNESCO World Heritage List

2007

Nom

ination of Surtsey for the UN

ESCO

World H

eritage List January 2007Ministry of Education, Science and Culture

Surtsey kápa 2007 16.1.2007 8:15 Page 1

Nomination of

SURTSEY for the UNESCO World Heritage List

Snorri Baldursson and Álfheiður Ingadóttir (eds.)

2007

Surtsey UNESCO 050107.qxd 15.1.2007 16:27 Page 1

Editors: Snorri Baldursson and Álfheiður IngadóttirPhoto on cover: Torgny Nordin 2003: Surtsey island, aerial view from the southwestMaps and drawings: Lovísa Ásbjörnsdóttir and Anette Th. MeierPhotos: Source is given at individual photoCover and layout: Prentsnið Ltd. Helga TómasdóttirPrinted by: Guðjónó – An environmentally friendly printing house

© 2007 Náttúrufræðistofnun Íslands/Icelandic Institute of Natural HistoryHlemmur 3 – P.O.Box 5320 – 125 Reykjavík – Iceland

Recommended citation: Snorri Baldursson and Álfheiður Ingadóttir (eds.) 2007. Nomination of Surtsey for the UNESCO World Heritage List. Icelandic Institute of Natural History, Reykjavík, 123 pages.

ISBN-978-9979-9335-6-4

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Preface

Surtsey is a scientifically unique area. It offers an outstanding example of a virgin, volcanic island that isbeing actively created and shaped by geological, geomorphological and ecological processes. Thepresent nomination document proposes that the Surtsey Nature Reserve, including the entire Surtseyvolcano and the surrounding sea, be recognised through the award of World Heritage Site status, inparticular due to its international importance for the natural sciences.

It was on 15 November 1963 that Surtsey emerged as a new volcanic island in the picturesqueVestmannaeyjar archipelago. The formation of Surtsey provided the scientific community with a uniqueopportunity to study the development of an oceanic volcano from its inception on the sea floor to thecreation of an island, and then throughout the modification of this newly erected structure by physicaland ecological processes. Since its emergence, the island of Surtsey has been strictly protected andhuman influence restricted to a minimum. Surtsey has thus offered a natural laboratory in geology,geomorphology and ecology which has provided invaluable information on the creation and history ofthe Earth and its biosphere.

Preparations for this nomination have involved local and national authorities and various interestedparties. Commissioned by the Icelandic World Heritage Committee, the Icelandic Institute of NaturalHistory has compiled this nomination document with the assistance and advice of many people andinstitutions.

Our vision is that a World Heritage Site status will further the long-term conservation of Surtsey as apristine nature reserve. Thus we feel it is both a delight and an honour to recommend this nomination tothe World Heritage Committee of UNESCO.

Ragnheiður Helga ÞórarinsdóttirChair

Icelandic World Heritage Committee

Steingrímur Hermannsson Jón Gunnar OttóssonChair Director General

Surtsey Research Society Icelandic Institute of Natural History

Jóhann Sigurjónsson Davíð EgilsonDirector General Director General

Marine Research Institute Environment and Food Agency

Elliði Vignisson Snorri BaldurssonMayor Project Manager

Municipality of Vestmannaeyjar Icelandic Institute of Natural History


This nomination has been commissioned by the Icelandic World Heritage Committee on behalf of the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture and the Ministry for the Environment. The editors and authors are responsible for all the presented results and conclusions.

Members of the Icelandic World Heritage Committee:Ragnheiður H. Þórarinsdóttir, Ministry of Education, Science and Culture, Chair

Árni Bragason, Environment and Food Agency of Iceland

Kristín Huld Sigurðardóttir, The Archaeological Heritage Agency of Iceland

Sigurður Á. Þráinsson, Ministry for the Environment

Project management and editing: Snorri Baldursson and Álfheiður Ingadóttir, Icelandic Institute of Natural History

Authors: Sveinn P. Jakobsson, Icelandic Institute of Natural History

Borgþór Magnússon, Icelandic Institute of Natural History

Erling Ólafsson, Icelandic Institute of Natural History

Guðríður Þorvarðardóttir, Environment and Food Agency of Iceland

Karl Gunnarsson, Marine Research Institute

Snorri Baldursson, Icelandic Institute of Natural History

Ævar Petersen, Icelandic Institute of Natural History

Contributing authors and advisors:Baldur Bjartmarsson, Icelandic Maritime Administration

Gísli Viggósson, Icelandic Maritime Administration

Guðríður Gyða Eyjólfsdóttir, Icelandic Institute of Natural History

Haraldur Sigurðsson, University of Rhode Island, USA

Hörður Kristinsson, Icelandic Institute of Natural History

Reynir Fjalar Reynisson, University of Trondheim, Norway

Steingrímur Hermannsson, Surtsey Research Society, Reykjavík

Tony Weighell, Joint Nature Conservation Committee, UK

Trausti Jónsson, The Icelandic Meteorological Office

Maps and graphics: Lovísa Ásbjörnsdóttir and Anette Th. Meier, Icelandic Institute of Natural History

Technical assistance: Pálína Héðinsdóttir and Ragnhildur Sigrún Björnsdóttir, Icelandic Institute of Natural History

Cover and lay-out: Helga Tómasdóttir, Prentsnið Ltd.

Language assistance and translation: Lingua / Norðan Jökuls

Drawings (birds and plants): Jón Baldur Hlíðberg

3D interpretation: Þórdís Högnadóttir, University of Iceland

Photos: Source is given at individual photo


SURTSEY island of Surt

In the ancient Eddic poem Völuspá, the prophetess describes the birth as well as the fate of life. She tellsOdin about the world tree – the ash Yggdrasil – and about life as it was created and has evolved on earthbut will in the end be destroyed by fires of the giant Surt, the dark ruler of fire. Upon Ragnarök, the finaldestruction of the world, Surt will lead the sons of Muspel against the gods. As he enters “burningeverything in his path, men plunge to hell and the heavens are split apart”*.

In 1963, when volcanic fires began erupting on the seabed south of Iceland and building up a tephracone, it was found appropriate that the resulting island should be named Surtsey, a word formed in thenormal Icelandic manner of including the possessive form of a person's name in a place name: Surtsey =Surt's island (ey meaning “island” in Icelandic) = the island of Surt, the fire giant.

*Völuspá: The Prophecy. The prophecy of the Vikings – the creation of the world. Gudrun 2001. English translation by Bernard Scudder, p. 70.

Völuspá52. vísa

Surtur fer sunnanmeð sviga lævi,skín af sverðisól valtíva,grjótbjörg gnata,en gífur rata,troða halir helveg,en himinn klofnar.

Völuspá: The Prophecy*Verse 52

Surt comes from the southwith his wood-eating fire,sun glints on the swordof the godly warriors.Boulders slam together,sending trolls tumbling,men tread the path to Helland the heavens cleave.



1 Identification of the property ............................................................................................................................. 8

2 Description2.a Description of property ............................................................................................................................. 11

Iceland – geological overview............................................................................................................... 11Vestmannaeyjar archipelago................................................................................................................... 13Topography............................................................................................................................................................ 15Geology .................................................................................................................................................................. 16The climate............................................................................................................................................................ 25Offshore waves................................................................................................................................................... 26Terrestrial life ....................................................................................................................................................... 27Vegetation .............................................................................................................................................................. 32Birds ............................................................................................................................................................................ 34Invertebrates ......................................................................................................................................................... 37Marine life.............................................................................................................................................................. 39

2.b History and development.......................................................................................................................... 45The Surtsey eruption...................................................................................................................................... 45Posteruption history........................................................................................................................................ 52Future development of Surtsey ............................................................................................................. 56Influx of terrestrial organisms................................................................................................................. 57Arrival of marine organisms .................................................................................................................... 59Plant and bird colonisation and ecosystem development.............................................. 59Invertebrate colonisation ........................................................................................................................... 65Benthos colonisation..................................................................................................................................... 66

3 Justification for inscription3.a Criteria under which inscription is proposed .......................................................................... 693.b Proposed statement of outstanding universal value............................................................. 713.c Comparative analysis .................................................................................................................................... 733.d Authenticity/Integrity..................................................................................................................................... 77

4 State of conservation and factors affecting the property4.a Present state of conservation .................................................................................................................. 814.b Factors affecting the property ............................................................................................................... 81

5 Protection and management of the property5.a Ownership ............................................................................................................................................................. 875.b Protective designation.................................................................................................................................. 875.c Means of implementing protective measures ........................................................................... 885.d Existing plans related to the municipality of the proposed property .................... 885.e Property management plan or other management system............................................. 885.f Sources and levels of finance ............................................................................................................... 895.g Sources of expertise in conservation and management .................................................. 905.h Visitor facilities and statistics ................................................................................................................ 905.i Presentation and promotion of the property.............................................................................. 905.j Staffing levels ..................................................................................................................................................... 91

6 Monitoring 6.a Key indicators for measuring the state of conservation .................................................... 936.b Administrative arrangements for monitoring property....................................................... 936.c Results of previous reporting exercises .......................................................................................... 94

7 Documentation 7.a Supplementary material.............................................................................................................................. 957.b Declaration of Surtsey Nature Reserve, 2006........................................................................... 957.c Form and date of recent records.......................................................................................................... 977.d Agencies holding important records ................................................................................................ 977.e Bibliography ......................................................................................................................................................... 98

8 Contact information of responsible authorities8.a Preparers.................................................................................................................................................................. 1018.b Official local agency ..................................................................................................................................... 1018.c Other local institutions .............................................................................................................................. 1018.d Official web address...................................................................................................................................... 101

9 Signature on behalf of the State Party ......................................................................................................... 103

Acknowledgements .................................................................................................................................................... 104

Lists of figures, tables and appendices........................................................................................................ 105

7

Contents


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1.a Country Iceland.

1.b State, province or regionMunicipality of Vestmannaeyjar.

1.c Name of property Surtsey.

1.d Geographical coordinates The nominated property is bounded by the following coordinates: 1) 63°16´08´Ń and 20°36´04´´W; 2) 63°16´08´Ń and 20°40´00´´W; 3) 63°17´52´Ń and 20°40´00´´W; 4) 63°20´22´Ń and 20°35´31´´W; 5) 63°18´15´Ń and 20°31´16´´W.

1.e Maps and plans showing theboundaries of the nominated property and buffer zoneFigure 1.1 is a map showing the location andboundaries of the nominated area and its bufferzone.

1.f Area of the nominated property and the proposed buffer zone The nominated property, Surtsey (Fig. 1.1, red line), represents the strictly protectedcomponent of the nationally designated SurtseyNature Reserve. The 33.7 km2 property encom-passes the entire Surtsey volcano (of which 1.4 km2 are above sea level and 13.2 km2 aresubmerged) and surrounding ocean (19.1 km2). The remaining 31.9 km2 of the Surtsey NatureReserve (Fig 1.1, black line) represent a bufferzone for this nomination. Fishing is allowedwithin the buffer zone, but construction,mining and the use of firearms are prohibited.

Fig. 1.1. Map of Surtsey, showing boundaries of thenominated area and buffer zone. Smaller figuresshow the location of the nominated area within theVestmannaeyjar archipelago, the location of Vest-mannaeyjar off Iceland's south coast, and thelocation of Iceland in the northern hemisphere.

Identification of the property1

50 km

Reykjavík

Vestmannaeyjar

VATNAJÖKULLICE CAP

I C E L A N D

Elliðaey

Heimaey

Suðurey

Álsey

Surtsey

VestmannaeyjarTown

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Iceland


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Aerial photograph of Surtsey, August 12th, 2004. (With permission from: Loftmyndir).


2.a Description of property

Iceland – geological overviewIceland is an integral part of the Mid-AtlanticRidge and also its largest supramarine segment(Fig. 2.1) with a landmass of 103,000 km2.Sometimes described as a hot spot above amantle plume, Iceland is built almost exclusivelyof volcanic rock, predominantly basalts, whilesediments constitute about 10% of the island'soverall volume. Since the land has been built upduring the last 16 million years, it is geologicallyspeaking a young country. Iceland's rocks can bedivided into four geological formations: the LateTertiary Basalt Formation, the Late Pliocene andEarly Pleistocene Basalt Formation, the LatePleistocene Móberg Formation, and the HoloceneFormation (Fig. 2.2).

The crest of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge marks theboundary between the North American andEurasian tectonic plates. These two plates movetowards the west-northwest and east-southeastrespectively, with an average spreading rate thatis calculated to be ≤1 cm/yr in each direction in

the region of Iceland. Because the centre ofspread, running from southwest to northeast,crosses Iceland, the island expands continuouslythrough a process of rifting apart and accretingnew crust, which stems from volcanism along the crest zone of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge.

11

Description2

Surtsey

50 km

Holocene sedimentsBasic and intermediate lavas.HoloceneAcid rocksBasic and intermediate tuffs andsediments. Late PleistoceneBasic and intermediate lavas.Late PleistoceneBasic and intermediate lavas.Late Pliocene and EarlyPleistoceneBasic and intermediate lavas.Late Tertiary

Fig. 2.2. Simplified geological map of Iceland, displaying the principal geological formations.

Fig. 2.1. The Mid-Atlantic Ridge in the region ofIceland, with a red line showing the boundarybetween the North American and Eurasian tectonicplates.


The volcanic zones of Iceland (Fig. 2.3), areamong the most active on Earth, with an eruptionoccurring every three years on average.Moreover, the country's volcanic activity isassociated with vigorous hydrothermal activity.

Icelandic volcano-tectonics appear to havebeen characterised by volcanic systemsthroughout the island's geological history. Avolcanic system is a spatial grouping of eruptionsites, including feeder dikes and possibly shallowmagma chambers, that usually have in commoncertain structural, petrographic and geochemicalcharacteristics within the bounds of the system.Volcanic production is generally most intensearound the middle of each system, where manyhave developed a central volcano with theconcomitant production of intermediate and acidrocks. High-temperature hydrothermal activity is

often connected with the central part of eachsystem, evidenced by steaming vents andsolfataras.

In Iceland and on its insular shelf, about 44volcanic systems have erupted at least onceduring the Holocene and Late Pleistocene (Fig.2.3), the most active being the Hekla, Katla, Askjaand Krafla systems. The Hekla central volcanohas erupted 19 times during the country's historicperiod (i.e. since AD 870), most recently in theyear 2000. The subglacial central volcano ofKatla has during the same period erupted onaverage twice a century, including the mostrecent eruption in 1955. The latest eruptionwithin the Askja caldera occurred in 1961, whilethe Krafla volcanic system produced nine smalleruptions from 1975 to 1984 (Ari TraustiGuðmundsson 2001).

12

SURTSEY – NOMINATION FOR THE UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE LIST

TholeiiticTransitional alkalicAlkalic

Snæfellsnes Zone

Nor

ther

n Z

one

VestmannaeyjarSurtsey

Hekla

Katla

Askja

Krafla

50 km

Wes

tern

Zone

Easte

rnZone

Öræ

fajöku

ll Zone

Fig. 2.3. Active volcanic systems in Iceland and on its insular shelf, grouped according to petrological criteria. The distribution of rocks from the Late Pleistocene and Holocene (dark grey) is also shown.


Vestmannaeyjar archipelagoSurtey island is a part of the Vestmannaeyjararchipelago (Fig. 2.4), which consists of 18islands and a number of skerries, and is situatedon the insular shelf off the central south coast ofIceland. Heimaey is the largest island (13.6 km2)and the only one to be inhabited (4,200residents). It has one town which is also calledVestmannaeyjar and the most important fishingharbour along the south coast of Iceland.

Vestmannaeyjar constitutes a separatevolcanic system at the southern end of Iceland'sEastern Volcanic Zone (Fig. 2.3). This is a youngsystem, having probably commenced activitysome 100,000 years ago, and its oldest part, theNorðurklettar Formation, is exposed on the

northernmost end of Heimaey. NorðurklettarFormation was built up by small volcanoes whichprobably erupted through an ice cap, leavingbehind palagonite tuffs and tuff breccias cappedby lavas. No high-temperature hydrothermalactivity has been discovered at the surface inVestmannaeyjar (Sveinn P. Jakobsson 1979).

During the Holocene (during the last 11,500years), volcanism has remained at low intensity inthe Vestmannaeyjar system. Seventeen volcanoes,of which three are on Heimaey, have beenidentified above sea level. These volcanoesoriginally rose from the sea floor in the same wayas Surtsey, even at similar sea levels. The largestof the volcanoes comprise the islands ofBjarnarey, Elliðaey and Suðurey, and include

13

2 DESCRIPTION

40

6080

20

100

120

140

Elliðaey

BjarnareyHeimaklettur

Heimaey

Stórhöfði

Suðurey

Álsey

Brandur

Hellisey

Geldungur

Súlnasker

GeirfuglaskerSurtsey

Eldfell

Wave buoy

Helgafell

Ve

st m

an

na

e y j a r

Einidrangur

PLEISTOCENE

HOLOCENEBasalt tuffBasalt lavaSurtsey and Eldfell lavasScoriaSurtsey sedimentsCrater

Norðurklettur formation2 km

Fig. 2.4. Simplified geological map of the Vestmannaeyjar archipelago. Depth contour lines in meters.


Stórhöfði and Sæfell-Helgafell on the island ofHeimaey. Two volcanic eruptions are known withcertainty in historic times: the Surtsey eruption of1963–1967 and the 1973 Eldfell eruption onHeimaey. A small submarine eruption may haveoccurred on the sea floor southeast of Hellisey in1896. Furthermore, four young submarinevolcanoes have been discovered, so thataltogether 24 volcanic eruptions are known tohave occurred within the Vestmannaeyjar systemduring the Holocene (Sveinn P. Jakobsson 1979).In addition to the submarine rises produced bythe Holocene eruptions, numerous hills andpeaks on the sea floor (Fig. 2.4) presumablyrepresent remnants of more than 40 Late-Pleistocene submarine volcanoes. Most of thevolcanoes in the Vestmannaeyjar system arerelatively small.

As a large part of the Vestmannaeyjar volcanicsystem is submarine, its geographical limits aredifficult to delineate exactly; however, it reachesabout 38 km from southwest to northeast and 29km from northwest to southeast, covering an areaof 900–1000 km2, where the average depth of the

sea is about 70 m. The volume of volcanic rockextruded within the Vestmannaeyjar volcanicsystem during the Holocene period has beenestimated as ≥ 3.5 km3, which is one order ofmagnitude less than the output of the highlyactive Hekla and Katla volcanic systems.Investigations on the Vestmannaeyjar shelf(Sveinn P. Jakobsson 1982; Kjartan Thors andJóhann Helgason 1988) indicate that localsubmarine as well as subaerial volcanism was thesource of the material building up the marineshelf and that for the most part this build-up hasprobably been ongoing for the last 100,000 years.

The main activity in the Vestmannaeyjarvolcanic system has occurred in and aroundHeimaey (Fig. 2.4), which has accordinglyformed a topographic high. Indeed, it has beenproposed that Heimaey is evolving into a centralvolcano (Sveinn P. Jakobsson 1979). On the otherhand, there are strong indications thatVestmannaeyjar system volcanism is episodic.The youngest Late-Pleistocene tuffs and lavas ofthe Norðurklettar Formation seem to have allbeen deposited within a short time interval. Therealso appears to have been a major volcanicepisode 5,000–6,000 years ago, leading to theformation of Stórhöfði and Helgafell on Heimaey

14


Aerial view to the southwest of the Vestmannaeyjararchipelago. Elliðaey and Bjarnarey are in theforeground, Heimaey in the middle and Surtsey in thefar background. (Photo: Ragnar Th. Sigurðsson 2000).


and of the islands of Bjarnarey and Elliðaeynortheast of Heimaey. The most recent volcanicepisode may have started with the reportedsubmarine eruption in 1896, followed by theSurtsey eruption of 1963–1967 and the Eldfelleruption in 1973.

In contrast to the Surtsey eruption, which hadan insignificant effect on the residents ofHeimaey, the Eldfell eruption on their island inJanuary to June 1973 had disastrous effects(Williams and Moore 1983). A 3-km-longeruption fissure opened up at the eastern outskirtsof town; 350 houses (30% of the total) weredestroyed by lava or tephra and a further 400were damaged. Miraculously, only one life waslost, as all the islanders were evacuated from theisland within hours. About two-thirds of theresidents returned in following summer, or about3500 out of 5300 pre-eruption inhabitants. TheEldfell eruption is considered to be one of themost destructive volcanic eruptions in the historyof Iceland.

TopographyThe Surtsey volcano, which belongs to theVestmannaeyjar volcanic system, rose from thesea floor in a volcanic eruption occurring from1963 to 1967. The eruption history of Surtseyvolcano is described in Chapter 2b. At the end ofthe eruption in 1967, the island of Surtsey hadattained a surface area of 2.65 km2 and the totalvolume of erupted material was estimated to be1.1 km3, about 70% of which was tephra and30% lava. The island is the subaerial segment ofthe complete Surtsey volcano, which forms amainly submarine ridge approximately 5.8 kmlong and oriented southwest-northeast. Measuredfrom northwest to southeast, the volcano'smaximum width is 2.9 km and its base areaencompasses some 13.2 km2 (Fig. 2.5). TheSurtsey volcano has changed considerably sincethe eruption ended in 1967, and the followingtopographical and geological description is basedmainly on data collected in the summer of 2004.The description of bottom topography is based ondepth measurements by the Icelandic MaritimeAdministration in the summer of 2000.

15

2 DESCRIPTION

Fig. 2.5. Three-dimensional model of the Surtsey volcano (oblique view from the south), prepared by the Institute ofEarth Sciences, University of Iceland, based on aerial photographs from 2004 (Loftmyndir) and depth soundings ofthe seabed from 2000 (Hydrographic Department).


Surtsey has a surface area of 1.41km2, a maxi-mum width from west to east of 1.33 km and amaximum length from north to south of 1.80 km(Fig. 2.6; see also enclosed map). It is the secondlargest island of the Vestmannaeyjar group, fol-lowed by Elliðaey (0.46 km2) and Bjarnarey (0.33km2). Although the highest elevation on Surtsey isonly 155 m, the sea depth prior to the eruptionwas about 130 m, so that the true height of thevolcano is 285 m.

Surtsey's prominent topographical features aretwo crescent-shaped cones composed of tephraand palagonite tuff, along with a lava field thatcaps the southern half of the island. Rising to anelevation of 155 m, the eastern cone,Austurbunki, is marked by several small lava

craters and fissures. The western cone, Vestur-bunki, whose height is 141 m, has large slumpscars due to marine abrasion on its western side,where a 135-m-high sea cliff has formed. Fromthe tuff cones, the main lava field forms a shieldgently dipping to the south and east. Transportedcoastal sediments have mainly been deposited atthe north end of the island, constructing a broadspit.

The shape of Surtsey is constantly modified bythe harsh weather conditions which prevail in thesea south of Iceland, particularly during winter.Heavy sea waves erode the coast and producecoastal sediments. Being easily eroded andtransported by the wind, loose, unconsolidatedtephra has collected as aeolian deposits along the

16


Fig. 2.6. Geological map of Surtsey. Topography is based on aerial photographs from August 2004. See also enclosedmap in the scale of 1:5000.


flanks of the two cones, as well as on the lavafield. Wind deflation is conspicuous in theisland's tuff, where it has at places createdpotholes up to 0.5 m deep and 1.5 m in diameter.

Running water is rarely observed on thesurface of the tephra and lava because of theirhigh porosity, although small, temporary streamsdo appear on the tuff surface after exceptionallyheavy precipitation. These temporary streamshave eroded the unconsolidated tephra which inmost places surrounds the tuff and built fans atthe base of slopes, so that mudflow channelshave developed at several points on the tuff coneslopes. On the northern slopes of Vesturbunki andAusturbunki, these mudflow channels are usually0.5–2 m wide and reach down to the foot of theslope. On the inner slope of Austurbunki, smallermudflow channels can be observed that havesolidified into rock since their original formationin unconsolidated tephra.

Apart from Surtsey, eruptions occurred on thesea floor at three sites, concurrent with theSurtsey eruption. About 2.5 km north-northeast ofSurtsey, a submarine tephra ridge, Surtla, wasbuilt up between December 1963 and January1964. Recent depth measurements indicate itslength as 0.9 km and its width as 0.6 km, and itrises 60 m above the sea floor (Fig. 2.6). At adistance of 0.6 km to the east-northeast ofSurtsey, explosive activity formed the island ofSyrtlingur in 1965. Today, however, only asubmarine platform remains, measuring 1.2 kmin diameter and rising 70–80 m above the sea

floor. In 1965–1966 yet another island, calledJólnir, was formed by explosive activity 1 kmsouthwest of Surtsey. Today it is only representedby a seamount with a diameter of 1.7 km and anelevation of 60–70 m above the sea floor(Norrman and Erlingsson 1992).

GeologyThe surface of Surtsey has been mapped in detail,using conventional methods. Furthermore, a 181m deep research hole was drilled in 1979 at thesoutheast corner of Austurbunki in order toinvestigate the subsurface constitution andstructure of the island. Surtsey, designated as asubmarine tuya (Sigurður Þórarinsson 1966;Guðmundur Kjartansson 1966), has now becomethe best-studied volcano in Iceland. While theterm tuya was originally restricted to subglacialvolcanoes, it has since been extended to includevolcanoes that have erupted into lakes or shallowseawater. Surtsey is considered to be one of theworld's best preserved submarine tuya. The twoprimary geological units formed during theSurtsey eruption are tephra and lava. Basal pillowlava, an important part of most subglacial tuyas,apparently did not develop in Surtsey because ofthe shallow water depth (Sveinn P. Jakobsson andMoore 1986). The eruptive products at Surtsey arecomposed of alkali basalt with phenocrysts ofolivine, plagioclase and chromian spinel. Inaddition, three secondary geological units arefound there: palagonite tuff, aeolian and talussediments, and coastal sediments (Fig. 2.6).

17

2 DESCRIPTION

0

0 m

200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400 1600 1800 2000 2200 2400 2600 m

50 m

100 m

150 m

- 50 m

- 100 m

- 150 m

SE

Ocean

Hot spring

Drill hole

Ocean

NW

A

Tephra Tuff Intrusions Steam fluxBreccia, sediments Flow direction of waterLava 1964-1965 Lava 1966-1967

H : L = 2,5 : 1 B C

Sea floor previous to the Surtsey eruption

B

A

C

Fig. 2.7. NW-SE profile through the Surtsey volcano.


TephraDuring the explosive submarine phase of theSurtsey eruption, from November 1963 to April1964, basalt tephra (volcanic ash) was producedthrough the quenching of hot magma by cold seawater. The resulting tephra formed two crescent-shaped cones which merged, and today cover anarea of 0.34 km2. The cones are built up of tephralayers which to a considerable extent haveconsolidated into tuff due to posteruptivehydrothermal activity. Geologists call craters ofthis type tephra or tuff rings, depending on whichmaterial dominates. The eastern tuff cone, namedSurtur or Austurbunki, has a crest-width of 0.43km, and the western tuff cone, Surtungur orVesturbunki, has a crest-width of 0.52 km. Onthe scale of other Icelandic tuff or tephra craters,the Surtsey tuff craters are medium-sized.

Characterised by poor sorting and varyinggrain size, Surtsey tephra ranges in itsconstituents from silt to boulders (Lorenz 1974),although it is mainly made up of fine glass shardsless than 2 mm in diameter, along with mineralphenocrysts and small rock fragments. The tephradeposited above sea level forms finely-beddedlayers and is poorly sorted, contrasting to thetephra below sea level, which is more chaotic instructure and whose grains sometimes demon-strate considerable size sorting. The porosity ofthe tephra layers above sea level must rate as veryhigh, or 45–50% by volume.

Surtsey has come to be the world type locality

for Surtseyan tephra (Walker and Croasdale 1972;Walker 1973), i.e. tephra produced by hydro-magmatic explosions in shallow water. The islandis also an important site for accretionary lapilli(Sveinn P. Jakobsson and Moore 1982), whoseindividual pellets there reach the exceptionaldiameter of 3.5 cm. Also, Surtsey was one of thefirst localities in the world where vesiculated tuffwas noted and described, i.e. tuff that containsindependent vesicles between particles, wheresteam was trapped while the original tephra wasbeing deposited (Lorenz 1974).

LavaThe Surtsey eruption evolved from an explosivephase into an effusive phase at the western crater(Surtungur) in April 1964, when the island waslarge enough to isolate that vent from inflowingseawater. Altogether, seven Surtsey craters andcrater fissures emitted lava between April 1964and June 1967 (Fig. 2.6). The first major effusivephase (1964–1965) produced a lava shieldextending 100 m above sea level and containing,when finished, a total volume of 0.3 km3, whilethe second phase (1966–1967) produced a 70-m-high lava shield with a volume of 0.1 km3. Bothof these shields consist of two structural units: aninner lava cone and an outer lava apron(Thorvaldur Thordarson 2000). Together they forma lava field that slopes gently to the south andeast. Added to this are five small lava flows on theslopes of Austurbunki. Today the lavas cover anarea of 0.72 km2.

When lava flows into water it brecciates andgradually builds up a submarine delta in front ofthe shore. Such a delta is foreset-bedded andconsists of the products of the quench-fragmentation of molten lava and thedisintegration of subaerial lava flows. At Surtseythe final layers in the western lava crater haveachieved a total thickness of 230 m, resting on a130-m-thick brecciated foundation which liesbelow sea level.

Due to heavy marine abrasion, high lava cliffshave formed on Surtsey and now tower a heightof 80 m over the southwest shoreline. These cliffsprovide excellent outcrops for viewing the internalstructure of the subaerial lava shield, which wasconstructed by multiple lava flows whose thick-ness varies but averages 1–2 m. The morphologyof the lava surface is very interesting, particularly

18


View to the west over the crater Surtungur. (Photo:Daníel Bergmann 2003).


through the possibility of referring to the modifi-cations it underwent, according to the detailedcontemporary descriptions by Sigurður Þórarins-son (1966, 1967, 1969) and Þorleifur Einarsson(1966). The Surtsey lava flows are mostly smoothpahoehoe flows, even if rugged aa flows are alsoevidenced, mainly in two areas in the lavaproduced from 1966 to 1967.

Being basaltic and having a low viscosity, theSurtsey lavas tended to flow in tubes or closedtrenches, especially from Surtungur, the westernlava crater. Many of the lava tubes were lefthollow. Tumulus structures are common, with

observations showing that tumuli form when thelava crust becomes inflated above a wide pool ofmolten lava. Surtsey also has hornitos at severallocations, and one small pit crater remainssouthwest of the Surtungur where the roof of alarge lava tube collapsed (Fig. 2.6).

The geometry and profile of the subaerialsegments of the Surtsey lava shields are strikinglysimilar to those of other monogenetic lava shieldsin Iceland and everywhere else, which permitsthe study of the effusive activity at Surtsey as ananalogue for establishing a conceptual model oflava shields in general.

19

2 DESCRIPTION

Typical ropy lava surface at the southern coast of Surtsey. (Photo: Borgþór Magnússon 2005).


20


Rock fragments of exotic origin are notuncommon in the Surtsey tephra. Sincethese fragments are quite diverse, theyhave been classified into five main groups,each offering valuable information on aspecific geological issue. A conspicuousexample of these groups is fossiliferous bitswhich the submarine explosions blastedupwards from the site's former sea floor.Another group, whose fragments includegranite, gneiss, quartzite, dolomite andschist, has attracted special attention, sincesuch rock types cannot be of local origin.It has been suggested that icebergstransported them from East Greenland tothe environs of Vestmannaeyjar, probably

for the most part during the early Holocene. According to this theory, icebergs containingterrestrial debris drifted with ocean currents from their place of origin to the Vestmannaeyjarvicinity. As the icebergs melted there in the warmer ocean, the rock debris they had brought froma far-off land sank to the seabed. While the Surtsey eruption was in its explosive submarinephases, this debris originating from icebergs was blasted into the atmosphere, along with pieces ofthe uppermost sea floor. As the blasted material settled, it mixed with the tephra in Surtsey (Fig.2.6). (Reynir Fjalar Reynisson 2006).

Typical samples of the exotic xenoliths from Surtsey,including granite, gneiss, quartzite and dolomite. (Photo: Kristján Jónasson 2006).

90%90%90%35%35%35%

80%80%80%

40%40%40%

40%40%40%

40%40%40%60%60%60%

Daugaard-Jensen

Vestfjord

Storstrømmen

Gerard de Geer

Kvit Øya NovayaZemlya

Franz JosephLand

Major iceberg productionMinor iceberg production

Probable iceberg trackLess probable iceberg track

Possible origin of exotic xenoliths found in the Surtsey tephra

Possible origin of the exotic xenoliths from Surtsey. Numbers refer to the proportion of theexotic xenoliths that match formations presented on geological bedrock maps of each area.Several factors combine to make Daugaard-Jensen glacier in East Greenland the mostprobable origin of the exotic xenoliths. Most of the samples from Surtsey can be traced toits surrounding area. (From Reynir Fjalar Reynisson 2006).


21

2 DESCRIPTION

Geological definitions

Accretionary lapilli: Spheroidal pellets consistingof cemented or consolidated tephra andmeasuring generally between 1 mm and 1 cm indiameter. Formed in the explosion column by theaccretion of wet particles around a nucleuswhich is usually a rock fragment.

Alkali basalt: A silica-undersaturated basalt,uncommon in Iceland.

Breccia: A coarse-grained rock composed ofangular rock fragments.

Encrustation: A mineral crust formed on a rocksurface.

Holocene: The youngest geological epoch,representing the last 11,500 years of thegeological record.

Hornito: A topographically insignificant moundor rise of spatter from around an opening in theroof of an underlying lava tube.

Hydromagmatic eruption: An explosive volcaniceruption caused by magma interacting withground water, surface water or sea water.

Magma: Molten rock material that containssuspended crystals (phenocrysts) and isgenerated within the upper mantle or crust.Upon extrusion in Surtsey, the temperature of themagma was 1,155° –1,180° C.

Móberg: An Icelandic term for brownish,consolidated tephra, of basaltic or intermediatecomposition.

Móberg Formation: A chronostratigraphical termspanning all Icelandic deposits from the LatePleistocene, i.e. between 0.78 and 0.01 millionyears ago.

Palagonite: An altered, hydrated, basaltic glass,of brown or yellow colour. The term is related tothe alteration process, called palagonitisation.

Phenocryst: A relatively large, conspicuouscrystal in a fine-grained or glassy groundmass.

Pillow lava: Lava displaying pillow structure andformed in a subaqueous environment.

Plate tectonics: A theory of global tectonicsaccording to which the lithosphere is dividedinto a number of plates; these undergohorizontal movements leading to seismic andvolcanic activity along plate boundaries.

Pleistocene: The geological epoch just previousto the Holocene, starting 1.8 million years agoand ending 11,500 years ago.

Silt: Sediment finer-grained than sand but coarserthan clay.

Solifluction: Slow, viscous, downslope flow ofwaterlogged surface material.

Spit: A small point or low tongue or narrowembarkment of land, commonly consisting ofsand or gravel deposited by longshore transport.

Talus: Coarse rock fragments derived from a cliffand lying at its base.

Tephra: Unconsolidated rock particles expelledthrough volcanic vents or produced by steamexplosions. Classified according to its particlesize, tephra consists mainly of basaltic glass.

Tuff: Tuff is cemented or consolidated tephra,while tuff breccia contains coarse fragments ofbasalt.

Tumulus: Isolated cupola-shaped mound thatprotrudes from a lava surface and is typically1.5–3 m high and 5–15 m in diameter.

Tuya: A relatively flat-topped volcano formed byan eruption into water thawed from an ice cap,or into a lake or seawater. Also called a tablemountain, a tuya is mainly composed of tephraand is usually capped by subaerial lava.

Vesiculated tuff: Tuff that contains vesicles left bysteam which was trapped between particlesduring deposition of the original tephra.


Lava cavesSurtsey has four emptied, subhorizontal lavacaves which have been mapped; the longest suchcave measures 181 m. Emptied, near vertical lavafeeder dikes to craters can be described as asecond type of cave on the island. Five caves ofthis type have been mapped, the largest of whichextends about 20 m down. Stalactites andstalagmites of lava are common in the lava cavesand reach a length of 20 cm. The occurrence oflava caves and caverns in the comparatively smalllava field on Surtsey exceeds what has beenobserved in other Icelandic lava fields (BjörnHróarsson 1990).

EncrustationsFumarolic gases in the cooling lavas resulted incolourful volcanogenic mineral encrustations thatare especially abundant close to craters. Some ofthese encrustations, being water soluble, quicklydisappeared, while others were easily affected bygeneral weathering processes. In some of thedeeper lava caves, however, abundantvolcanogenic encrustations are still present(Sveinn P. Jakobsson et al. 1992). Another type ofencrustation is of the evaporitic sort. Not onlydoes down-seeping precipitation on Surtseycontain a high proportion of ocean spray, butseawater seeping into the island presumably boilswhere it comes into contact with hot intrusions at

sea level (Fig. 2.7). Such conditions facilitate theformation of quite exceptional encrustations,whose evaporitic specimens have for instanceformed stalactites reaching below cave roofs asfar as 45 cm. Altogether, eighteen mineral specieshave been identified; one of which appears to bea new world mineral (Table 2.1).

Hydrothermal anomalyIn the spring of 1967, a mild hydrothermalanomaly was discovered at the surface inAusturbunki. The extent of this anomaly is clearlyrelated to how the lava craters are distributed

22


Sulphur SHalite NaClFluorite CaF2

Carnallite KMgCl3 . 6H2ORalstonite NaXMgXAl2-X(F,OH)6 . H2OOpal-A SiO2 . nH2OCalcite CaCO3

Thenardite Na2SO4

Aphthitalite (K,Na)3Na(SO4)2Glauberite Na2Ca(SO4)2Anhydrite CaSO4

Galeite Na15(SO4)5F4ClKieserite MgSO4 . H2OBlodite Na2Mg(SO4)2 . 4H2OGypsum CaSO4 . 2H2OLoweite Na12Mg7(SO4)13 . 15H2OKainite KMg(SO4)Cl . 3H2ONew World mineral Na2Ca5(SO4)6 . 3H2O

(JCPDS 35-137)

II. Formed in the hydrothermal system asalteration products of basalt tephra

Opal-A SiO2 . nH2OCalcite CaCO3

Anhydrite CaSO4

Gypsum CaSO4 . 2H2OTobermorite Ca5Si6O16(OH)2 . 4H2O Xonotlite Ca6Si6O17 . (OH)2Nontronite Na,K,Ca; Al,Mg,Fe-silicateAnalcime NaAlSi2O6 . H2OPhillipsite (K,Na,Ca)1-2(Si,Al)8O16 . 6H2OChabazite CaAl2Si4O12 . 6H2O

Table 2.1. Secondary minerals formed at Surtsey.

Scientists measuring temperature at a steaming fissureon the western crest of Surtungur. (Photo: Sveinn P.Jakobsson 1997).

I. Formed by encrustation upon the cooling and degassing of lava


(Friedman and Williams 1970). Although therehas been a postvolcanic decline in thermal flux,vapour emissions still remain visible fromnumerous open fissures in the tuff. In 2002 asmall hot spring with temperatures at 80°C wasdiscovered at the western shore of Surtungur(Figs. 2.6 and 2.7).

The drill hole on Surtsey provided importantinsights into the character of the hydrothermalsystem in the volcano. Figure 2.7 is a geologicalcross-section of Surtsey from northwest to south-east, based on the documented sequence oferuption events and on information from the drillhole. These data strongly suggest that the heat inthe hydrothermal system was provided byintrusions which formed both below and abovesea level from 1965 to 1966 at Vesturbunki, andfrom December 1966 to January 1967 atAusturbunki, in conjunction with lava extrusionsin these areas (Sveinn P. Jakobsson 1978;Valgarður Stefánsson et al. 1985).

Because of the high porosity of Surtseyformations, any water at sea level inside Surtseyis presumed to be boiling, which leads to vapourdominating the hydrothermal system above sealevel and to temperatures of around 100° C

prevailing in the porous tephra pile (Friedman etal. 1976). Below sea level, on the other hand,temperatures of several hundred degrees C mayoccur, especially close to the inferred intrusions.

Palagonite tuffThe basalt tephra has been observed to alterrapidly within the hydrothermal portions ofSurtsey, concluding with consolidation of thetephra into palagonite tuff. In 2004 the tuff areacovered 0.24 km2, and some 85% of the volumeof the tephra cones above sea level is estimatedto have changed into hard palagonite tuff. Duringthe alteration process, the original glass shards inthe tephra are chemically modified, devitrifiedand hydrated to produce palagonite. This processis called palagonitisation and had not previouslybeen monitored happening in nature (Sveinn P.Jakobsson 1972; 1978). During the process, anumber of chemical elements are released fromthe original glass in the tephra to form an array ofnew secondary minerals which eventually fill thevoids in the rock and at the same time cements itsparticles together (Sveinn P. Jakobsson and Moore1986). Ten types of minor secondary minerals arefound in the palagonite tuff (Table 2.1).

23

2 DESCRIPTION

Tuff sea cliff on the west coast. The red colour indicates oxidation of the tuff caused by the overlaying lava. (Photo:Daníel Bergmann 2003).


A further aspect to note is that signs of bacterialactivity have been observed in many tuff samplesfrom Surtsey (Thorseth et al. 1992; Sveinn P.Jakobsson 1996), and it appears possible thatbacteria contribute to altering the tephra there.

The transformation of tephra to tuff has animportant implication for the future of Surtsey,since tuff has proved itself to be much moreresistant to marine abrasion than tephra and eventhan lava. Through the formation of tuff, Surtseyhas been ensured a longer life.

SedimentsThe ferocity of wave action in the seasurrounding Surtsey has come as a surprise togeologists. Coastal erosion has been rapid,modifying the coastline markedly from year toyear, above all during winter storms. Thus coastalsediments (Fig. 2.6), consisting mainly ofboulders and cobbles derived from the break-upof lava (Norrman 1980; Calles et al. 1982), nowcovers an area of 0.15 km2. Most of the lava shoreterrace has been eroded by longshore drifttowards the north, and the boulders, amongwhich the largest are about 1.5 m in diameter,have mainly been deposited in the northern spit.Partly covered with sand originating in the tephraand tuff of the two cones, the northern spit alsohas overflow channels where stranded driftwoodindicates the floodline on the spit every winter.Coastal material is lost downhill, probably inintermittent slump motions, to form the 130-m-deep submarine slope of Surtsey.

Surtsey presents conspicuous aeolian deposits,whose source material is mainly tephra. Thesewind-driven deposits can be divided into twogroups: firstly, the sand dunes and ripplescapping the slopes of the tephra and tuff conesand, secondly, sand blowing onto and coveringthe lava field (Calles et al. 1982). The aeoliandeposits are characterised by considerably better

24


The tuff sea cliffs on the northwestern coast are up to 130 m high and have changed little since 1980. (Photo Sveinn P. Jakobsson 1985).

The northern spit is made up of boulders, cobbles andsand. (Photo: Karl Gunnarsson 1998).


sorting than the original tephra, with the domi-nant grain sizes belonging to the sand and siltfractions. The aeolian deposits (>0.5 m thick) nowcover an area of 0.20 km2.

Mud flow and talus deposits appear on theslopes of the two tephra and tuff cones, mainly atthe north sides. This material, which has beentransported by the force of gravity and runningwater, is characterised by poor sorting. Inaddition to this, some solifluction material isfound on the northern sides of the cones.

The climateAutomatic meteorological observations wereconducted at Surtsey over a two-month period inthe late autumn and early winter of 1996. Theobservation station, which was at an exposedlocation 154 m above sea level, gave resultsstrongly indicating that the Surtsey weatherconditions and those 19 km to the northeast, atStórhöfði lighthouse on Heimaey, are very similar.The Stórhöfði station is also at a very exposedlocation, standing 118 m above sea level, andhas kept a continuous record of observations

since 1921. During the two-month period theaverage temperature difference was less than 0.1° C, although the wind speed at Surtseymeasured higher than at Stórhöfði during thesame period. All climatological references belowrefer to the Stórhöfði station, unless otherwiseindicated.

The maritime climate of Surtsey is character-ised by relatively warm winters and coolsummers. While the average monthly sea surfacetemperature is higher than the air temperature inevery month of the year, the average difference inthe winter months exceeds 4° C. On individualdays in any season, though especially in thesummer, the sea can become colder than the air –circumstances that commonly cause fog orextremely low clouds. All the winter months(December to March) have average temperaturesbetween 1.5 and 2.0° C, whereas the warmestmonths at Stórhöfði, slightly higher than sea level,are July and August, whose average temperatureslie close to or just below 10° C (Fig. 2.8). Theannual temperature range (difference between thewarmest and coldest months) is thus only about8.5° C, compared with the range in annual sea

25

2 DESCRIPTION

Erosion of tephra by temporary streams of water at the northern side of Austurbunki. (Photo: Sigurður H. Magnússon2005).


surface temperatures of about 5° C. On average,the minimum temperature drops below 0° C on80 days of the year; however, since the maximumexceeds 0° C on most of those days, round-the-clock freezing is only experienced for 18 days peryear, on average. The frost-free period lasts onaverage for 5 to 7 months; during the last 50years, the longest frost-free period lasted 8months and the shortest about 15 weeks.Maximum temperatures in excess of 20° C arequite rare; Stórhöfði has experienced only 2 suchdays during the last 85 years. Frost below -15° Cis also extremely rare.

Stórhöfði receives ample precipitation,totalling annually about 1600 mm. Whereas Juneis the driest month of the year (93 mm), Octobercomes out on average as the wettest month (156mm), though in fact the entire fall and winterperiod from August to March resembles October(Fig. 2.8). Snowfall is rather slight; in fact, its sum(60 mm) comprises only around 4% of the totalannual precipitation. A mixture of snow and rainfalls frequently, resulting in approximatelyanother 30% of the overall precipitation, whilethe remaining 66% falls as rain. During thesummer, there is no snowfall. Humidity isgenerally high, with frequent overcast and low-cloud conditions.

Winds are strong at the nearby Stórhöfðilighthouse, where on over 130 days per year the10-minute average exceeds 20 m/s at least once,and a sustained 10-minute hurricane force (>32.7m/s) is exceeded on an average of 15 days peryear (Fig. 2.8). Concurrent measurements atSurtsey and Stórhöfði indicate that the ridge windat Surtsey is even stronger than at Stórhöfði;presumably, however, Surtsey's lower-level windsare considerably less violent. In any case, the seastate is often highly agitated.

Most of the weather systems affecting Surtseyarise out of the west (SW to NW). However, thewesterlies aloft are usually undercut by shallowair masses from the northeast, so for most of theyear easterly winds prevail in the area and arereinforced by the barrier of the South Icelandglaciers (Fig. 2.9).

Offshore wavesIceland's wave climate is severe, includingmeasured offshore significant wave heights (the

average height of one-third of the waves observedduring a given period of time) of over 16 m andwave peak periods of up to 20 seconds. Cyclonesfrom North America pass over Iceland from thesouthwest, generating high waves upon reachingSouthwest Iceland. Deep cyclones sometimesstagnate east or north of the country for severaldays and also generate high waves.

In January 1990, for example, an extremestorm hit the south coast of Iceland. At its peakintensity, the atmospheric pressure plunged to

26


mm

/day

Month

0J F M A M J J A S O N D

20mm

40

60

80

120

140

100

mm

80

120

140

100

160

m/s

6

10

12

8

14

°C

0

4

6

2

8

10

Average monthly precipitation

Absolute daily maxima(precipitation)

Snow total

Wind speed

Average temperature

Fig. 2.8. Average temperature (red trace) and windspeed (yellow trace) at Stórhöfði, 1971–2000; averagemonthly precipitation (blue trace); snow totals (lightblue trace) and absolute daily maxima (shown bygreen dots, in mm per day. (Modified from theIcelandic Meteorological Office.)


928 millibars at a location 200 km southwest ofthe country. The offshore wave buoy at Surtseyrecorded significant wave height of 16.68 m, withpeak period of 19.4 seconds.

Offshore wave data is available since 1988,measured off Surtsey (63°17´14´Ń, 20°20´70´´W)at a depth of 130 m and off Garðskagi(64°03´27´Ń, 22°56´57´´W) a depth of 80 m(Fig. 2.10). Wave hindcast data are available fromthe European Centre for Medium-Range WeatherForecasts (ECMWF).

Terrestrial lifeFloraPlant colonisation has been closely studied onSurtsey ever since the island was formed.Microbial moulds, bacteria and fungi were quickto establish themselves in the fresh volcanicsubstrate (Schwabe 1970a, Smith 1970). The firstvascular plant to be noted growing on the islandwas found in 1965 (Sturla Friðriksson 1966a;Eyþór Einarsson 1968), mosses became visible in1968 (Bergþór Jóhannsson 1968) and the firstlichens were discovered on the lava in 1970(Hörður Kristinsson 1972). Vascular plants haveproved of far greater significance in vegetationdevelopment than mosses and lichens.

Consequently, this element of the flora has beenstudied most intensely. The island has beenvisited every summer by a team of botanists and a record kept of colonising species and their fate.

Vascular plantsThe biological expedition to Surtsey in 2005recorded 51 vascular species. On the other hand, an overall total of 60 species has beenrecorded since 1965. In other words, there havebeen nine unsuccessful colonisation attempts.About 30 species have managed to establishviable populations and spread on the island, andmost of these are now found in some of the 23permanently established study plots. While forband grass species are most prominent (32 and 14respectively) in the flora, other prominenttaxonomic groups include sedges and rushes (5 species), shrubs (4 species) and ferns (2 species) (Table 2.2, Appendix 2). The mostwidespread plant species on Surtsey are seasandwort Honckenya peploides, procumbentpearlwort Sagina procumbens, common mouse-ear Cerastium alpinum, annual meadow-grassPoa annua and lyme grass Leymus arenarius(Table 2.3).

Fig. 2.10. Offshore wave statistics based on significantwave heights off Surtsey at location 63°N,21,0°W for theECMWF hindcasted data for the period 1979 to 2004.(Model: Icelandic Maritime Administration). The offshorewave statistics explain why the marine abrasion of Surtseyis greatest at the southwest and south coast, cf. Fig 2.24.

27

2 DESCRIPTION

Fig. 2.9. Wind direction frequency (%) at Stórhöfði,1971–2000. Easterly winds prevail, with the lowfrequency of northeasterly winds being owed to thesheltering effect of the Eyjafjallajökull glacier andmountain mass on the mainland. (Modified from theIcelandic Meteorological Office.)


Species Species status in 2005

Pterydophytes 3 3 1Monocots

Grasses 14 12 7 7sedges and rushes 6 5 1 2Orchids 1

Dicotsforbs 32 27 19 15dwarf shrubs 4 4 2 1

60 51 30 25

Table 2.2. Overview by taxonomic group of vascularspecies recorded on Surtsey, showing their success ofestablishment.

Most of the vascular plant species on Surtseyare common elsewhere in the Vestmannaeyjararchipelago, which is probably the main sourceof species colonising Surtsey. As for the Icelandicmainland, it has every plant species that has beennoted on Surtsey. Although Surtsey is thesouthernmost island of Iceland, there has been no indication of species colonising the islandfrom distant sources (Borgþór Magnússon et al. 1996).

Species Number of plots

Sea sandwort Honckenya peploides 18Procumbent pearlwort Sagina procumbens 12Common mouse-ear Cerastium fontanum 10Annual meadow-grass Poa annua 9Lyme-grass Leymus arenarius 8Smooth meadow-grass Poa pratensis 8Common chickweed Stellaria media 8Common scurvygrass Cochlearia officinalis 7Arctic fescue Festuca rubra 7Oysterplant Mertensia maritima 7Sea mayweed Tripleurospermum

maritimum 6Reflexed saltmarsh-grass Puccinellia coarctata 6

Table 2.3. The most common vascular plants on Surtseyand the number of permanent plots where each specieswas observed in a 2004 survey.

The wild flora of Heimaey contains some 150species of vascular plants. Other islands in theVestmannaeyjar archipelago harbour only 2–30species, corresponding to their aerial size, whichranges from 0.01 to 0.46 km2 (Sturla Friðrikssonand Björn Johnsen 1967). Thus the number ofspecies growing on Surtsey has actually surpassedthat of the smaller islands in the archipelago. Thismay be explained by Surtsey's considerably largersize and its greater diversity of habitats comparedto the other volcanic islands, which are much

1965

–200

5

Exis

ting

Via

ble

popu

latio

ns

With

in

perm

anen

t plo

ts

28


0

Num

ber

of s

peci

es

Area of island [km2]

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

Surtsey 2005

1

9 - 1178

6

5432

Þrídrangar

1

FaxaskerGeirfuglaskerSúlnaskerHelliseyBrandurSuðureyElliðaeyÁlseyBjarnareyHeimaey

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

Fig. 2.11. Number ofvascular plant speciesfound on individualislands in the Vest-mannaeyjar archipelagoin relation to their arealsize (Sturla Friðrikssonand Björn Johnsen1967). A curve wasdrawn to indicate therelationship and showthe current (2005)position of Surtsey.


older and more eroded. It is likely that speciesrichness will continue to increase on Surtseyduring the next few decades and peak at about70–90 species, after which it is expected todecline with the continual erosion and shrinkingof the island (Fig. 2.11).

BryophytesBryophyte colonisation was carefullydocumented during the first decade after theeruption ended. In 1967 the first two mossspecies, Funaria hygrometrica and Bryumargenteum, were found growing close to steamholes (Bergþór Jóhannsson 1968). Already in1973, 69 species of bryophytes had beenrecorded (Skúli Magnússon and Sturla Friðriksson1974). The most recent survey of bryophytes,carried out within permanent vegetation plots in2003, also added a few new species to formerfinds. By 2003, 75 species of bryophytes hadbeen recorded on Surtsey, sixteen of which

were found within the permanent study plots.(Appendix 3). The most common and widelydispersed bryophytes on the island in 2003 werethe mosses Schistidium maritimum, Bryumdichotomum, B. argenteum, Ceratodon purpureusand Racomitrium eriocides (Table 2.4). Anothermoss, Racomitrium lanuginosum, is abundant inthe large, sheltered western crater, Surtungur,where it has formed a moss carpet that somewhatresembles the extensive Racomitrium carpetscovering recent lava flows in areas of highprecipitation on the Icelandic mainland.

The bryophytes colonizing the lava of Surtseyare similar to the flora found in young lava flowsand volcanic areas of southern Iceland. However,maritime species are more prominent in theSurtseyan flora. All bryophytes discovered onSurtsey so far have been found elsewhere inIceland.

29

2 DESCRIPTION

Sea sandwort and lyme grass on the sand-filled lava on eastern Surtsey. The species are widely dispersed on theisland. Like other plant species, they have colonised Surtsey from the neighbouring islands and the mainland seen inthe background. (Photo: Borgþór Magnússon 2005).


Species Number of plots

Schistidium maritimum 12Bryum dichotomum 10Bryum argenteum 8Ceratodon purpureus 6Racomitrium ericoides 6

Table 2.4. The most common bryophyte species onSurtsey and the number of permanent plots where eachparticular species was found in a 2003 survey.

LichensAltogether 71 species of lichens have been re-corded on Surtsey (Appendix 4). The first lichento be found there was Trapelia coarctata, in July1970 (Hörður Kristinsson 1972). It was growingaround steam holes on the outside wall of thecrater Surtungur and had numerous matureascocarps, which strongly indicates that it had been there since at least the year before. Also in 1970, a further two species of lichens,Stereocaulon vesuvianum and Placopsis gelida,

were found in the lava fields around the crater.Although these specimens were barely visible atthe time, they developed quickly over the nextfew years. By 1973, 12 species of lichens hadbeen recorded from Surtsey, includingStereocaulon capitellatum, which together with the above-mentioned species became one of the foremost colonisers of the lava fields;Acarospora smaragdula, which colonised all thelava peaks; and Psilolechia leprosa, whichbecame the main coloniser of rifts and caves inthe lava field.

The next decades saw the addition of only afew more species, until a rapid increase in thenumber of lichen species following gullcolonisation in the mid-1990s. Thus only some32 species of lichens had been recorded by 1990,but by 1998 species numbers jumped to 58. Thereasons for the rapid increase in lichen speciesincluded favourable conditions within therelatively sheltered crater of Surtungur as well assoil formation around the seagull colony, which

30


Lava blocks overgrown by the moss Racomitrium lanuginosum. (Photo: Hervé Jezequel 2005).


provided conditions for various kinds of soil-inhabiting lichens such as Cladonia spp.,Leptogium lichenoides and Peltigera canina.Several rock-inhabiting species were also brought in directly by the birds, e.g. Caloplacaverruculifera and Xanthoria parietina.

All lichens recorded on Surtsey, with the ex-ception of one or two inconspicuous species,have been found elsewhere in Iceland. Colonisa-tion of the new lava fields is also characterized bythe same pioneer species as in other lava fieldson the southern coast of Iceland. It is howeverremarkable that some of the most commonbasaltic lichens in Iceland, includingRhizocarpon geographicum and Tremoleciaatrata, have not yet been found on Surtsey.

Fungi So far, 24 species of fungi have been identifiedfrom Surtsey (Appendix 5), although the island'sspecific mycota has yet to be studied in detail.

By April 1965, five species of marine fungiwere identified on bits of driftwood and deadalgae, primarily Ascophyllum, together with atleast three unidentified species of Pythium andPhoma (Johnson 1966; Johnson and Cavaliere1968). In 1968 three species of anamorphic fungi(moulds) grew in raw cultures of algae fromsubstrates of moist tephra and lava taken nearfumaroles near the two craters (Schwabe 1970a).Henriksson and Henriksson (1974) isolated andidentified 10 species of fungi from soil samples of

31

2 DESCRIPTION

The lichen Xanthoria parietina and the moss Ulotaphyllantha growing on a lava surface. (Photo: ErlingÓlafsson 2005).

While the fungus Entoloma sericeum is a commongrassland species in Iceland, it was not until 2005 thata specimen was first found on Surtsey. (Photo: SigurðurH. Magnússon 2005).

Vegetation coverage

Forb-rich grassland communityLava communityShore communityGravel flats community

Plant communities

200 m

80 < 100%50 < 80%20 < 50%5 < 20%< 5%

Fig. 2.12. Permanent study plots on Surtsey and com-munity classification of the vegetation found withinthem in 2004. Total vegetation cover is also shown.


the surface layer (0–20 mm) that were collected at21 localities in July 1972. No soil- or freshwater-inhabiting aquatic fungi were found on Surtseybetween 1964 and 1972, when their possiblepresence was being monitored by T. W. Johnsontogether with his students and co-workers.

The first mushroom, Arrhenia rustica, wasfound in several places in 1975, growing amongmosses. In 1990 it was common in the bird colo-ny (Sturla Friðriksson 2005). A second agaricspecies was collected once in 1975, an unidenti-fied Galerina sp. In June 1990 three discomyceteswere collected, Peziza varia growing along the

concrete foundation of the hut, Lamprosporacrouanii growing amongst low moss on slopingpalagonite tuff at Strompur, and Octosporaauxillaris growing on sand amongst Bryum near afish bone. In 1994 the feather stalkball Onygenacorvina grew on feathers from a regurgitated birdpellet. In the last ten years a Panaeolus sp. hasbeen found among grasses in the bird colony andrecently the silky pinkgill Entoloma sericeum wasadded to that community. In 2005 two agarics,mycorrhizal partners of the tea-leaved willow hadproduced fruiting bodies around the plant.

Studies in 1996 on the microbial activity inthree different soils (Frederiksen et al. 2000)showed that there were few fungal hyphae inbare soil, a medium number in areas with shorecommunity, while by far the most hyphae weremeasured in the soils of the gull colony.

Vegetation Plants have dispersed and become established inall parts of Surtsey. The only sections of the islandwhich remain mostly devoid of plant life are thesteep palagonite hills in the middle of the island.However, the plant cover is still relatively thin,except at the gull colony on the southern lavaplain (Fig. 2.12), where dense and rather diversevegetation has developed over the last 20 years.

In 2004, vegetation analyses of the permanent

32


Lava community on southern Surtsey. Procumbent pearlwort, reflexed saltmarsh-grass and scurvygrass are the mostprominent species in this community. (Photo: Borgþór Magnússon 2004).

Shore community on the northern coast of Surtsey,composed of sea sandwort, lyme grass, oyster plantand sea rocket. (Photo: Borgþór Magnússon 2005).


study plots revealed four main vegetation types orcommunities on Surtsey.

The most widespread vegetation communityis the shore community, which is found on sandsubstrates on the island. The main species are seasandwort, lyme grass and oyster plant Mertensiamaritima. On the low-lying point at the north endof the island, occasional sea rocket plants Cakilearctica are also found within this community. Theplant cover ranges from 1–25%, and the speciesrichness of vascular plants is only 1–4 per 100 m2

plot. Due to the loose substrate, hardly anybryophytes are recorded. This community iscommon on the sandy shores of southern Iceland.

The first stages of a gravel flat communityhave started to develop on the upper part of theisland. Growing on fine-textured lava and tephrasubstrate, the gravel flat community is mostcommon on the lava flats around the largewestern crater of Surtungur. The characteristicspecies are northern rock-cress Arabidopsispetraea, sea campion Silene uniflora and thriftArmeria maritima, but sea sandwort also occurs.Plant cover ranges from 1–5%, and the speciesrichness is 3–7 species per plot, slightlyexceeding that of the shore community. Scatteredbryophyte growth occurs, with the main twospecies being Racomitrium ericoides andSchistidium flexipile.

The lava community, thriving on the fringes ofthe gull colony, may be seen as the first stage invegetation succession driven by nutrientenrichment from the birds. The main species ofthis community are the procumbent pearlwort,reflexed saltmarsh-grass Puccinellia coarctata,and common scurvygrass Cochlearia officinalis.The procumbent pearlwort is usually the first ofthese species to colonise any area of new lavathat is being affected by expansion of the gullcolony. In this community the plant cover variestremendously, or from 1–95%, depending onhow long the site has been affected by the gulls.Species richness is relatively high for Surtsey, or4–9 vascular species per plot. This community in-cludes several bryophyte species, whose totalcover reaches up to 10% and whose most com-mon species are Bryum dichotomum, Ceratodonpurpureus and Schistidium maritimum.

In the central and oldest part of the gullcolony, a forb-rich grassland community hasdeveloped. This community type is found both on

33

2 DESCRIPTION

Forb-rich grassland in the middle of the seagull colonyon southern Surtsey. Sea mayweed in the foreground.(Photo: Borgþór Magnússon 2005).

Fig. 2.13. Diversity of moss and vascular plant speciesin permanent study plots on Surtsey in 2004. Plotswithin the gull colony in the southern part of the islandshow the highest species diversity.

200 m

Species richness 2004

Total number of species (3)

Vascular plantsMosses

Plots


exposed lava and on lava stretches filled overwith sand, with the species composition varyingslightly according to the substrate. The forb-richgrassland is strongly affected by the breeding gullsthrough their provision of rich nutrients, introduc-tion of new plant species and nest-building activi-ties. Having the densest and most diverse vegeta-tion on Surtsey, this community demonstratesplant cover ranging from 40–100% and a speciesrichness for vascular plants varying from 6 to 14per plot (Fig. 2.12; 2.13). The dominant andcharacteristic grass species of this community aresmooth meadow-grass, annual meadow-grass Poaannua, arctic fescue Festuca rubra and lymegrass. Common forbs include the commonmouse-ear, sea mayweed Tripleurospermummaritimum, common chickweed Stellaria media,scurvygrass and sea sandwort. Bryophyte diversityis relatively high, with permanent plots yielding3–9 species, of which Bryum dichotomum,Bryum argenteum and Schistidium maritimum aremost common. Surtsey's forb-rich grassland isbeginning to resemble older eutrophic grasslandsfound in bird colonies elsewhere in the Vest-mannaeyjar archipelago.

BirdsSurtsey had just risen above the ocean surfacewhen the first birds made their landfall. Gullswere seen touching down on the island betweeneruption bursts on 1 December 1963, only twoweeks after the eruption started (Sturla Friðriksson1964; Finnur Guðmundsson 1966). Since then, anumber of bird species have been recorded on ornear the island. Some of them are on feeding tripsfrom their breeding colonies at neighbouringislands in the Vestmannaeyjar archipelago. Othersare transient migrants, en route between breedingareas elsewhere in Iceland or the Arctic and theirwintering grounds in Europe or Africa. Some arestraggling immature birds or non-breeders fromother parts of Iceland. Still others are incidentalvagrants from either side of the North Atlantic(Ævar Petersen 1993).

Birds on Surtsey were observed regularly from 1966 to 1980, primarily to record migrantsstaging there in spring and autumn but also tomonitor vagrant species and indications ofbreeding. Museum specimens were collectedduring these visits. During these early years, the entire island was monitored at intervals,

34


Northern fulmar was the second bird confirmed breeding on Surtsey in 1970 and is now the most common breedingbird on the island. (Photo: Torgny Nordin 2003).


carefully recording any observations of birds on land. After the first confirmed breeding on the island in 1970, nests were mapped and birdscounted in conjunction with other biologicalsurveys. Thus the main aspects of avian history on Surtsey are fairly well known (BorgþórMagnússon and Erling Ólafsson 2003). In 1990and 2003, a breeding bird census was conductedon the island, and bird distribution maps werecompiled.

General composition of the bird faunaAltogether, 89 bird species have been found onSurtsey (Appendix 6); half (45) of them are waterbirds, while the other half (44) are terrestrial (hereincluding freshwater) birds. Fifty-seven (57)species breed elsewhere in Iceland. The remainingspecies (32) are: vagrants in regard to Iceland(12), birds which are primarily vagrants but alsorare or incidental breeders (9), regular transientmigrants that breed in Greenland or Canada (5),and winter visitors (6). Of the vagrant species, themajority are European in origin, one is Holarcticand still another is North-American in origin.

The breeding speciesBy 2005, thirteen species of birds had been found nesting on the island, of which twelveappear to breed annually (Table 2.5). In addition,a few pairs of arctic terns Sterna paradisaeanested (unsuccessfully) in 1975–1978 and theraven Corvus corax has built nests in the walls ofthe large lava crater, without ever laying eggs.

The black guillemot Cepphus grylle andnorthern fulmar Fulmarus glacialis were the firstbird species found breeding on Surtsey; this wasin 1970, three years after the cessation ofvolcanic activity (Erling Ólafsson 1971; FinnurGuðmundsson 1972). As early as 1966, however,the kittiwake Rissa tridactyla and black guillemothad begun prospecting for nest sites, but wereprobably prevented from actual nesting by thevolcanic activity at the nearby crater islands,Syrtlingur and Jólnir (Finnur Guðmundsson1967). By 1968, the northern fulmar had alsobeen sighted as starting to occupy ledges (Finnur Guðmundsson 1970).

In 1990 a census was organised of the numbersand distribution of breeding birds; six breedingspecies were recorded, with the fulmar ranking asthe most common breeder (120 pairs), followedclosely by the lesser black-backed gull. Similarcensus in 2003 revealed eleven breeding species.Northern fulmar was still the most commonspecies (350–400 pairs), followed by the lesserblack-backed gull (150–200 pairs), kittiwake (130pairs) and then the great black-backed gull, blackguillemot and herring gull (each with 35–40pairs). With only a single pair, the white wagtailMotacilla alba was the rarest of the Surtseybreeding birds in 2003 (Table 2.5). In 2004 foodwas seen delivered to at least two puffin nests,the first evidence of breeding, and in 2005 birdsattended two likely nest sites.

On the whole, Surtsey bird populations have stayed more or less stable or have increased

35

2 DESCRIPTION

Species breeding Year first No. of breeding No. of breeding

confirmed pairs in 1990 pairs in 2003

Black guillemot Cepphus grylle 1970 15 35–40Northern fulmar Fulmarus glacialis 1970 120 350–400Great black-backed gull Larus marinus 1974 35 35Kittiwake Rissa tridactyla 1975 4 130Arctic tern Sterna paradisaea 1975 0 0Herring gull L. argentatus 1981 25 35–40Lesser black-backed gull L. fuscus 1985 120 150–200Glaucous gull L. hyperboreus 1993 4–5Snow bunting Plectrophenax nivalis 1996 11White wagtail Motacilla alba 2002 1Greylag goose Anser anser 2002 2Meadow pipit Anthus pratensis 2002 2Puffin Fratercula arctica 2004

Table 2.5. Breeding birds on Surtsey.


over time, with the exception of the arctic tern,which only bred there between 1975 and 1978.The fulmar and lesser black-backed gull havegreatly increased in numbers, which is in linewith their general population trends elsewhere in Iceland (Ævar Petersen 1998). The 2003distribution of breeding species is shown on Fig. 2.14.

The four species of breeding gulls form acommon breeding colony on the lava fields in the southern part of the island. This sort ofcommunity nesting involving four gull species is unique in Iceland. As a result of increasingpopulation, the colony area has expanded inevery direction except to the north, whereblowing sand appears to be the limiting factor. Great black-backed gulls nest primarily in theepicentre of the gull colony; lesser black-backedgulls and herring gulls flank them towards thesouthwest, south and east; and glaucous gullschoose their sites primarily east of the epicentre.In addition, five great black-backed gull pairsnested solitarily outside the main colony in 2003.

Migratory birds and vagrantsBird migration was monitored by observersstationed on the island from 1966 to 1971,mainly during spring but also in autumn (Finnur Guðmundsson 1966, 1970, 1972) when the island was almost completely barren. Insect-feeding passerine species, such as thewheatear Oenanthe oenanthe, meadow pipitAnthus pratensis and white wagtail, have beenamong the most frequent migrants and arecommon breeders in Iceland. High-Arcticmigrants have included the turnstone Arenariainterpres (a wader) and snow buntingPlectrophenax nivalis (a passerine). The latterwere found to have grit (mineral stones) in thestomachs, originating from the British Isles (Sturla Friðriksson and Haraldur Sigurðsson1969). Despite being relatively inconspicuous in the Icelandic bird fauna, passerines havefeatured highly among terrestrial migrants visiting Surtsey. The wader staging there mostfrequently is the oystercatcher Haematopusostralegus.

The numbers of straggling species (vagrants)recorded depends principally on the length ofperiod and time of year when observations are

36


Fig. 2.14. Distribution maps for breeding birds onSurtsey.

9

100

3630

18

32

2610

228

9

19

4

10

5

1

2002

50

4

31

10

16

2

99

2002

2002

200 m

Number of puffinnests 2004

Number of birds 2003

Black guillemotKittiwakePuffin

Northern fulmarApparently occupied nest sitesof northern fulmar 2003

Number of adult blackguillemot 2003Number of kittiwakenests 2003

White wagtail (1)Meadow pipit (2)Snow bunting (10)

Territories ofpasserines 2003

Great black-backed gullLesser black-backed gull

Herring gullGlaucous gull

200 m

4

2

4

292

134

666

Gull colony

2002


carried out. In the early years of the island'sformation, observers were stationed on the island during the migration periods of spring and autumn. Two very rare vagrant species havebeen sighted on Surtsey: the European squaccoheron Ardeola ralloides and the North Americannorthern oriole Icterus galbula. The former is theonly one recorded for Iceland, while the latterwas the third. Other vagrant species sighted on Surtsey generally include annual vagrantscommon to Iceland.

In terms of migratory birds, Surtsey should be considered from an international perspective.Migratory birds link this location to other cornersof the world, whether to the south (where thebirds over-winter) or north (where they seek their breeding grounds). Furthermore, birds bring with them and on them life forms such as seeds and insects; these play their own roles of whatever significance to the developing islandecosystem (Sturla Friðriksson 1968, 1970b; SturlaFriðriksson and Haraldur Sigurðsson 1969).

Invertebrates

Phylum/Order English name Number ofidentified species

ARTHROPODA Joint-legged animalsCollembola Springtails 24Protura Proturans 1Hemiptera True bugs 7Thysanoptera Thrips 3Mallophaga Lice 1Neuroptera Lacewings 1Trichoptera Caddis flies 4Lepidoptera Butterflies and moths 21Coleoptera Beetles 22Hymenoptera Hymenopterans 28Diptera True flies 136Siphonaptera Fleas 1Araneae Spiders 13Acari Mites and ticks 62

ANNELIDA Segmented wormsOligochaeta Earthworms 2

MOLLUSCA MolluscsGastropoda Snails and slugs 2

NEMATODA Roundworms 2ROTIFERA Rotifers 6Total 336

Table 2.6. Terrestrial invertebrates on Surtsey. Numberof species found until 2004.

37

2 DESCRIPTION

A newly fledged snow bunting in Surtsey. Snow bunting was the first landbird to breed on Surtsey, beginning in1996. (Photo: Daníel Bergmann 2003).


A total of 335 invertebrate species has beenfound on Surtsey (Appendix 7; Table 2.6). These include arthropods, molluscs, annelids,nematodes and rotatorians, approximately half of which have become permanentlyestablished. Although flying insects are mostconspicuous, soil animals are most numerous.There are as of yet no endemic invertebrates on Surtsey. One species of special interest is Ceutorrhyncus insularis, a very small

snout beetle that feeds on scurvy grass and isextremely rare on a global scale.

The establishment of a gull colony clearlyboosted the insect fauna on Surtsey (Fig. 2.15). A few species such as Atheta graminicola arecompletely dependent on the gull colony, eventhough others such as Amara quenseli prefer the harsh tephra ground elsewhere (see box on this page).

38


The results of pitfall trapping within permanent plots show that the diversity of Surtseyan invertebrates isconsiderably greater within the gull colony than in other parts of the island. Furthermore, theabundance, or number of individuals, is also shown to be greater (Fig 2.15).

However, a few permanent plots, located in a shore community on the eastern part of the islandalso appear to be relatively rich in invertebrates. One of these plots is located at the helicopterplatform, where gulls tend to rest and enrich the soil with nutrients. The high abundance recorded attwo other sites is caused by numerous individuals of a single species, the thrip Taeniothrips atratus,which has sea sandwort as its host plant.

Invertebrate diversity on Surtsey island

230

100

21

13

19

13

1324

14

50

41

28

31

34

57

451

235

111

189

176

176

72

14639

72

Plots

Average number ofspecimens per day

451

> 300200 < 300100 < 20050 < 7525 < 5010 < 25

Total number ofspecies recorded

3020100

200 m

The tiny weevil Ceutorhynchus insularis, which isabundant on scurvygrass on Surtsey, was first dis-covered in 1968 on one of the Vestmannaeyjarislands. It was originally believed to be a newspecies to science and was described as such in1971. Later on, similar specimens were discoveredin samples from the Hebrides Islands off Scotland.

The forb-rich grassland vegetation of the gullcolony supports a higher diversity and abundanceof invertebrates than do other parts of the island.


Marine life BenthosMonitoring of the marine benthos around Surtseybegan in 1964. About 80 species of macroalgaeand 180 benthic animal species have beenidentified in the rocky littoral and hard-bottomsublittoral zones around Surtsey (Appendices 8and 9a and b). The number of benthic speciesfound along the coast of neighbouring islands inthe Vestmannaeyjar archipelago is considerablyhigher. With respect to marine vegetation, themost striking difference in Surtsey is its completelack of the large fucoids which dominate littoralvegetation by the other islands. In Surtsey'ssublittoral zone, there is also a lack of crustosered algae, whereas red crusts, especially crustosecorallines, are prominent among vegetation alongthe coast of other Vestmannaeyjar islands. Theinstability of the Surtseyan substrate is probably

what prevents perennial fucoids from establishingviable populations in Surtsey's littoral zone.Certainly there is no lack of propagules, becauseeach year fertile fragments of fucoids are found as drift on Surtsey. For the sublittoral crustosespecies, erosion and sand scouring could posepotential problems; additionally, many of thecrustose species have heavy spores that currentsare unlikely to sweep far away. For comparison, it might be pointed out that crustose red algae are already well established on the lava formed in 1973 at Heimaey, 10 years after the Surtseyeruption. This lava is, however, adjacent toestablished macroalgal vegetation that wasunaffected by the eruption (Karl Gunnarsson2000).

Littoral zoneAlong the west, south and east coast of Surtsey,the littoral zone substrate is composed of bedrockand large boulders. In the northern area, thesubstrate consists mostly of sand or bouldersembedded in sand. The entire shoreline has beenconstantly eroded by heavy breakers, especiallyduring severe southerly storms. A buoymonitoring waves just south of Surtsey hasregistered wave heights of some 16 m duringwinter storms (see above). The southwesternshore has been most intensely affected, in someyears receding over 50 m. Although the moststable shore borders the eastern side of Surtsey,frequent scouring takes place even there, withwaves and currents transporting sand northwardsand depositing it on the northern spit.

Rocks all around Surtsey display algal growth.Even the boulders embedded in sand on thenorthern spit support fast-growing algae duringcalm summer periods, and various annual algaespecies have colonised littoral cliffs on theeastern, southern and western shores. In thebeginning, there were very few species and coverwas scanty, but in recent years a number ofspecies are found in the littoral zone and haveachieved a total cover of over 60%. The mostcommon species are diatoms in mucilage tubes(Schizonema type) and the green filamentousalgae Ulothrix flacca, which together compriseover 80% of vegetation cover in the littoral zone.

In the island's southern and western sections,erosion has formed steep cliffs, rendering theshore inaccessible. Since 1970, the only part of

39

2 DESCRIPTION

Fig. 2.15. The diverse, forb-rich grassland vegetation in the gull colony is favoured by some, but not all,species of invertebrates. The staphilinid beetle Athetagraminicola is found only within the gull colony and by the helicopter platform, where similarvegetation occurs. The carabid beetle Amara quenseli,in sharp contrast, prefers a barren, sandy substrate, as occurs in the open gravel flat- and shorecommunities.

Both species

Amara quenseliAtheta graminicola

200 m


the shoreline which has a hard substrate and hasalso been accessible and therefore possible toexamine is the eastern shore.

Two algal belts are distinguishable in the littoralzone (Fig. 2.16): an upper belt, green in colourand dominated by the green algae Ulothrixflacca, Enteromorpha intestinalis and Urosporapenicilliformis; and a lower belt dominated bybrown-coloured species, among which Petaloniafascia, Petalonia zosterifolia, Scytosiphonlomentarius, Ectocarpus siliculosus and Porphyraumbilicalis (a brown-coloured red algae) are mostcommon. At the lowest extreme of the littoralzone, the brown kelp species Alaria esculentaencroaches from the sublittoral zone, coveringmost of the rocks (Sigurður Jónsson et al. 1987).

The littoral fauna is poor, although small crus-taceans have been found amongst the filamentousalgae, including the harpacticoid Harpacticusarcticus. The sessile animal most often observedin Surtsey's littoral zone is the acorn barnacleSemibalanus balanoides, which colonises the

lower part of the littoral zone each spring, only to disappear the following winter. In summer tinyyoung mussels Mytilus edulis are also found inthe littoral zone (Erlingur Hauksson 2000).

In general, most plant species that have beenidentified in the littoral zone are annual species.All of the perennial species found were still intheir first year and without exception disappearedagain before the following spring. None of thelarge perennial fucoids dominating the mainlandcoast and rocky shores elsewhere in theVestmannaeyjar archipelago were found to begrowing in Surtsey until 1997, when a smallFucus spiralis plant from earlier the same summerwas noted. No fucoid plants could be found uponexamining the same site a year later (SigurðurJónsson and Karl Gunnarsson 2000).

Sublittoral zoneThe substrate in the sublittoral zone west, southand east of the island is made up of bedrock andboulders, often with sand in-between. In the

40


The vegetation in the Surtsey littoral zone is character-ised by two distinct algal communities (see Fig. 2.16).(Photo: Karl Gunnarsson 1991).

1

χ2 [%

]

No. of sample

0

20

40

60

80

100

8 11 9 10 12 2 3 6 7 5 4

Fig. 2.16. Cluster analysis of samples from varyingdepths in the Surtsey littoral zone. Two communitiescan be distinguished: an upper one dominated bygreen algae and a lower one dominated by diatomsand brown algae. The numbers refer to samplingdepths. Sample 1 is taken at low water mark at springtide; sample 12 is taken at the highest water level.


northern sublittoral zone, the seabed is coveredby sand. As vegetation is limited to hard substrateand little animal life occurs in the sand due to itsconstant motion, monitoring since 1969 has beenconfined to the hard substrate on the west, southand east coasts of Surtsey.

In recent years, two different communitieshave been noted on the sublittoral hard bottom(Fig. 2.17). Shallow water harbours a communityof fast-growing opportunistic species like thebrown algae Alaria esculenta, Chorda filum andDesmarestia aculeata and the red algal speciesPorphyra miniata and Polysiphonia stricta, withthe dominant animal in this community being themussel. In deeper waters from the 15-m level andfarther down is a community of perennialvegetation including the large forest-forming kelpspecies Laminaria hyperborea and itsundergrowth of red algal species such asDelesseria sanguinea, Lomentaria orcadensis andPhycodrys rubens. The sponge Grantiacompressa, hydroids and bryozoans, the brittlestar Ophiopholis aculeata, and various bivalves

and gastropods are the most common inverte-brate species in this community. The sea starAsterias rubens is frequently found devouringmussels and barnacles in both communities.

At depths of 25 to 30 m, hard substratebecomes scarcer, as sand covers most of theseabed. The hard-bottom community isdominated by sessile animals. Though the mostconspicuous organism is the soft coral Alcyoniumdigitatum, which covers large areas of the hardsubstrate, hydroids also form extensive cover onthe rocks at this depth range, especially thehydroid Tubularia larynx. Sea slugs arecommonly found feeding on the hydroids.

Sand covers not only most of the bottom atthe northern end of Surtsey but also predominatesin the lower ranges of slopes all around theisland. Its biota is not adequately studied. Earlysampling of the sand and gravel substrate

41

2 DESCRIPTION

Lemon sole, Microstomus kitt, lying on sand betweenrocks at a depth of 15 m in the sublittoral zone,Surtsey. (Photo: Karl Gunnarsson 1991).

Axi

s 2

Axis 1

12

3 45

6 - 8 9

1011

12

13

1415

1617

18

19

Shallow communityDeep community

1 Halosiphon tomentosum2 Desmarestia viridis3 Monostroma grevillei4 Polysiphonia stricta5 Lomentaria orcadensis6 Diatoma7 Ectocarpus sp.8 Haplospora sp.9 Desmarestia ligulata

10 Alaria esculenta

11 Porphyra miniata12 Laminaria hyperborea13 Oscillatoria sp.14 Chorda filum15 Desmarestia aculeata16 Delesseria sanguinea17 Phycodrys rubens18 Conchocelis rosea19 Derbesia marina

Fig. 2.17. Factorial correspondence analysis of princi-pal algal species in the Surtsey sublittoral zone. Twocommunities can be distinguished: a shallow-watercommunity dominated by fast-growing annual species,mostly brown algae (delineated by a yellow line) and adeeper-water community dominated by perennial redalgae (bounded by the blue line).


revealed that a number of species, mostly bristleworms and bivalves, had settled on the slopes.The majority of the animals were relatively smalland sparsely distributed, the two most commonspecies being Pectinaria koreni (bristle worm) and

Abra prismatica (bivalve). Most of the speciesrecorded were also common on the local areas ofseabed that had escaped volcanic impact(Nicolaisen 1970).

42


At a depth of 5 to 10 m in the sublittoral zone atSurtsey, algal cover is at its maximum. The mostcommon species are annuals such as the Porphyraminiata, Chorda filum and Desmarestia viridispictured here. (Photo: Karl Gunnarsson 1997).

At 20- to 25-m depths, algae become rare and animalsstart to dominate Surtsey's hard bottom community.The orange-coloured soft coral Alcyonium digitatum isconspicuous in association with sponges and hydroids.(Photo: Karl Gunnarsson 1997).

Dense stands of the kelp species Laminaria hyperborea have developed on top of large boulders at depths of 10 to20 m on the sublittoral slopes of Surtsey. This perennial plant is a structuring species in the sublittoral communitiesof nearby islands in the Vestmannaeyjar archipelago, forming a forest that serves as habitat for a number of epiphyticand turf-forming species of algae and animals. (Photo: Karl Gunnarsson 1997).


Marine mammalsMarine mammals have been observed in thewaters around Surtsey every year since theformation of the island (Table 2.7). Seals startedbasking on Surtsey shortly after the island'sformation. Due to the constantly changingshoreline, however, they did not start breeding on the island until the 1980s, when erosion hadbegun to slow down.

There is no direct evidence of common sealsPhoca vitulina breeding on Surtsey, but it seemslikely, as pups have been seen at the shoreline insummer. Groups of common seals (0–20 adultsand juveniles) are commonly seen at Surtseyduring summer. Grey seals Halichoerus grypus,on the other hand, started pupping on the islandas far back as 1983. In recent years, 30–50newborn grey seal pups have been observedevery autumn on the northern part of the island,lying on the sand as well as among the rocks.Their numbers peak in late September or October(Erlingur Hauksson 1992a).

Whales are frequently spotted just off theSurtsey coast. Three species have been positivelyidentified: the killer whale Orcinus orca, minkewhale Balaenoptera acutorostrata and harbourporpoise Phocoena phocoena. DolphinsLagenorhynchus sp. have also been seen in podsclose by the coast. The species most commonlynoted during the summer is the killer whale,which has been seen in pods of three to seventyanimals of different sizes, foraging near Surtsey.

43

2 DESCRIPTION

Grey seals Halichoerus grypus breed on the northernspit of Surtsey, with pup birth usually peaking inOctober. This photo, showing two grey seal pups inSurtsey, was taken in October 1998. (Photo: KarlGunnarsson).

Grey seal pups are born with the white natal hair coverwhich is shed 3 to 4 weeks after birth. During thatperiod the pups stay on shore in their lairs and are fedby their mother a few times per day. (Photo: KarlGunnarsson 2000).

SealsGrey seal Halichoerus grypus (Fabricius, 1791)Common seal Phoca vitulina (Linnaeus, 1758)CetaceansMinke whale Balaenoptera acutorostrata, Lacepède, 1804Killer whale Orcinus orca (Linnaeus, 1758)Harbour porpoise Phocoena phocoena Linnaeus, 1758Dolphins Lagenorhynchus sp.

Table 2.7. Marine mammals observed on or in closeproximity to Surtsey.


Lightning flashes in the eruption column during the submarine phase ofthe Surtsey eruption, December 1, 1963. (Photo: Sigurgeir Jónasson).


Geological history

The Surtsey eruption The eruption history of Surtsey island and its twoshort-lived neighbours, Syrtlingur and Jólnir, iswell known, mainly through the work of SigurðurÞórarinsson (1966, 1967; 1969) and ÞorleifurEinarsson (1966). In addition, general outlineshave been published (Sveinn P. Jakobsson and J. G. Moore 1982). Nevertheless, since the history of the eruption is of vital importance to understanding Surtseyan geology, the main

events are listed below and are further summa-rised in Table 2.8.

The visible eruption started with hydromag-matic explosions along a 300 to 400 m longfissure trending 035°. This was on 14 November1963, although the eruption had presumablybroken through the sea floor a few days earlierwithout being noticed. The most recent pre-eruption sounding in the area had been taken in1901 by the Royal Danish Hydrographic Office,showing a water depth of 128 m at the pointrecorded closest to the eruption site. Based on the general bathymetric configuration, the

45

Year Month Day(s)

1963 Nov. 10? Approximate beginning of eruption on the sea floorNov. 14 First visible explosive activity at water surface, near the eastern ventNov. 15 Emergence of the island of SurtseyDec. 28 Submarine activity (Surtla) first visible 2 km ENE of Surtsey

1964 Jan. 6 Surtla activity over, after building a 100-m-high submarine ridgeJan. 31 Activity over at eastern Surtsey ventFeb. 1 Beginning of explosive activity at western Surtsey ventApr. 4 Explosive activity over at western Surtsey vent; beginning of effusive phaseApr. 29 Completion of lava effusion from western Surtsey ventJuly 9 Resumption of lava effusion from western Surtsey vent

1965 May 11? Possible beginning of submarine activity at Syrtlingur siteMay 17 Effusion of lava ceased at western Surtsey ventMay 22 Beginning of visible explosive activity at Syrtlingur, 0.6 km ENE of SurtseyOct. 17 Cessation of explosive activity at SyrtlingurOct. 24 Syrtlingur completely washed awayOct. end? Probable beginning of eruptive activity, 1 km SW of SurtseyDec. 26 Visible explosive activity SW of SurtseyDec. 28 Emergence of the island of Jólnir

1966 May late Fault-bounded lagoon develops in northern part of JólnirAug. 10 Cessation of explosive activity in JólnirAug. 19 Beginning of effusive activity at eastern Surtsey ventOct. 31 Jólnir completely washed awayDec. 12–17 Minor lava flow from vent on inner northwest wall of eastern tephra cone

1967 Jan. 1–4 Lava flows into north lagoon from vent on outer north slope of eastern tephra coneJan. 1–8 Lava eruption from vent on inner north wall on eastern tephra coneJan. 2 Tiny lava flow from vent on outer northeast slope of eastern tephra coneJan. 2–7 Faults form on inner wall of eastern tephra cone; minor lava flow from lower faultJune 5 Cessation of effusive activity at eastern Surtsey vent

2.b History and development

Table 2.8. History of the Surtsey eruption, based on Sigurður Þórarinsson (1966, 1969).


pre-eruption water depth at the eruption site isestimated to have been 130 ± 5 m.

Emerging on 15 November 1963, the islandgrew rapidly in size. Two types of submarine,hydromagmatic explosions were most common:intermittent “cock's-tail” jets and a continuousuprush of tephra. All of these explosions werecaused by hot magma being quenched in coldsea-water. Calculations and measurements on siteindicate that the temperature of the magma was1155°–1180° C, whereas the sea temperature inthis area is around 10° C.

A crescent-shaped crater of finely-beddedtephra layers was built up between November

1963 and January 1964 (Fig. 2.18). On 31January 1964, eruptions ceased in the easternvent (Surtur), which until then had been the solesource of activity. On the following day, however,eruptions broke out once more in a northeast-trending fissure at the northwest side of thatcrater, where another crescent-shaped tephracrater soon formed (Surtungur), merged with theeastern tephra crater, and finally achieved amaximum height of 173 m above sea level.During the winter of 1963–1964, storm waveswere severely destructive, carving broadabrasional platforms into the loose tephra of thesetwo cones. On 4 April 1964, the eruption inSurtungur switched to an effusive Hawaiian-typelava phase. Clearly the island had at this pointgrown large enough to isolate the vent frominflowing seawater and thus protect the hotmagma from being quenched.

Between 28 December 1963 and 6 January1964, explosive submarine activity was visibleabout 2.0 km east-northeast of Surtsey. Theeruption fissure there, estimated as 250 m long,created a submarine ridge called Surtla to over100 m above the sea floor, but never raised itabove the water surface. Apparently nothing buttephra was produced at this site.

At Surtsey, effusive lava activity continued inthe western crater until 17 May 1965, so thatgradually a flat lava shield was formed south-wards from the crater, while foreset-beddedbreccia was produced by submarine flow. Thelava shield was gradually stacked to a height of100 m above sea level.

On 22 May 1965, explosive activity againmade itself apparent above the sea floor about600 m east-northeast of Surtsey, creating this timea small tephra island, Syrtlingur, which climaxedat a height of 70 m and a maximum area of 0.15km2. Since no lava was emitted to harden intoarmour, this island was washed away by waveaction a few days after the eruption ceased, i.e.on about 17 October 1965. Yet another island oftephra, Jólnir, was created by explosivesubmarine activity starting 1 km southwest ofSurtsey on 26 December 1965. At its maximum,this island had a height of 70 m and an area of0.28 km2. The eruption died out on 10 August1966 and Jólnir had disappeared in late Octoberthe same year.

Soon after the Jólnir activity died out, lava

46


The Surtsey eruption column on November 16, 1963.(Photo: Sigurður Þórarinsson).


began erupting once more as a 220-m-longfissure opened on 19 August 1966 along the floorof Surtsey's eastern crater, Surtur, which had beeninactive since early February 1964. Lava flowedincessantly from this fissure throughout late 1966and early 1967, covering the landscape to thesouth and east and constructing the island'ssecond lava shield. Between 12 and 17December 1966, another fissure became active inthe northwestern inside wall of the eastern tephracrater, producing a small lava flow. Then, duringthe period of 1–8 January 1967, lava brokethrough the eastern tephra cone, Austurbunki, atfour additional sites, but the southernmosteruption site is now covered with sand dunes.Lava was last seen to flow on Surtsey on 5 June1967.

At the end of the eruption in June 1967,Surtsey had achieved a size of 2.65 km2, and thetotal amount of eruptive material was estimatedto be 1.1 km3, about 70% of which was tephraand 30% lava. The height of the island at thattime was 175 m above sea level, and as the seawater depth before the eruption had been about130 m, the total height of the volcano was 305m. A simplified geological map of Surtsey isshown in Fig. 2.19, based on July 1967. As far asis known, the Surtsey eruption is Iceland's longestcontinuous volcanic eruption in historical times(i.e. since AD 900). For example, it can becompared with the Hekla eruption of April 1766to May 1768 and the Tröllahraun eruption of1862–1864, although several other historiceruptions have emitted greater volume than thatof Surtsey.

47

2 DESCRIPTION

Lava effusion on Surtsey, April 21, 1964. (Photo:Garðar Pálsson).

The eruption column of Syrtlingur in the spring of1965. (Photo: Sigurður Þórarinsson).

Steam rises from lava flowing into the sea. (Photo:Hjálmar R. Bárðarson 1967).


48


N-300 m-300 m

-200 m-200 m

-100 m-100 m

0 m0 m

15.11.63

(A) 15 November 1963: the island of Surtsey emerges.

N-300 m-300 m

-200 m-200 m

-100 m-100 m

0 m0 m

4.4.64

(B) 4 April 1964: the western crater (Surtungur) starts erupting lava.

N

-300 m-300 m

-200 m-200 m

-100 m-100 m

0 m0 m

22.4.64

(C) 22 April 1964: the lava eruption at its maximum.

Fig. 2.18. Block diagrams illustrating the development of the Surtsey volcano, cf. Table 2.8.


49

2 DESCRIPTION

N

-300 m-300 m

-200 m-200 m

-100 m-100 m

0 m0 m

6/’65

(D) June 1965: activity on Surtsey has ceased temporarily and a new island, Syrtlingur, has emerged.

N

-300 m-300 m

-200 m-200 m

-100 m-100 m

0 m0 m

28.12.65

(E) 28 December 1965: the island of Jólnir emerges.

N

-300 m-300 m

-200 m-200 m

-100 m-100 m

0 m0 m

2.1.67

(F) 2 January 1967: Surtsey's last lava crater opens, after a renewal of activity on the island.


Research workThe Surtsey eruption immediately aroused a greatdeal of interest, both among scientists and thegeneral public. As a spectacular eruption in thepicturesque surroundings of the Vestmannaeyjararchipelago, it attracted many Icelandic andforeign visitors. The research value was furtheracknowledged by the scientific community afterit became evident that Surtsey would provelasting, because then it was clear that Surtseyoffered an exceptional opportunity to study thedevelopment of an oceanic volcano from itsinception on the sea floor, through the formationof an island, to the new land's modification byhydrothermal processes and wave abrasion.Scientists, including earth scientists andbiologists, first stepped ashore on 16 December1963. After that, numerous visits and expeditionsto the island followed.

The course of this exceptional, many-facetedevent was observed from the air as well as fromsurface elevations. Vertical aerial photographswere thus taken on 19 flights during the Surtseyeruption, in the period from February 1964 to

March 1967. Such trips have continued since theeruption ceased and have now yielded 53 aerialphotosets, most recently from August 2004. Thephotos overlap 60–80% and are of generally highquality; six are reproduced here in Fig. 2.20. Thisdocumentation of the construction andobliteration of volcanic islands is unique, with nocomparable coverage existing anywhere else. Inaddition, several detailed topographic andbathymetric maps were compiled during andafter the eruption.

Numerous geological and geophysical studieshave been linked to the Surtsey eruption.Lightning activity, for instance, typifiessubaquatic/subglacial eruptions, so during theSurtsey eruption, field and laboratory experimentswere devised to elucidate the cause. Theconclusion was that the contact of sea water withglowing lava at the vent led to charge separation,resulting in negatively-charged tephra andpositively-charged steam. Lightning jumpedbetween the oppositely charged clouds wheneverthe difference in voltage exceeded the insulatingresistance of the intervening air (SveinbjörnBjörnsson et al. 1966; Blanchard and SveinbjörnBjörnsson 1967).

50


200 m

Lava craterCoastal sedimentHydrothermal area 1968Tephra Nov. 1963 - April 1964Lava April 1964 - May 1965Lava August 1966 - June 1967Lava Dec. 1966 - Jan. 1967

Fig. 2.19. Simplified geological map of Surtsey in1967, with the approximate extent of the hydrothermalarea indicated as it was in 1968. The shoreline ofSurtsey, as it was in 2004, is shown for comparison.

Sigurður Þórarinsson, professor and volcanologist(1912–1983) at work in Surtsey on April 16, 1964 bySurtsey lagoon. The Vestmannaeyjar archipelago is seenin the background. (Photo: Hjálmar R. Bárðarson).


51

2 DESCRIPTION

Fig. 2.20. Aerial photographs of the Surtsey eruption taken between 1964 and 1967, cf. Table 2.8. Published withpermission of the National Land Survey of Iceland.

17 February 1964: hydromagmatic eruptionin the western tephra crater (Surtungur). Theeastern tephra crater has ceased activity andis partly filled by a pond.

11 April 1964: lava erupting from thewestern crater. A lagoon has formed in thenorthern part of the island.

23 February 1965: the eruption from thewestern crater has continued to build up alarge lava shield.

2 October 1966: lava erupting from ventswithin the eastern tephra crater.

3 January 1967: lava erupting from fivevents in the eastern tephra cone. The snowhas melted in areas over subsurface heat.

18 July 1967: the Surtsey eruption has cometo an end.


Physical conditions during the Surtseyeruption allowed the collection of the first-eversamples of volcanic gases virtually uncontaminat-ed by atmosphere. Comparison with a mineralog-ical geobarometer showed the volcanic gas tohave been in equilibrium with the magma fromwhich it evolved (Guðmundur E. Sigvaldason andGunnlaugur Elísson 1968; Sigurður Steinþórsson1972; Symonds et al. 1994). According toradioactive geochemistry, the water content of the undegassed magma was 0.6%, which may be typical for alkali basalt (Sveinbjörn Björnsson1968). Further examples of research which theeruption facilitated included measuring the lavafor its temperature and viscosity, and conductingmagnetic surveys on the entire island during itsdevelopment.

Petrological and mineralogical studies of thetephra and the lava, ongoing until after the erup-tion ceased, demonstrated a striking chemicalmodification of the basalt magma as the eruptionproceeded. This indicated a layered magmachamber beneath Surtsey, down in the lower partof the Earth's crust (Sigurður Steinþórsson 1965;Sveinn P. Jakobsson 1968; Furman et al. 1991).

Small-scale experiments with pumping sea-water onto molten lava were conducted in Surtseyby Thorbjörn Sigurgeirsson in 1967. The purposewas to examine the cooling and hardening effecton the lava in order to verify whether lava flowcould be systematically diverted, impeded orstopped. After a few hours of pumping on oneside of a minor lava stream, it solidified and theflow was diverted to the other side. This experi-ment is considered to have been the first of itskind in the world. Drawing on the field observa-tions at Surtsey, seawater was pumped on a largescale at Heimaey in 1973 so as to block or diverta lava tongue from Eldfell whose advance threat-ened to close the entrance to the Vestmannaeyjarharbour.

Volcanologists agree that for shallow watersthe Surtsey event was the best-documented chain of submarine eruptions to date. A particulargeological focus was on the conditions underwhich the submarine eruption shifted to a subaer-ial eruption emitting lava. All things considered,the Surtsey eruption and the eruption productswere studied with exceptional care, consideringthe methods and knowledge available at the time.

Posteruptional historyHydrothermal activityThe hydrothermal system on Surtsey, described inChapter 2a, has on the average been monitoredand mapped every third year since it began toevolve. What made its development remarkablewas how quickly tephra within the system wasaltered and consolidated into dense palagonitetuff.

Discovered by accident in the spring of 1967,Surtsey's hydrothermal anomaly had apparentlynot yet reached the surface by the summer of1966, according to infrared air photos taken inAugust of that year. However, the anomaly wasclearly noticeable in the eastern tephra conethrough infrared aerial photos taken in August of1968 (Friedman and Williams 1970, see Fig.2.19). It has therefore been suggested that subse-quent to lava extrusion, intrusive action occurredfrom December 1966 to January 1976 and led tothe development of a hydrothermal system withinthe core of the eastern tephra cone (Sveinn P.Jakobsson and Moore 1986). Moreover, it appearspossible that hydrothermal activity also occurredat some depth in the western cone, as a conse-quence of lava extrusion from April 1964 to May1965. Characterised as “low-temperature”, thishydrothermal system is quite different from thewell-known “high temperature” hydrothermalsystems at the centre of many active volcanicsystems in Iceland.

52


20

Dep

th [

m]

Temperature [°C]

0

40 60 80 100 120 1400

-20

-40

-60

-80

-100

-120

-140

-160

-180

20041980

Sea level

Fig. 2.21. Temperature measurements in the drill holeat Austurbunki as of September 1980 and August 2004.The seawater level is at a depth of 58 m.


The hydrothermal area at the surface contin-ued to expand until approximately 1979, when itincluded segments of the western tephra cone,but then ceased to expand so fast, presumablybecause tephra consolidation had started to affectheat flux through the rock. Since about 1995,surface temperatures appear to have been on thedecline. In the tephra cones, the highest near-surface temperatures within the hydrothermalarea have typically measured about 100° C,indicating how vapour dominates the heat fluxabove sea level. Temperatures within the lavafields, especially next to the lava craters, haveregularly declined after lava was extruded. By1995 the lava surface generally conformed toambient temperatures.

Temperature measurements have also beencarried out at Austurbunki, on the eastern borderof the hydrothermal area, taking advantage of a181-m-deep hole drilled in 1979 (Fig. 2.6). Thesemeasurements show a general regular cooling ofthe hydrothermal system deep inside the island(Sveinn P. Jakobsson et al. 2000), with themaximum temperature down at 104 m decliningfrom a calculated temperature of 154° C in 1966and 1967 to a measured temperature of 130° C in2004. The general rate of cooling at the drill holelocation is ≤1° C per year (Fig. 2.21). Monitoringwill continue at the drill hole, providing theunparalleled opportunity of observing theevolution of a posteruptional mild hydrothermalsystem over time. It appears probable that similarhydrothermal systems developed at many of theIcelandic volcanoes which erupted subglaciallyduring the Late Pleistocene.

Alteration of the tephraThe hydrothermal activity caused the Surtseytephra to alter rapidly. In fact, palagonite tuff was observed at the surface in September 1969, at the southeast corner of the eastern tephra cone(Sveinn P. Jakobsson 1972). Upon this discovery a monitoring programme was established,measuring areas of tephra and tuff on averageevery third year (Sveinn P. Jakobsson 1978;Sveinn P. Jakobsson et al. 2000). Each time, rock samples have been taken and a new mapprepared to show the expanding area ofpalagonite tuff.

The palagonitisation and consolidation ratesof the Surtsey tephra were estimated on the basis

of surface observations in 1969–1977 (cf. Fig.2.22). Compiled for 11 localities where thetemperature was considered to be roughlyconstant during that period, the results indicatethat at 100° C (referring to the greater part of thetephra pile lying above sea level) it takes one totwo years for the tephra to convert into densepalagonitised tuff, with a volume of over 10%palagonite. Furthermore, the results point to therate of palagonitisation falling considerably whentemperatures drop below about 40° C (Sveinn P.Jakobsson 1978). Fig. 2.6 shows the stage of tuffexpansion in 2004. The 1979 drill core (Chapter2a) provided additional information on the natureof basaltic tephra conversion.

By 2004 some 55% of the exposed tephra hadbeen transformed into palagonite tuff (Fig. 2.6).However, as the tephra that still remainsunaltered constitutes only a relatively thin blanketencircling the tuff segment of the Surtseyansurface, it is estimated by volume that some 85%of what is left above sea level from the originaltephra pile has been converted to palagonite tuff.Field observations allow the inference that thecore of tuff now represents an area of 0.4 km2

at sea level.So far, tephra outside the hydrothermal area

has not been observed to convert at all. In fact,comparison with other Icelandic tuff localitiesimplies that conversion into palagonite takesthousand of years at the ambient weatheringtemperatures of this country. For Vestmannaeyjar,average monthly temperatures lie between 1° and10°C, although diurnal and seasonal variationscan reach twice this value.

Studies of the Surtsey material demonstratedfor the first time (Sveinn P. Jakobsson 1972, 1978; Fisher and Schmincke 1984) that thepalagonitisation process is posteruptional,occurring at low pressures and at relatively lowtemperatures, mostly under 100° C. A furtherdiscovery was that the process is highly tempera-ture-dependent and can potentially proceedmuch faster than anyone had envisaged. In short,Surtsey offers a well-documented case on theconsolidation and alteration of basaltic tephra innature – a case that remains unparalleled.

Wind and water erosionWind was freely eroding Surtsey's tephra coneseven before the eruption was over. Their slopes

53

2 DESCRIPTION


54


have also been subject to mudflow andsolifluction (Sigurður Þórarinsson 1966, 1968;Calles et al. 1982). Although Surtsey thus offeredan outstanding example of the interaction be-tween erosion and deposition in an environmentof strong winds and heavy rainfall, these process-es were not fully monitored from the start. The tephra cone rims were estimated in 1980 as having been lowered by 1.5–2 m due to winderosion (Ólafur Ingólfsson 1982) and by 2004 as having been lowered over 4 m. Eolian actionmay have removed some 10 m (vertical thickness)of tephra from the center inner slope of theeastern cone. Although much of the erodedtephra was carried into the sea, the remainderwas deposited along the flanks of the two conesand on the lava field. The extensive erosion oftephra by water has been photographicallydocumented on the northern slopes ofAusturbunki and Vesturbunki since 1985.

Reduction by coastal erosionAs mentioned in Chapter 2a, Surtsey wassometimes heavily eroded by sea waves duringthe eruption. Though the ease with which tephraerodes surprised no geomorphologist, the speedat which lava was abraded came quite unexpect-edly. At times, a storm of only a few days wouldsuffice to transform a coastline of gently-sloping,newly-formed lava into sea cliffs several metres

high, footed with beaches of rounded boulders(Sigurður Þórarinsson 1964, 1966, 1969).

During the winter of 1963–1964, anexceptionally rapid retreat was observed in the tephra cliffs on the southern coast, whichreceded a maximum of 140 m and an average of40 m (Norrman 1970; 1980). Clearly Surtseywould not have survived such fast marineabrasion for more than a few years after the endof the eruption, if subaerial lava had not flowedover and protected the southern area of thevolcano. Not only did this serve to fortify thesubaerial tephra and reduce erosion rates, it alsoenlarged the island considerably.

The posteruptive period has offered uniqueopportunities to study erosive forces in a coastalenvironment of strong wave activity (Norrman1980, 1985). Moreover, fine coverage by verticalaerial photography enables meticulous researchinto the island's shrinkage through marine abra-sion (Williams 1983; Sveinn P. Jakobsson et al.2000; Garvin et al. 2000; Daði Björnsson 2004).Surtsey's three principal geological units – tephra,lava and palagonite tuff – react quite differently tosuch abrasion. Fig. 2.23 shows the cumulativeareal modification of Surtsey as well as distinctchanges in each of these three units during theisland's construction period, 1963–1967. Thesubsequent depletion after eruptions ceased in1967 is also shown, with the diagram demon-

Years after thermal anomaly is established

Tem

pera

ture

[°C

]

00 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 101

10

80

90

100

70

60

50

40

30

20

Palagonitised, dense tuffIncipient palagonitisation,semiconsolidatedNo palagonitisation

Fig. 2.22. Rate ofpalagonitisation andconsolidation at the Surtseysurface as a function oftemperature and time, basedon surface observations at 11locations between 1969 and1977. (Modified from: SveinnP. Jakobsson 1978).


strating that lava erosion is the most importantfactor in island reductions. The coastal sedimenton the northern spit undergoes perceptiblevariations in area, probably depending primarilyon winter storm intensity, but was in general seen to diminish slightly during the period.

Figure 2.24 shows how the Surtsey outlinechanged from 1967 to 2004, as the surface areashrank from a maximum of 2.65 km2 in 1967 to 1.41 km2 in 2004. Marine abrasion appears likely to proceed at a considerable rate until the resistant core of palagonite tuff, the volcanicnecks, and the lava that overlays tuff have beenexposed on every side. Marine abrasion wore its way to the palagonite core at the western cliffs as early as 1980; when this core has beenreached on other sides, erosion will subsideconsiderably.

Submarine erosionAs was mentioned previously and summarised inTable 2.8, eruptions occurred at three sites on theseabed apart from Surtsey itself.

Bathymetric maps of the Surtsey surroundingswere prepared on nine occasions, from 1964 to2000, (Norrman 1970; Sveinn P. Jakobsson 1982;Norrman and Erlingsson 1992; Icelandic MaritimeAdministration 2002) and demonstrate considera-ble changes in the submarine environment (Fig.2.25). During this time the Surtsey platform waswidened considerably, due to beach material de-posited from the island. These bathymetric mapsalso reveal that Surtla and the submarine rem-nants of Syrtlingur and Jólnir islands have suffered

constant, rapid erosion, probably caused by bothwave action and bottom currents (Fig. 2.26).

In 2000 Surtla still stood 70 m above thesurrounding sea floor, having been lowered bysome 30 m, while the depths to the the top of theformer islands of Syrtlingur and Jólnir were 32 m

55

2 DESCRIPTION A

rea

[km

2 ]

Year

Whole islandLavaTephra and tuffCoastal sediment

0

1

2

3

1960 1970 1980 1990 2000

Fig. 2.23. Areal changes inSurtsey and its three principalgeological formations, 1963–2004 (in km2). The measurementsare based on aerial photographson a scale of 1:5,000. Aerialmeasurements during theeruption, 1963–1967, were made by Sigurður Þórarinsson(1966, 1969).

Fig. 2.24. Changes in the shoreline of Surtsey between1967 and 2004. The estimated extent of the centralcore (about 0.4 km2) is indicated, consisting ofpalagonite tuff (brown), craters (red) and lava restingon tuff (violet).

1967

1977

2004

200 m

CraterTuffLava


and 41 m, respectively. Since data show the rateof erosion to be decelerating, these submarinehills seem likely to survive far into the future. The possible development of palagonite tuff inthe cores of these seamounts would hindererosion appreciably. However, data from theSurtsey volcano shows a particularly fast, steadyrate of erosion of submarine volcanic deposits,unlike anything that has been monitored previ-ously. No comparable information has come tolight elsewhere.

Future development of SurtseyThe curve of cumulative areal change in Surtseyafter 1967 is fairly regular (Fig. 2.23), whichfacilitates the prediction of future developments.Island erosion has thus been modelled by using a

cone to approximate the shape of Surtsey andassuming the rate of erosion to be proportional tocoastal length (Sveinn P. Jakobsson et al 2000;Sveinn P. Jakobsson and Guðmundur Guðmunds-son 2003). The estimated parameters of the modelwere based on observed values, which resulted inthe extrapolated curve coinciding with the area ofthe palagonite core (0.4 km2) about 160 yearsafter the end of the eruption (Fig. 2.26).

When the core of the Surtsey volcano hasbeen reached, the island will resemble some ofthe islands and sea stacks of the Vestmannaeyjararchipelago, especially Bjarnarey and Elliðaey(Fig. 2.4). These two islands, dated by tephrochro-nology to be about 6,000 years old, were formedin the same manner as Surtsey. The comparisonenables us to predict that Surtsey will survive fora long time, probably for thousands of years.


0

-10

-20

-30

-40

-50

-60

Dep

th [

m] Syrtlingur

Jólnir

Surtla

1960 1970 1980 1990 2000Year

Fig. 2.25. Abrasion of theseamounts Surtla, Syrtlingur andJólnir, with reference to the meandepth of the top platform.

1960 1980

Are

a [k

m2 ]

Year

0

1

2

3

2000 2020 2040 2060 2080 2100 2120

Total areaObserved valueEstimated model

Palagonite tuffObserved valueEstimated model

Fig. 2.26. Observed changes in thearea of Surtsey since June 1967. Theprediction model and estimateddevelopments in the palagonite tuffcore are also shown. The modelpredicts that about 160 years willelapse from the end of the eruptionuntil only the palagonite tuff is leftabove sea level.

56


History of lifeInflux of terrestrial organisms The appearance of Surtsey provided a uniqueopportunity to study the colonisation andsuccession of life on a sterile island surface. By1965, the island was already protected by law,with strict visitation restrictions to ensure that noplants or animals would be transferred to theisland by humans. Due to this foresight amongIcelandic scientists and the authorities, speciescolonisation and ecosystem development onSurtsey has occurred without human interference.In particular, the study of plant colonisation hasrevealed that ocean currents, winds and birds arethe leading agents in transporting new species tothe island.

Dispersal by seaIn 1964, during the first spring after Surtsey rosefrom the sea, seeds and other plant parts werediscovered that had washed onto the freshly-formed shore. Some of these seeds werecollected and found to germinate in thelaboratory (Sturla Friðriksson 1966b). This wasearly evidence that seeds carried by oceancurrents would prove to be the first pioneers. Inthe spring of 1965, close to the shoreline, the firstvascular plant seedling was discovered, the sea

rocket Cakile arctica. Other coastal species, suchas the sea sandwort Hockenya peploides, lymegrass Leymus arenarius and oyster plantMertensia maritima, soon followed this pioneer.Occasionally a few plants of the long-stalkedorache Atriplex glabriuscula have also beenobserved growing in the drift line. The seeds ofthese pioneering coastal species are rather large,

57

2 DESCRIPTION

Sea rocket was the first plant species to colonise Surtsey in 1965. Its seeds were dispersed by sea and washed uponthe shore of the island. (Photo: Sturla Friðriksson 1966).

Tea-leaved willow provides an example of a specieswhich has been dispersed by wind to Surtsey. (Photo:Erling Ólafsson 2005).


float easily and tolerate the salty seawater,adapting them very well to sea transport, which istheir main route of long-distance dispersal.Probably the island's pioneers originated fromparent plants growing on the sandy shores ofHeimaey or along the southern coast of Iceland,where they are abundant. The distance fromSurtsey to Heimaey is 18 km, while 32 kmseparate Surtsey from the mainland.

Seeds have also been dispersed to Surtsey bybeing attached to drifting materials. Living plantparts and small animals have been carried to theisland on floating driftwood, clumps of grass turfand root tangles from nearby islands. Even skateeggs have been found washed upon shore withnumerous plant seeds attached to their surface(Sturla Friðriksson 1975).

Dispersal by windSeeds and fruits from plants that are adapted towind dispersal, such as cotton grass Eriophorumspp. and groundsel Senecio vulgaris, havefrequently been found on Surtsey during the latterpart of summer when the wind blows off themainland to the island; however, neither of thesespecies has yet been found growing on the island.Other species adapted to wind dispersal, such asthe dwarf willow Salix herbacea, woolly willowSalix lanata, tea-leaved willow Salix phylicifolia,dandelion Taraxacum spp. and autumn hawkbit

Leontodon autumnalis, have become establishedon Surtsey and have most likely been carriedthere by the wind.

Mosses, lichens, fungi and algae reproduce bytiny spores and fruiting bodies that are picked upby air currents and dispersed by the wind. Itseems obvious that the majority of species inthese groups have been brought to Surtsey by aircurrents, since their scattered, widespreaddistribution at sites offering favourable growingconditions strongly implies this type of transport.

Dispersal by birdsIt is a well-known fact that birds serve as seedcarriers. Many bird species eat berries or fruitsthat contain seeds, only to expel them later aswaste in new locations. Seeds can even end up ina bird's digestive tract when it consumes prey. Inaddition, seeds may stick to birds and fall off atfar-removed locations. Similarly, the spores andsoredia of rock lichens may remain externally ona bird's feet as it flies from one roosting site toanother. Finally, birds carry nest building materialfrom plants over significant distances.

There is considerable evidence of birds havingcarried seeds to Surtsey. Several migratory speciesuse it as a resting spot on their way from the restof Europe over the Atlantic. In the late 1960s, astudy of the digestive tract contents of migratingsnow buntings Plectrophenax nivalis revealedintact seeds, indicating long-distance dispersal(Sturla Friðriksson and Haraldur Sigurðsson1969). Scurvygrass Cochlearia officinalis becamean early colonist of Surtsey and was first noticedat a point where seagulls rested. In addition, thelichens Xanthoria candelaria, Caloplaca verrucu-lifera, Lecania subfuscula and Lecanora polioph-aea were first discovered at sites frequented bybirds, since they are partly nitrophilous and areall commonly found along coastal cliffs wherebirds rest and excrete their droppings.

In the years following the establishment of aseagull colony on Surtsey in 1986, numerousnew plant species colonised the island. The gullsprobably carried nesting material to Surtsey fromneighbouring islands, bringing with it seeds orother propagules of such plants as the crowberryEmpetrum nigrum, meadow buttercup Ranuncu-lus acris, smooth meadow-grass Poa pratensis,Bering's tufted hairgrass Deschampsia beringensisand northern dock Rumex longifolius.

58


Scurvygrass on Surtsey, a common species of seabirdcliffs and colonies in Iceland. The species was initiallyfound at roosting sites of seagulls, which probably werethe dispersal agents. (Photo: Erling Ólafsson 2004).


Arrival of marine organismsThe methods that marine organisms have for dis-persing to Surtsey are probably quite numerous.Most algae, for example, have planktonic sporesor zygotes that are transported by currents, whilemany marine invertebrates have planktonic larvaethat likewise are spread by ocean currents. Suchorganisms can be distributed over relatively longdistances.

Marine animal species with young that resem-ble the adult form rather than being planktonic are usually not dispersed by ocean currents. Colo-nising a new area can be difficult for such organ-isms, since they must crawl, swim or be carried tothe new destination to be able to settle there.

Animals with sessile larval stages living on theseabed off Surtsey when the eruption began hadan advantage compared to other benthic species,because they were able to colonise the new bot-tom substrate as soon as the eruption ceased. InNovember 1964, dredge samples from the baseof the volcano, which lies at a depth of 100 m,included the swimming crab Polybius holsatus,aesop shrimp Pandalus montagui and brownshrimp Crangon allmanni. These species, as wellas most of the other animals identified in thefollowing years at the base of the volcano, werecommon in the benthos community immediatelyoutside the area disturbed by the eruption.

In addition to the previously mentionedmethods of dispersal, birds may have brought thespores and larvae of marine organisms in theirfeathers, as many seagulls and wading birdsforage in the littoral zone. Drifted algae haveregularly been observed on the shores of Surtsey,

allowing the assumption that some algaepopulations have become established throughdrifted individuals. Moreover, some epiphyticanimals were probably carried by driftingseaweed.

Plant and bird colonisation and ecosystemdevelopment1965–1974: The invasion of coastal speciesDuring the first decade, 1965–1975, the sandsand lava of Surtsey were extremely barren andnearly devoid of nitrogen in the soil. Shore plants,which characterised vegetation developmentduring that decade (Figs. 2.27 and 2.28), togetherwith a few moss and lichen species (see later), areamong the few plants adapted to such nutrient-poor soils and harsh conditions.

The first vascular plant species found growingon Surtsey was sea rocket, in 1965. Moreover, itwas observed again the following year, alongwith lyme grass, while oyster plant and seasandwort lengthened the list in 1967 (SturlaFriðriksson 1970a). Among other plant speciesthat managed to become established on thevolcanic sands of Surtsey during its first decadewere the curved sedge Carex maritima, which islikewise adapted to sandy environments, andscurvygrass, which grew poorly, obviously limitedby the lack of nutrients (Fig. 2.29). The brittlebladder-fern Cystopteris fragilis was among thepioneers, managing to establish itself in moist,moss-covered crevices within craters and lavacaves. Clearly, the spores of this species had beentransported to the island by wind.

59

2 DESCRIPTION

Total number of vascular plant species since 1965Number of vascular plant species alive

1965Year

1970 1975 1985 1990 1995 2000 200519800

Num

ber

of v

ascu

lar

plan

t spe

cies

40

50

60

30

20

10

Shore plantcolonisation

New colonisation andvegetation enhancement

by gulls

Fig. 2.27. Colonisation andsurvival of vascular plantspecies on Surtsey during1965–2005.


In 1974, at the close of the first decade ofplant life on Surtsey, 12 species of vascular plantshad been found on the island and 10 of them hadbecome established (Sturla Friðriksson 1978).Species survival was thus relatively high for theinitial period (Fig. 2.27).

1975–1984: Period of stagnation After the momentous first decade, the rate ofcolonisation and succession stagnated. Althoughseveral new plant species were discovered on theisland during the second decade, 1975–1984,

very few became established (Fig. 2.27), probablydue above all to the lack of essential soil nutrients.The sole new species managing to overwinter and to establish itself during this period were thecommon mouse-ear Cerastium fontanum andsheep's sorrel Rumex acetosella. Attempting butunsuccessful new species included the fieldhorsetail Equisetum arvense, sea campion Silene uniflora, mountain rock-cress Arabidopsispetraea, common meadow-grass Poa pratensisand procumbent pearlwort Sagina saginoides.However, all of these achieved greater success

60


Dwarfalpine willow

Commonpuffin

Great black-backed gull

Kittiwake Herring gull Glaucousgull

Meadow pipit

White wagtail

Lesserblack-backed

gull

Snowbunting

Greylaggoose

Black guillemot

Northern fulmar

Annualmeadow-grass

Meadowbuttercup

Lady’sbedstraw

Seasandwort

Sea rocket

Dra

win

gs: J

ón B

aldu

r H

líðbe

rg

Seabirds

Landbirds

Shore plant colonisation

Vegetationenhancement by gulls

Stagnation

Secondary colonisation

1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005Year

Fig. 2.28. Main steps in species colonisation and ecosystem development of plant communities and birdlife onSurtsey. A large increase in the number of breeding seagulls on the island after 1985 improved its nutrient status andenhanced development of its vegetation and invertebrate communities, enabling the first landbirds to settle on theisland ten years later.


upon later attempts after growing conditions had improved.

The shore plants sea sandwort, lyme grass andoyster plant, not being as hampered by the poorsoil conditions, continued flourishing andspreading during the 1975–1984 period. On theother hand, it was not until 1977–1979 that lymegrass and oyster plant began seeding andspreading effectively over the sand and pumice.Another landmark was that in the latter half ofthis period, the first plant community, composedof lyme grass, patches of sea sandwort andscattered oyster plants, formed on sand-coveredlava in the eastern part of the island. Gullsbecame an important factor in this community,

taking advantage of the developing lyme grassdunes, which were excellent sites for nest build-ing and for sheltering their chicks. The plants inturn benefited from growth-enhancing nutrientsintroduced by the breeding gulls.

Similar stagnation was observed with regardto the lichens and mosses of the lava fields. Therelatively quick colonisation by Placopsis,Stereocaulon and Racomitrium was followed byretrogression due to increased erosion, so thatfew additional species were discovered.

By 1984, the total number of vascular plantspecies found on Surtsey had increased to 21;however, only 11 of them had managed tobecome established (Sturla Friðriksson 1992)

61

2 DESCRIPTION

Fig. 2.29. Distribution of sea sandwort Honckenya peploides and scurvygrass Cochlearia officinalis on Surtsey in1967, 1977 and 1997, shown on a 100 x 100 m grid of the island. The darker the colour, the more abundant thespecies. The sea sandwort was the most common plant on Surtsey in 1997 and is found on sand and tephrasubstrates throughout the island. The scurvygrass is more nitrogen dependant and first began to thrive after theformation of seagull colony on the southern part of the island.


(Fig. 2.27). Hence, the relatively successfulcolonisation period of 1965–1974 wasunexpectedly followed by much poorer survivalduring 1975–1984. A whole new picture wasemerging of biological colonisation andsuccession processes on new insular terrain.

1985–1994: New wave of colonisation andsuccession, facilitated by breeding gullsThe avian impact on vegetation developmentremained limited throughout the island's first twodecades. Breeding birds were relatively few andtheir nests mostly confined to the sea cliffs. In1986, the first sign of a seagull colony, consistingof 10 nests built by lesser black-backed Larusfuscus gulls and herring gulls L. argentatus, wasnoted on the black, barren lava in the southernpart of the island. A sharp increase in the breedingpopulation followed, with the number of nestingpairs reaching 180 by the summer of 1990, whengreat black-backed gulls L. marinus were alsobreeding in the colony. Concomitant to the popu-lation explosion of gulls was a new wave of plantcolonisation and succession; the stagnationcharacterising previous years was finally broken.Not only were a number of new speciesdiscovered, but many of the species which hadpreviously attempted colonisation withoutsuccess reappeared. Most of this developmenttook place within the gull colony (BorgþórMagnússon and Sigurður H. Magnússon 2000).Another change was a considerable improvementin species survival, against the previous period

(Fig. 2.27). The rapid plant colonisation, vigorousvegetation succession and much improved plantsurvival now evidenced were clearly driven bythe gulls. Apparently, they not only improvedplant survival and growth by applying soilnutrients through their excreta and bits of lostchick feed, in addition to the decaying carcasesof young and adult birds, but they also facilitatedplant dispersal to Surtsey (Borgþór Magnússonand Erling Ólafsson 2003).

Several plant species, e.g. the sea-mayweedTripleurospermum maritimum and scurvygrassCochlearia officinalis (2.29b), Richardson'sfescue Festuca rubra and common sea meadow-grass Puccinellia coarctata, having barelysurvived previously, were quick to take advantageof the improved soil nutrient condition byexpanding their range on the island. Among themore important plant species taking a footholdduring this period were smooth meadow-grass,annual meadow-grass Poa annua, common bentAgrostis capillaris and common chickweedStellaria media. Within a few years, the centre ofthe gull colony had turned green with acontinuous cover of vegetation, and a forb-richgrassland community had arisen on Surtsey.

Gulls also affected lichen colonisation onSurtsey, mainly in two ways. Firstly, soil formationaround the breeding colony enabled the colonisa-tion of such soil lichens as Cladonia spp. Secondly,nutrients introduced by the gulls provided thepotential for a special crustose lichen communityto colonise the lava rocks around the breeding

62


Sea sandwort, the first plant species to overwinter onSurtsey, soon began seeding and spreading extensively.(Photo: Erling Ólafsson 2005).

Ripening seed capsules on a Surtseyan specimen of seasandwort. (Photo: Erling Ólafsson 2004).


colony, a community composed mainly of Lecaniasubfuscula and Lecanora poliophaea together withCaloplaca verruculifera and Xanthoria parietina.

By 1994, the number of higher plant speciesrecorded on Surtsey had doubled (from 21 to 41)and the number of surviving species had tripled(from 11 to 34), which demonstrates the profoundeffects of the breeding gulls on plant colonisationand survival (Figs. 2.27 and 2.28).

1995–2004: Secondary plant colonisation, firstbreeding by landbirdsThe relatively high plant invasion rate continuedbetween 1995 and 1999, with 13 new speciesrecorded on the island. Then the invasion ratebegan to level off and no new plant species hasbeen recorded since 2003. It thus appears thatmost of the species which can potentially benefitfrom the gull transport bridge and nutrientenrichment have already arrived.

An interesting aspect of the history ofSurtseyjan flora since 1995 is the establishment ofseveral secondary plant colonisers. They includethree willow species: the dwarf willow, woollywillow and tea-leaved willow. In all likelihood,seeds of these three species were routinelydispersed to Surtsey by wind, but met withunfavourable conditions for their growth anddevelopment until the most recent decade.Improved nutrient status was probably also themain prerequisite for other recent plantcolonisers gaining a foothold, such as the coldeyebright Euphrasia wettseinii, lady's bedstrawGalium verum and northern green orchidPlatanthera hyperborea, which have all appearedwithin the gull colony since 2001. The coldeyebright is a semi-parasitic plant that poachesresources from its host plants through rootconnections. While lady's bedstraw and northerngreen orchid are both common species onIcelandic grasslands and heathlands, they arenever encountered in barren or extensivelydisturbed habitats (Hörður Kristinsson 1998).

By 2004, the number of vascular plant speciesthat had been recorded on Surtsey reached 60.Of those, 54 still existed there, the highestnumber yet in that respect. By 2005, however, thenumber of species found dropped again to 50(Fig. 2.27). Notwithstanding this temporaryreduction, the number of species on Surtsey willprobably rise somewhat over the next 40–50

years, after which it is expected to fall once more,because of ongoing erosion and island shrinkage.

The great increase in plant diversity and coversubsequent to the gull invasion had profoundeffects on ecosystem development at Surtsey (Fig.2.28). Insect life was enriched immensely, and in1996 the first landbird was found breeding there:the snow bunting Plectrophenax nivalis, whichfeeds its chicks on flying insects. Snow buntingshave bred on Surtsey ever since, in increasingnumbers. Two passerines, the white wagtailMotacilla alba and meadow pipit Anthuspratensis, have also bred on Surtsey in recentyears. Starting in 2002, a pair of greylag geese,Anser anser, bred on the island and still neststhere. Thus the first vertebrate grazer has enteredthe young ecosystem evolving on Surtsey. Thegeese feed on the lush grass swards in the gullcolony (Borgþór Magnússon and Erling Ólafsson2003).

Birds can influence the development ofvegetation in various ways. They may locally slowdown succession through trampling, pulling outplants and scraping to build nests. On the otherhand, the overall outcome considering nestmaterials, carcasses, food remains, pellets andother excreta, etc. has positive effects on thedevelopment of both flora and small fauna (see

63

2 DESCRIPTION

Lady's bedstraw, a quite new coloniser of grass swardsof the seagull colony on Surtsey, exemplifies thesecondary plant colonisation that has occurred in thelast few years. (Photo: Borgþór Magnússon 2005).


64


Effects of breeding gulls on ecosystem development

The effects of gulls on Surtseyjan ecosystem development have been studied with reference to permanentplots since 1990. In plots outside the gull colony, changes have proceeded very slowly, compared to plotswithin the colony. An example is given in the table below, which compare plant colonisation and successionalong with several other parameters related to ecosystem development on the basis of two permanent plotsthat are located outside and inside the gull colony but otherwise represent similar tephra-covered lava. Themeasurements are taken from the 2004 survey.

In 1994, Plot 13 was delineated on the eastern part of the island, where plant succession has not beenaffected by gulls. The total plant cover increased from 1.7 to 3.1% from 1994 to 2004, but species richnessand composition stayed constant throughout the period (sea sandwort, lyme grass and oyster plant). Thus itappears that by 1994 the plant community had already reached environmental barriers (e.g. nutrient status)determining plant succession.

Plot 1 was positioned in 1990 in an area where nutrient enrichment from the gulls was already evident.During the same ten-year period as above, plant cover increased from 28.5 to 98.8%, while species richnessincreased from 2 to 7; in this manner a barren, species-poor shore community with sea sandwort as thedominant species had changed to a closed forb grassland that was relatively rich in species. Nutrient inputfrom the breeding gulls is without doubt the deciding factor for such rapid turnabouts.

Plots as photographed in July 2004 P13 – outside the gull colony P1 – inside the gull colony

Plants:Species richness 3 9Total plant cover % 3.1 98.8Dominant species and cover %

Honckenya peploides 2.1 25.6Leymus arenarius 0.9 17.3Poa pratensis 41.3

Plant biomass g dw/m2 10.5 427Soil*pH 7.73 6.81C % 0.04 0.87N % 0.006 0.067Soil respiration µmol/m2 s** 0.1 5.7Insects:Species richness 12 22Catch – specimens/day 19 176

*The soil was sampled in 2003, in order to analyse it for pH, C and N. **Bjarni Diðrik Sigurðsson, unpublished data

Results of the 2004 investigations into plant communities and biomass, soil chemistry and respiration, and invertebrate diversity and abundance in areas outside and inside of the gull colony on Surtsey.

P 1

P 13


Erling Ólafsson 1982; Gjelstrup 2000). Nests, forinstance, can be sources for seed colonisation,and dead tissue provides food for small animals.Pulling out plants to build nests, in itselfdestructive, can in the final analysis be positivefor ecosystem development.

Birds breeding on Surtsey clearly play aleading role in the formation of soil and thedevelopment of plant and insect communitiesthere. This is especially obvious in the gull colony which provides an excellent researchopportunity on the development of multi-speciescommunities as well as the colony's interactionwith vegetation and terrestrial invertebrate fauna.This gull colony is largely unaffected by humans,while elsewhere in Iceland gulls are generallypersecuted.

Invertebrate colonisationThe first terrestrial invertebrate to be discoveredon Surtsey was the midge Diamesa zernyi, in May1964 (Oliver 1965). Further specimens weresubsequently discovered, and by the end of thesummer of 1965 seven additional invertebratespecies had been found (Lindroth 1967). As mightbe expected, the initial visitors were mostly flyinginsects, which were brought by northerly windsfrom two main sources: the Icelandic mainland orother islands in the Vestmannaeyjar archipelago.Nonetheless, long-distance travellers, such asmigrating moths and butterflies, were alsorecorded, carried to Surtsey by southerly windsfrom the European continent. For instance, aspecimen of the non-native moth Autographagamma was found on the island in 1965(Lindroth et al. 1973). Even flightless invertebrateshave been blown to the island by air currents,such as a small spider of the family Linyphiidaewhich was found in 1966 on northern Surtsey,after apparently gliding to the island on its longspinning threads.

Many invertebrates have been transported toSurtsey by the ocean, either with or without theaid of other drifting materials. Such specimens,both dead and alive, have been found on thebeach after being washed ashore. The means oftransport include driftwood and floating clumpsof turf, which arrive on shore carrying numeroussmall invertebrates such as springtails and mites,as well as the sole proturan yet noted on the

island. Birds have carried invertebrates not onlyin their plumage, but probably also with nestingmaterial. In fact, there are examples of speciescarried by birds migrating from Europe, viz. thewell-known tick Ixodes ricinus and the blood-sucking hippoboscid fly Ornithomyia avicularia(Lindroth et al. 1973).

Although the number of invertebrates foundon the island amounted to 136 species by 1970,only a few had managed to establish themselvesunder the hostile conditions prevailing on theharsh volcanic substrate. For the majority ofspecies, colonisation was prevented by the lackof suitable food sources, meaning that specieswhich proved capable of settling on the islandhad to depend on the organic matter washedashore by the sea. Due to these reasons, the early settlers include the fly Heleomyza borealis,which breeds on fish and bird carcasses along thecoast of Surtsey; the springtail Archistomabesselsi, which disperses by sea currents andcolonises beaches all around Iceland; and the chironomid midge Holocladius variabilis, which breeds in shallow pools in the tidal zone(Lindroth et al. 1973). However, it was not untilpermanent vegetation appeared, that a localinvertebrate fauna began to develop.

By 1974, nonetheless, a total of 170 species ofterrestrial invertebrates had been identified on the

65

2 DESCRIPTION

Of all the spider species that have reached Surtsey,Erigone arctica is by far the most common. Spider eggsare often found in clusters on the underside of stonesand driftwood. (Photo: Erling Ólafsson 2004).


island, equivalent to approximately 13% of theregistered terrestrial invertebrate fauna of Icelandat that time. Furthermore, several species hadbecome permanently established, forming asimple insect community composed ofherbivores, saprotrophs and carnivores. By thistime, a few scattered pairs of both great black-backed gulls and herring gulls had started tobreed on the island. Each of the gulls' nestingsites, with accompanying plant growth, provideda base for the invertebrate community. Followingthe establishment of a distinct gull colony in1985, vegetation and soil fertility underwent adramatic change, while the number of soil andground invertebrates, such as mites andspringtails, escalated.

In the summer of 1993, the first earthwormswere discovered, living in soil samples takenfrom the gull colony. These were juveniles of thechestnut worm Lumbricus castaneus (HólmfríðurSigurðardóttir 2000). A survey of soilinvertebrates in 1995 showed the number ofmites to have climbed to a total of 62 species.Eight species of springtails were found, six ofwhich were new to the island. Prior to 1995, atotal of 16 species of springtails had beenrecorded, which means that only a couple of theoriginal pioneers had been able to survive andestablish themselves.

Although import of organisms has been strictly controlled, humans have brought at least two insect species to Surtsey: the lathrididbeetle Lathridius minutes and the drosophilid fly Drosophila funebris, both found within theresearch station and shelter “Pálsbær” and no doubt coming as stowaways in food supplies.

Benthos colonisation The first plants found growing on Surtsey weremarine diatoms discovered in the coastal zone on recently formed lava in August 1964 (SigurðurJónsson 1966). The annual number of benthicmarine species observed around Surtsey roserapidly from 1964 until 1970. Then the increaselevelled off, and about 40 species of macroalgaehave been recovered on each sampling occasionsince 1977, with a similar pattern presented bybenthic fauna (Erlingur Hauksson 1992b; SigurðurJónsson and Karl Gunnarsson 2000) (Fig. 2.30).

Soon after the full cessation of volcanicactivity, it became possible to observe distinctivecommunities. Sessile plants and animals werefound growing on rocks in the sublittoral zone. Atfirst only fast-growing opportunists, such as Alariaesculenta and Desmarestia viridis, were found inthe summertime on larger stones. Vegetation

66


The carabid beetle Amara quenseli is common inIceland, favouring open vegetation and sandy soil. Thespecies was found in Surtsey as early as 1967 and isnow found on sparsely vegetated areas throughout theisland. (Photo: Erling Ólafsson 2004).

The common tortricid moth Eana osseana, whoselarvae feed on grass, has found its ideal habitat in thegull colony. (Photo: Erling Ólafsson 2004).


remained scarce at first, confined to depths below6 m and to boulders surrounded by sand andgravel. The highest plant cover occurred at depthsof 15–20 m. A similar pattern was noted forbenthic animals, whose dominant groups werehydroids and mussels. On the other hand, thecover and number of species grew fast until about1971, when the number of species per samplingoccasion started to level off. By that time anumber of red turf algae had appeared, e.g.Lomentaria orcadensis, Phycodrys rubens andPolysiphonia stricta, while amongst invertebrates,the bivalves Heteranomia squamula and Hiatellaarctica and crustaceans such as the acorn barnacleVerruca stroemia, the crab Hyas coarctatus, and

shrimps had become common (Erlingur Hauks-son 2000; Sigurður Jónsson and Karl Gunnarsson2000; Aðalsteinn Sigurðsson 2000).

As the substratum has increasingly stabilised,especially at the east coast, the number of colo-nisers has climbed steadily. At depths of 0–15 malgae are dominant. With increasing depth, thecover of sessile animals becomes denser, whereasalgae disappear below depths of 25–30 m (Sigurð-ur Jónsson et al. 1987; Erlingur Hauksson 1992a).

67

2 DESCRIPTION

The slug Deroceras agreste was the first of twoterrestrial molluscs found on Surtsey and was probablycarried by birds. It is fairly common in the densevegetation of the gull colony. (Photo: Erling Ólafsson2004 ).

The brown kelp species Alaria esculenta was amongthe first seaweeds to colonise the sublittoral slopes ofSurtsey. The species was at first confined to the depthrange 15 to 25 m. In recent years it grows most gregari-ously at 5–10 m depth. (Photo: Karl Gunnarsson 1997).

1965

Num

ber

of s

peci

es

Year

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000

AnimalsAlgae

Fig. 2.30. Developments in the number of algae andanimal species found in theSurtsey littoral and sublittoralzones on each samplingoccasion from 1964 to 1997.Only groups monitoredregularly are included, i.e. red,brown and green algae and the following animal groups:sponges, anthozoans, softcorals, molluscs, crustaceans(except amphipods), echinoidsand ascidians.


Surtsey has offered a natural laboratory in geology, geomorphology andecology. (Photo: Daníel Bergmann 2003).


69

13.a Criteria under whichinscription is proposed

It is proposed that Surtsey, Iceland, be inscribedon the World Heritage List under Criteria viii andix (cf. Article 11.5 of the Convention Concerningthe Protection of the World Cultural and NaturalHeritage and Paragraph 77 of the OperationalGuidelines for the Implementation of the WorldHeritage Convention).

Criterion viii: to be outstanding examplesrepresenting major stages of earth's history,including the record of life, significant ongoinggeological processes in the development oflandforms, or significant geomorphic orphysiographic features.

The IUCN has recently reviewed the role of theWorld Heritage Convention in recognising andprotecting geological sites (Dingwall et al. 2005).The report examines the four different naturalelements, inherent in Criterion viii, which arerelevant to geological and geomorphologicalscience. Three of these are relevant to nominatingSurtsey for World Heritage status. Quotationmarks and italics set off the IUCN text from thisreport.

a. Earth's history'This subset of geological (as opposed to geomorphological) features are represented by phenomena that record important events in the past development of the planet.'

A relevant example mentioned by the IUCNreport is the record of crustal dynamics andtectonism, linking the genesis and developmentof mountains and volcanoes.

In historical time, only a few volcanic islandshave been formed in the world as a whole. Mostof these islands have quickly disappeared andnone has been as intensely investigated from its very beginnings as Surtsey. Thus Surtsey offers

an outstanding example of a virgin volcanicisland which is actively being created and shaped by geological and geomorphologicalprocesses.

b. Significant ongoing geological processesin the development of landforms'This element of Criterion viii is the first of twoaspects related to geomorphology and ongoinggeological processes such as volcanic eruptions.

Justification for inscription3

The lava from 1967 on the northeast side ofAusturbunki; erosion has revealed the feeder dike tothe lava crater. (Photo: Sveinn P. Jakobsson 2002).


It relates to active processes that are shaping orhave shaped the Earth's surface.' Relevantexamples mentioned by the report are volcanismand coastal or marine processes.

Surtsey is renowned for its contributions toearth sciences. Research on the island during andsince the eruption has provided invaluableinformation and insight into several majorgeological processes. The Surtsey submarineeruption (1963–1967) is the most exactlydescribed submarine eruption ever. Studies onSurtsey have documented in detail the conversionof tephra into palagonite tuff and also demon-strated for the first time that palagonitisation is aposteruptional process and highly temperature-

dependent. Finally, Surtsey has provided a rarechance to study the evolution of a posteruptionalhydrothermal system.

c. Significant geomorphic orphysiographic featuresThis second primarily geomorphological elementrepresents the landscape products of active orpast processes, which can be identified assignificant physical landscape features. Relevantexamples mentioned by the report are volcanoes,volcanic systems and oceanic islands.

Surtsey's subaerial geomorphology, i.e. itsgrowth and erosion, has been thoroughly docu-mented, through studies on site and through fiftythree sets of vertical aerial photographs taken be-tween February 1964 and August 2004. Thus ithas been possible to map the erosion of theisland, as well as its main geological features, ingreat detail and predict its future size. This appliesnot only to the supra-marine part of the island,but the entire volcano as its stands on the seabottom. The data on submarine abrasion of twotransient islets and one submarine ridge appearingduring the Surtsey eruption is unique, with nocomparable measurements existing on any othervolcanic islands in the world.

Criterion ix: to be outstanding examplesrepresenting significant ongoing ecological and biological processes in the evolution anddevelopment of terrestrial, fresh water, coastaland marine ecosystems and communities ofplants and animals.

70


Finely bedded tuff at the crest of Austurbunki, broughtout by wind erosion. (Photo: Sveinn P. Jakobsson1998).

Lesser black-backed gull with fledglings on the southernlava of Surtsey. (Photo: Daníel Bergmann 2003).


Surtsey's emergence has provided a rare opportu-nity for studying one of the central questions ofecology: the dispersal and colonisation of sterileground by plants and animals and the develop-ment of communities through the processes ofsuccession.

The record of ecological research on Surtsey isremarkable in many ways: it spans 40 years ofregular measurements; includes several decadesof monitoring data on individual plant andanimal species; allows a distinction between thearrival and establishment of a species; highlightshow the interaction of birds, nutrients and plantsimpact primary succession; and provides athorough census of an entire island. However,what truly makes Surtsey stand out in this regard,compared to similar areas of sterile ground wherelong-term measurements have been maintained,is how minimal the impact of humans has been.

3.b Proposed statement ofoutstanding universal value

Iceland and the Mid-Atlantic RidgeRunning from Jan Mayen to Antarctica, the Mid-Atlantic Ridge is the Earth's largest continuousgeological structure. Its discovery in the 1950sled, among other things, to the general accept-ance of Wegener's theory of continental drift.

Iceland is an integral part of the Mid-AtlanticRidge, and also its largest supramarine (aerial)component. The crest of the ridge, which marksthe boundary between the North American andEurasian tectonic plates, crosses the country fromsouthwest to northeast, forming a major rift beltthat expands continuously by accreting new landthrough volcanic activity. As one of the mostvolcanically active countries on Earth, Iceland isconstructed almost exclusively of volcanic rocks.

Surtsey is the product of one of Iceland's 29active volcanic systems, the Vestmannaeyjarsystem. This is a young system comprising – ifonly what reaches above sea level is counted –seventeen identified Holocene volcanoes, whichoriginally rose from the sea floor in the samemanner as Surtsey. Two volcanic eruptions withinthis system during historical times are knownwith certainty: the Surtsey eruption of 1963–1967and the 1973 Eldfell eruption on Heimaey.

Birth of an islandThe formation of a new volcanic island is a rareevent occurring somewhere in the global systemof volcanic belts on the average of about twice acentury. Most of these islands have disappearedquickly, and none has been as intenselyinvestigated from the very beginning as Surtsey.This applies both to the eruption itself and to theposteruptional natural history of the island. In thisregard, Surtsey has offered a natural laboratory ingeology, geomorphology and ecology which isunparalelled anywhere in the world and hasprovided invaluable information on the creationand history of the Earth and its biosphere.

The Surtsey eruption immediately arousedavid interest among scientists and volcanologistsagree that it is the best documented submarineeruption to date. It was a spectacular event in thepicturesque surroundings of the Vestmannaeyjararchipelago. The scientific value of Surtsey wasfurther acknowledged after it became evident thatthe island would persist and thus provide an ex-ceptional opportunity to study the development ofan oceanic volcano from its inception on the seafloor, through the formation of an island, to themodification of the newly erected structure by hy-drothermal processes and wave abrasion. Surtseyis in reality the type locality of Surtseyan tephra(volcanic ash), produced by hydromagmatic (Surts-eyan) eruptions. Surtsey is also one of the best pre-served submarine tuya (tablemountain) on Earth.

Geological processesGeologists are paying increased attention to theformation of palagonite tuff in Iceland, partly

71

3 JUSTIFICATION FOR INSCRIPTION

Surtsey in February 1964. (Photo: Sigurður Þórarinsson).


because similar formations are uncommonelsewhere on Earth. Studies at Surtsey demon-strated for the first time that the conversion oftephra into tuff is a posteruptional process, occur-ring at relatively low temperatures (usually below100° C) and at low pressures. Furthermore, theprocess was shown to be highly temperature-dependent and to proceed much faster thananyone had envisaged. In 1969, two years afterthe eruption ceased, the first sign of palagonitisa-tion was noticed at the surface of Surtsey. By2004, some 85% of the tephra pile above sealevel had been converted to palagonite tuff. Inshort, Surtsey has provided a well-documentedcase of the consolidation and alteration of basalt-ic tephra, a case which remains unparalleled.

Surtsey has provided a unique opportunity tostudy the evolution of a posteruptional hydro-thermal system. This system, discovered at thesurface of the island in the spring of 1967, hasbeen monitored ever since. The hydrothermalarea at the surface continued to expand untilaround 1979 but then the rate of expansionslowed down, presumably because the consoli-dated tephra inside the island had started to affectthe heat flux.

Island erosionThe posteruptive period has offered uniqueopportunities to study erosive forces in a coastalenvironment of strong wave activity. The erosionof Surtsey has been documented in detail throughan extensive series of vertical aerial photos. Thethree principal geological formations of Surtsey –tephra, lava and palagonite tuff – react quitedifferently to marine abrasion, with tuff provingthe most resistant. Since 1967, surf has eatenaway about half the island, above all loose tephraand lava. For the first few years, 3–20 hectaresdisappeared annually, while recent years haveseen an annual average of approximately onehectare washed away.

An attempt has been made to model the futureof Surtsey by using the curve of cumulative arealchange of Surtsey from 1967 to 2004. Thesemodels indicate that 120 years from now, onlythe core of palagonite tuff will be left.Surrounded at that point by steep palagonitecliffs, Surtsey will be fairly resistant to furthererosion and remain standing for thousands ofyears, like its neighbours in the archipelago.

A series of nine bathymetric maps compiledbetween 1964 and 2000 on the Surtsey environsreveal that the underwater remnants of the isletsSyrtlingur and Jólnir have suffered continuous,rapid submarine erosion, caused probably byboth wave action and bottom currents. Since thedata indicate that the rate of erosion is graduallydecreasing, these submarine hills should survivefor a long time. The data on submarine erosion atSurtsey is a unique scientific resource, as nocomparable measurements are available on anyvolcanic islands elsewhere.

Ecological laboratoryFrom its inception, the Surtsey island has beenstrictly protected, with human presence limited toa few scientists for a short period each summer.Rarely have the flora and fauna of an entire,intact and undisturbed island been recorded asthey naturally accumulated, which means thatSurtsey provides an exceptional opportunity tofurther our understanding of colonisation,extinction and the carrying capacity of an isolated,single-island ecosystem. Added to this are theprospects of studying species numbers decliningas the island erodes and shrinks. The opportunityfor direct testing of classic island biogeographyconcepts is invaluable and certainly seldom onoffer. Already, monitoring individual plants duringtheir colonisation of Surtsey has provided anextensive record of natural invasion processesand species dynamics; in future, this demo-graphic data provides a foundation for furtherinvestigations, e.g. exploring secondary dispersalfrom the species that are now established.

Surtsey has already allowed the scientificworld to gain insights into the interaction ofspecies and how it affects ecological succession.The establishment of a gull colony in the mid-1980s, with its resulting nutrient input, alteredprimary succession in dramatic ways. Theevolving sharp contrast between the lush,species-rich plant community inside the colonyand the sparse vegetation outside has been betterdocumented at Surtsey than at any other primarysuccession site in the world.

The pristine volcanic island of Surtsey is nomere scenario or model, but an actual, naturallaboratory and a globally outstanding example ofongoing geological, geomorphological and eco-logical processes in the development of land-

72



forms and biological communities. Therefore, it ishereby proposed that this scientifically uniquesite be recognised through the award of WorldHeritage Site status.

3.c Comparative analysis Most recorded events of submarine eruptionshave resulted in very short-lived islands, whichfrequently submerged quickly and becamesubmarine volcanic shoals, although these couldperiodically re-emerge through repeatederuptions. When a more substantial island hasresulted, as in Krakatau in Indonesia, humanactivity has soon affected development of theplant and animal communities, spoiling theirusefulness for detailed, long-term research intothe establishment and evolution of ecosystems inpristine island systems. Surtsey is therefore uniquein both its persistence and its undisturbed envi-ronment, allowing a detailed record of geologicaldevelopment to be compiled along withbiological surveys of ecosystem development.

Since its settlement around AD 870, 14 sub-marine volcanic eruptions are known to haveoccurred off Iceland, prior to the Surtsey eruption.

Ten of these eruptions took place along thesubmarine Reykjanes Ridge, an extension of theReykjanes peninsula in Southwest Iceland (Fig 2.3). Three of the eruptions there, i.e. in 1211,1422 and 1783, are known to have built upislands. No eyewitness descriptions remain, otherthan for the island first observed in May 1783,which was called Nýey (“New Island”). Reachinga diameter of at least 0.9 km, Nýey was apparent-ly composed of tephra formed in a hydromag-matic eruption exactly like the first phase of theSurtsey eruption. Since no lava flowed, Nýeydisappeared by autumn of the same year. It is con-sidered likely that the Vestmannaeyjar area had asubmarine eruption in 1896. Four submarineeruptions have been documented off the northcoast of Iceland (Sigurður Þórarinsson 1965).

Currently, thirteen sites are inscribed on theWorld Heritage List on account of their volcaniccharacter, in addition to nine sites in whichevidence of volcanism (usually extinct) is present(Fig. 3.1). Some of the listed sites, includingHeard and McDonal Islands in the SouthernOcean, the Galapagos Islands in the PacificOcean, Aeolian Islands in the Mediterranean,Pitons Management Area on Saint Lucia in theEastern Caribbean, and Hawaii Volcanoes

73


The ongoing marine erosion of the coastline is a major natural force shaping Surtsey. (Photo: Torgny Nordin 2003).


National Park in the Pacific Ocean, are volcanicislands. However, with the exception of Krakatau,which lies within the World Heritage Site ofUjung Kulon National Park, none of these islandshave appeared in recent historical times.

On 27 August 1883, the island of Krakatau inthe Sunda Straits of Indonesia exploded withenormous force, so that all previous life isgenerally believed to have been extinguished,leaving a clean slate or tabula rasa. Just as in thecase of Surtsey, the surviving islands werereshaped by the action of sea, wind and rain andwere progressively re-colonised by plants andanimals. The volcanology of Krakatau is wellknown, not least through pioneering work by theDutch mining engineer R. D. M. Verbeekm, whoundertook a series of investigations on the islandssix weeks after the eruption. However, as therewere no on-site witnesses of the Krakataueruption, its basic features were only graduallyclarified. Three years after the event, the firstbotanist arrived on Krakatau and collected 30species of vascular plants that were alreadygrowing there. Within ten years, the islands wereclothed with low-growing vegetation and todayare covered with tropical rain forest, whose tallesttrees are over 35 m high. This location is near theequator, in humid tropics with a mean annualtemperature of 26.4° C, while Surtsey is in the

cold-temperate North Atlantic. Furthermore, thereservoir of potential colonists in Java andSumatra was much greater than in Iceland, whichis itself still being colonised after the most recentPleistocene glaciation (Thornton 1996).

Going farther back in time to 1831, the yearthat Darwin sailed from England, a submarineeruption in the Mediterranean Sea created a newisland south of Sicily. In fact, the volcano therewas surfacing for the fourth time since first beingnoticed during the Punic Wars (ca. 250 BC). Asthe first to go ashore, the British named the newsite Graham Island, but not long afterwards the

74


The succession of plants on the sterile surface of Surtsey has been closely monitored from the very beginning.(Photo: Torgny Nordin 2002).

Lichens and mosses were early colonisers of theSurtseyjan lava. (Photo: Hervé Jezequel 2005).


Italians landed and named it Ferdinandea. TheFrench then named it Giulia, while the Spanishalso showed an interest in claiming the new land.Fortunately, any further diplomatic wrangling wasaverted when the fragile island disappeared ayear later through storm erosion. Graham Shoal isnow a dormant submarine volcano lying about10 m below sea level.

In 1927, a new submarine volcano raiseditself above sea level within the Krakatau caldera.Named Anak, the resulting island grew quickly,due to repeated eruptions, and today stands over300 m above sea level, with regular annualeruptions that produce mostly basaltic lava andscoria. Anak is not only of similar size, it hasnumerous other similarities as well to the islandof Surtsey. However, significant differences existrespecting levels of investigation and the type ofprotection. While the geological, geomorphologi-cal and ecological development of Surtsey hasbeen documented systematically and with greatregularity, the formation and growth, erosion, bi-ological colonisation and further aspects of Anakhave been documented much more sporadically.In addition, while Surtsey has been effectivelyand totally isolated from casual visitors, tourismand development, Anak has experienced a steadystream of tourists, and local fishermen have setup camps there. Thus, unlike Surtsey, Anak is byno means a pristine laboratory for studyingbiological colonisation (Sturla Friðriksson andBorgþór Magnússon 1992; Thornton 1996).

In 1957 a volcanic eruption in shallow waterbegan off the west tip of Fayal, an island in theAzores. Quite soon after the new island of Cape-linhos appeared, it joined with the main island,and remained active until 1958. The volcanicprocess was very similar to that of Surtsey, but thegeological formation and development as well asthe biological colonisation of Capelinhos werepoorly documented. Moreover, its biologicalisolation was broken as soon as it united with thelarger island of Fayal.

Comparing Surtsey with the two other recentvolcanic islands demonstrates its uniqueness(Table 3.1).

A large number of the Earth's other submarinevolcanoes are close to the stage of forming newislands; nevertheless, none of them have yetmade the dramatic, permanent entry to the worldabove sea level that Surtsey managed in 1963. Afew examples of ready-to-emerge volcanoes aregiven below: • First noted by seafarers in 1851, Metis Shoal

in the Tonga Islands of the South Pacificerupted in 1969 and built up a short-livedisland. This island reappeared during anothereruption in 1995. So far, volcanism has failedto establish a permanent island at Metis Shoal.

• Kavachi in the nearby Solomon Islands is theSouth Pacific's most active submarinevolcano. While some of its eruptions, such asin 1939, have produced short-lived islands, itscrater remains submarine to this day.

75


Name (eruptions) Location and climate Current attributes and status

Anak, Krakatau Sunda Strait of Indonesia at Volcanic island (some 2 km2); repeated(1930–present day) 6°S; humid tropical climate eruptions with interrupted ecological

succession; limited scientific study; marked human influence; open to tourism; fishery camps present

Capelinhos, Fayal, Azores North Atlantic at 40°N; Began as a volcanic island (2.4 km2), but(1957–1958) humid subtropical climate joined with a larger island (Fayal) and thereby

lost isolation; designated as a national refuge; controlled tourism; no systematic scientific studies

Surtsey, Iceland (1963–1967) North Atlantic at 63°N; Stable but eroding volcanic island (1.4 km2) in humid subarctic climate a pristine condition, strictly protected;

eruption, erosion and ecological succession thoroughly documented; ongoing, detailed geological and biological research

Table 3.1. Recent volcanic islands and their status.


• Near Grenada in the Caribbean, the Kick'emJenny submarine volcano, whose last eruptionin 2000 brought it yet closer to the surface,still remains about 150 m below sea level.

• Loihi seamount in the Hawaiian Islands,considered by many as the next potential foran island in this volcanic chain, has a longway left before reaching the surface, as thecrater still lies 1000 m below sea level.

• Ruby submarine volcano near Saipan in theMarianas Islands has now risen to within 230m of the sea surface. First detected in 1966,Ruby erupted again in 1995.

• About thirteen active submarine volcanoes inthe Izu and Volcano Islands of Japan are at astage allowing them to form new islands. Asan example, Fukutoku-Okanoba submarinevolcano erupted last in 1992 and is now only15 m below sea level.

In terms of ecology, Surtsey is one of few studyareas, worldwide, where long-term data has been

maintained on primary succession (KristínSvavarsdóttir and Walker 2006). Others includevolcanic surfaces on Krakatau, Indonesia (since1908); glacial moraines at Glacier Bay, Alaska,USA (since 1923); and sand dunes in Cooloola,Australia (since 1962) (see Walker and del Moral2003). On Surtsey, it is expected that stablecommunities will take several hundred to severalthousand years to develop, based on similarhistories of nearby islands in the Vestmannaeyjararchipelago.

The record of ecological research on Surtsey,which spans 40 years of regular measurements, isexceptional for many reasons, among which arethe pristine condition maintained on the island,the data obtained by monitoring individual plantspecies, and the thorough surveys conducted onthe island in its entirety (Sturla Friðriksson 2005).

In addition to the research already carried outat Surtsey, there are many potential, non-destruc-tive measurements which would continue tofurther our understanding of primary succession.

76


Fig. 3.1. A world map relating the nominated area of Surtsey nature reserve (red star) to World Heritage Sites, whichare primarily inscribed for their volcanic character (filled red triangles) and sites where volcanism is present,although not the main reason for inscription (black, open triangles).


These include, to name but a few: studies ofnutrient dynamics (particularly of nitrogen andphosphorus); the links between nutrient fluxesand changes in both vascular plant andunderground invertebrate populations; carbonaccumulation by species and location; the rolesof herbivores and mycorrhizae in succession andthe ramifications of escaping from mainlandherbivores; the microhabitats which plantscolonise and how these are partitioned amongfunctional groups; and the role of spatialaggregation of plants during succession (KristínSvavarsdóttir and Walker 2006).

3.d Authenticity/IntegrityThe boundaries of the nominated area, Surtsey,have been drawn such that they secure theintegrity of the site, show the interdependent andinterrelated elements of the Surtsey volcano andits magmatic series, and ensure that all relevantbiophysical and ecological processes areincluded and protected. The protectivedesignation of the Surtsey Nature Reserve willguarantee that the integrity of the nominated areais preserved from any negative future effectsthrough human activities (Chapter 7b).

The nominated area represents the entire,intact Surtsey volcano, including Surtsey island;the submarine remnants of the temporary tephraislands, Syrtlingur and Jólnir; remnants of thesubmarine volcanic ridge, Surtla; and submarinelava fields. The two primary geological unitsformed during the Surtsey eruption, tephra andlava, which have since undergone abrasion ormodification through geomorphological andgeological processes, are both represented withinthe nominated area. The same applies to the threesecondary geological units formed subsequent tothe eruption: palagonite tuff, eolian and talussediments, and coastal sediments. Thus thenominated area includes every element necessaryto demonstrate the area's outstanding universalvalue, while its size is considered adequate toensure the wholeness, integrity and intactness offactors in the site's natural heritage.

Surtsey island and its littoral and sub-littoralzones contain ecological features and biophysicalprocesses that have come into being anddeveloped since the eruption without any

discernible human influence. From its verybeginnings, the island has been strictly protectedand closed to the general public, with accessrestricted to only a few scientists and naturejournalists per year. All species recorded in thefield have colonised the island and its littoralzones on their own initiative, so that the island’sflora and fauna contains no established exotic oralien species. Species establishment andcommunity development and succession havealso proceeded entirely without humaninterference. There are only three man-madestructures on the island, and other physicalhuman disturbance is neglible. It may thereforebe justifiably claimed that Surtsey island and itslittoral zones represent a pristine naturalphenomenon.

The seas immediately surrounding the Surtseyvolcano have in the past been utilised for small-scale fishing. However, fishery activity withtowed bottom gear has been banned sinceJanuary 2006 within the nominated area thatencompasses the complete magmatic series.

As described in previous chapters, the Surtseyvolcano is subject to ongoing geomorphological,geological and ecological processes that areconstantly shaping, eroding and remoulding theyoung island. These natural processes and theirdocumentation in a pristine setting providesupport and fulfil major criteria for thenomination.

77


Sturla Friðriksson and Ian Thornton, two well knownisland ecologists, on Surtsey in 1990. Ian Thornton(1926 – 2002) was a professor of zoology at La TrobeUniversity, Melbourne, Australia and a leader ofecological research on Krakatau for a number of years.(Photo: Borgþór Magnússon).


78


Dense and diverse vegetation has developedwithin the seagull colony on the lava plain.(Photo: María Ingimarsdóttir 2005).

Seagulls have been an important catalyst ofecosystem development on Surtsey throughthe transport of nutrients from the sea ontothe island. (Photo: Borgþór Magnússon2005).

Running water has eroded the cones andformed small gullies. (Photo: Erling Ólafsson2004).

The surf is constantly abrading the lava,creating high sea-cliffs. (Photo: BorgþórMagnússon 2005).

Boulders on the shore of the northern spitderived from break-up of lava at the otherside of the island (Photo: Borgþór Magnússon2002).


79


The tephra cones have been converted intodense palagonite tuff, which is veryresistant to further erosion.(Photo: María Ingimarsdóttir 2005).

Driftwood on the northern shore provides ashelter for plants and animals. (Photo:Borgþór Magnússon 2005).

Steaming fissures reflect the existence of ahydrothermal system underneath. (Photo:Árni Bragason 2004).

Surtungur, the main lava crater of thevolcano, with the palagonite tuff hills in thebackground. (Photo: Sigmar Metúsalemsson2001).

The lowland northern spit seen from the passbetween the two tuff cones. (Photo: ErlingÓlafsson 2004).

(Photo: Snævarr Guðmundsson 2005).


Surtsey has offered a rare opportunity to record the flora and fauna of anentire, intact and undisturbed island. (Photo: María Ingimarsdóttir 2005).


81

4.a Present state ofconservation

The conservation status of Surtsey island isexcellent and the marks of humans minimal. The infrastructure is limited to one field hut, a helicopter pad and an abandoned lighthouse,which will be removed in the summer of 2007.

Surtsey itself, as well as the island's flora andfauna, are still fast developing, as ever-increasingnumbers of species colonise the island andexisting species expand their ranges. As tourismand the exploitation or disturbance of wildlifeand vegetation is strictly prohibited, trampling,pillaging or disruption are not conservationissues. No population trends have been observedon the island that can be attributed to localanthropogenic factors.

The conservation status of the marine part ofthe nominated area is less well known, but isconsidered good as fisheries have been of a smallscale (see below).

4.b Factors affecting theproperty

The emerging terrestrial and marine ecosystemsof Surtsey are vulnerable to disturbance, naturalas well as anthropogenic. The main naturaldisturbances are the ongoing marine erosion ofthe coastline and wind erosion of the landsurface, both of which should be considered partof the island's past and future natural history.Anthropogenic disturbance is regarded asminimal.

State of conservation and factors affecting the property4

Sandstorm at Austurbunki in 1985. Such sandstorms were common before the tephra cones converted intopalagonite tuff. (Photo: Sveinn P. Jakobsson).


(i) Development pressures Surtsey has never been inhabited. Constructionwork is prohibited unless exempted by theEnvironment and Food Agency. The currentDeclaration of Surtsey Nature Reserve (Chapter7b) also prohibits mining within the oceansection of the reserve and restricts fishing withtowed bottom gear to the outer buffer zone.

Historically, i.e. between 1965 and 2005,there has been some fishing inside the naturereserve. Most of this activity has beenconcentrated to the west of Surtsey (Fig 4.1). Inthe period from 1987 to 2005, 25 species wereregistered in catches in the area of Surtsey NatureReserve (Fig 4.2; Appendix 9c). The area's totalyearly catches of demersal species amount toabout 45 tonnes. The largest catches are of lingMolva molva; an average of 12 tonnes per year.Other important species include the cod Gadusmorhua, haddock Melanogrammus aeglifinus,saithe Pollachius virens and witch Glyptocepha-lus cynoglossus, all with more than five tonnesaverage catch per year.

Three types of towed bottom gear have beenused: the Nephrops trawl, otter trawl and Danishseine. The Danish seine is the most commongear; the average number of sets per year withinthe nominated area has been about 20 and theyearly catch some 17 tonnes, mainly witch, dabLimanda limanda and plaice Pleuronectes

82


Fig. 4.1. Fishing activities using towed bottom gear inthe waters off Surtsey during the period 1987 to 2005.The points refer to the tow starting positions. (Source:Marine Research Institute).

50

100

50

100

Danish seine

Otter trawl

Nephros trawl

SURTSEYSURTSEYSURTSEY

Surtsey Nature Reserve

100

50



100

50



100

50

1 km

1 km

1 km

Long-line fishing boat southeast of Surtsey. Tusk, lingand cod are the primary species taken by long-line inthe area. (Photo: Karl Gunnarsson 1996).


83

4 STATE OF CONSERVATION AND FACTORS AFFECTING THE PROPERTY

platessa. On average, otter trawl boats havecaught some 14 tonnes annually within theSurtsey Nature Reserve, mainly haddock but also saithe and cod. Boats with the Nephrops trawl have taken some 0.8 tonnes, of which 0.5 tonnes is Norway lobster Nephros norvegicus(Fig 4.2). Fishing with towed bottom gear hasbeen prohibited within the nominated area sinceJanuary 2006.

On average, gill nets bring in about 8 tonnesper year within the reserve, primarily the ling andcod. Other gear types used are the longline andhandline. Fishing with gill nets, lines and trapswill be allowed within the nominated area.

Currently there are three visible man-madefacilities on Surtsey island. In 1967, the SurtseyResearch Society erected the research field hut“Pálsbær” close to the shore on the northern partof the island. That site was gradually destroyed byocean erosion. A new hut was erected on theeastern part of the island in 1985 and has beenmaintained by the Society ever since. Also, ahelicopter pad was built close to the hut in 1993.In the late 1980s the Icelandic Maritime Adminis-tration decided to erect a lighthouse on top of theeastern tuff crater, Austurbunki. Although thelighthouse became inoperative after a few years,the concrete foundation is still in place.Responding to a request by the Icelandic WorldHeritage Committee, the Ministry of Transport

and Communications has agreed to decommis-sion and remove the remnants of the lighthouseand its foundation from Surtsey. The IcelandicMaritime Administration will oversee thisremoval, which will occur no later than spring orsummer of 2007.

Apart from normal maintenance of the field hut Pálsbær and the helicopter pad, thereare no plans for additional infrastructures onSurtsey.

(ii) Environmental pressures Viewed in a broader context, there are nodiscernible environmental pressures on Surtseyapart from those operating on a larger regional or global scale, such as climate change andatmospheric pollution.

No heavy industry or other activities thathandle or produce environmentally hazardousmaterials are located within a 50-km radius fromSurtsey. The dumping of waste at sea, includingdamaged nets, fishing gear, containers or house-hold garbage, is an issue of concern, as signifi-cant quantities of litter wash up on Surtsey'sshores every year. This problem is common alongthe entire Icelandic coastline.

Large vessels sail along the southern coast ofIceland south of Surtsey. These pose a potentialpollution hazard, both now and in the future.

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

Ling

Cod

Haddo

ck

Saith

e

Witc

hPla

ice Dab

Wolf

fish

Redfis

hTu

sk

Lemon

sole

Long

roug

h dab

Norway

lobs

ter

Great s

ilver

smelt

Whit

ing

Meg

rim

Common

skate

Angler

fish

Halibu

t

Mea

n ye

arly

cat

ches

[t]

Fig. 4.2. Meanyearly catches offish and Norwaylobster in theSurtsey NatureReserve. The figuresare averages for the period 1987 to 2005. (Source:Marine ResearchInstitute).


The major shipping lane from Europe runs closeto the mainland coast, making landfall offDyrhólaey headland, then lying between themainland and the Vestmannaeyjar archipelagotowards the Reykjanes peninsula. This is the mostcommon route, at least among those familiar withthe conditions near land. Another, less frequentedshipping lane lies farther south, with landfall atVestmannaeyjar. This lane then leads south ofSurtsey, at a distance of four to ten nautical milesfrom the island, before heading for the Reykjanespeninsula (Fig 4.3).

Between 1999 and 2001, the IcelandicMaritime Administration proposed to delimit azone that would stretch from Dyrhólaey to thesouth of Vestmannaeyjar, then from there southand west of Fuglasker to Garðskagi, following thelimits of the twelve-mile jurisdiction. This zonewas to be defined as an “Area to be Avoided”,conforming to the rules of the InternationalMaritime Organisation and having the purpose ofproviding protection by directing oil tanker trafficbeyond the area, away from Iceland's coast andthe spawning grounds on Selvogsbanki fishingbanks. The proposal encountered protests fromstakeholders and was not implemented at thattime.

The climate of Iceland is expected to warm by2 to 3° C during this century and precipitation toincrease by 10–20% (ACIA 2004). If this proves tobe the case, the climate of Iceland will resemblethat of the Faroe Islands and northern Scotland by the end of this century. Warming of thismagnitude would undoubtedly facilitatevegetation and soil development on Surtsey.

84


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Significant quantities of litter wash up on Surtsey'sshores every year. (Photo: Hervé Jezequel 2005).

Fig. 4.3. Main shipping routes off the southern coast ofIceland. Hatched area represents a proposed “Area tobe Avoided”. (Source: Icelandic MaritimeAdministration).

The Pálsbær field hut is the only house on Surtsey. Thefoundation of an abandoned lighthouse is also visibleon the top of the hill in the background. The founda-tion will be dismantled and removed from the island.(Photo: Árni Bragason 2004).


(iii) Natural disasters and preparing for risk Surtsey is the product of a spectacular naturalevent, a submarine eruption that lasted for fouryears, from 1963 to 1967. The new islandbelongs to the Vestmannaeyjar archipelago,which constitutes a separate volcanic system atthe southern end of the Eastern Volcanic Zone ofIceland (Fig. 2.4). As noted above, this is a youngvolcanic system with its epicentre aroundHeimaey. There are indications that theVestmannaeyjar system is approaching a newvolcanic episode with the reported submarineeruption in 1896, followed by the Surtseyeruption and the Eldfell eruption 1973. Therefore,a volcanic eruption within the system within thenext few decades can not be excluded.

With 1–2 earthquakes per year on the averagein the magnitude range 2.0–3.5 on the Richterscale, Surtsey is seismically active. During thetime period 1991–2005, 5–6 earthquakes havebeen recorded annually. No destructiveearthquakes are known to have occurred withinthe Vestmannaeyjar system in historical time.

(iv) Visitor/tourism pressures No tourists are allowed on Surtsey and humanpresence and influence has been minimal. Sincethe early 1980s visits to the island have beenconfined to 6–10 scientists, nature journalists andphotographers for one to two weeks each year.Any garbage is brought back to the mainland atthe end of each visit. The Vestmannaeyjar RescueTeam travels to Surtsey approximately once a yearto look after the field hut, Pálsbær, and amaintenance crew of craftsmen from the SurtseyResearch Society visits the island every third orfourth year to repair the hut as needed.

Hence, Surtsey is mainly seen by tourists fromthe air or sea from sight-seeing flights, touristboats or cruisers.

Strictly speaking, any visit to Surtsey causessome disruption to the island, including tramplingand the possible introduction of species.Researchers and visitors alike can alsounwittingly affect how the community ofbreeding birds develops. Fulmars and gulls areparticularly vulnerable in this respect. There havebeen occasional reports of illegal entry onto theisland by people on pleasure boats. However, thecurrent rigorous control of human access,

together with the strict protection regime on the island, ensures that human disturbance isminimal.

In spring 2005, a local parliamentaryrepresentative formally asked the Minister for theEnvironment whether there were plans to allowtourist access to Surtsey. On that occasion theMinister declared that there are no plans tochange the management regime or accessrestrictions on Surtsey.

(v) Number of inhabitants within theproperty and the buffer zoneThere are no inhabitants inside the nominatedarea of Surtsey and never have been. The onlyinhabited island among the 18 islands in theVestmannaeyjar archipelago is Heimaey, 18 kmNE from Surtsey, with some 4,200 residents.

85

4 STATE OF CONSERVATION AND FACTORS AFFECTING THE PROPERTY

Several foreign cruise liners sail by Surtsey everysummer, allowing thousands of tourists to observe theisland from a distance. (Photo: Sigmar Metúsalemsson2001).


Aerial view of the crater Surtur. (Photo: Ragnar Th. Sigurðsson 2005).


87

15.a Ownership The nominated area is owned by the IcelandicState. The nominated area is protected as a nature reserve according to the Act on NatureConservation, No. 44/1999, which applies inIceland and throughout its territorial waters andexclusive economic zone. The municipality ofVestmannaeyjar serves as the physical planningauthority for the area.

5.b Protective designation In 1965 the Nature Conservation Council (nowEnvironment and Food Agency of Iceland)recommended to the Minister of Education thatSurtsey be declared a nature reserve. Theintention was to protect and ensure itscolonisation and the succession of life underminimal human influence, and to protect itsfragile surface and landscape (Appendix 1a). Theprotection criteria were slightly revised in 1974,in accordance with a new Act on NatureConservation that entered into force in 1971(Appendix 1b). However, the island has de factobeen managed under IUCN category 1a since1965, i.e. as a Strict Nature Reserve: protectedarea managed mainly for science.

In January 2006, the boundaries of SurtseyNature Reserve were expanded to their currentoutlines (see Chapter 1) and a new and revisedDeclaration of Surtsey Nature Reserve was issued(Chapter 7b). This was done in order to ensure theprotection of the entire Surtsey volcanic system,both above and below the sea surface, includingthe transient islets Jólnir and Syrtlingur as well asthe submarine ridge Surtla.

The Surtsey Nature Reserve is protected by theAct on nature conservation, No. 44/1999, assubsequently amended. The objectives of the Actare defined in Article 1 as follows:

“The purpose of this Act is to direct theinteraction of man with his environment so that itharms neither the biosphere nor the geosphere,

nor pollutes the air, sea or water…. The Act isintended to ensure, to the extent possible, thatIcelandic nature can develop according to itsown laws and to ensure the conservation of itsexceptional or historical aspects… The Act shallfacilitate the nation's access to and knowledge ofIcelandic nature and cultural heritage andencourage the conservation and utilisation ofresources based on sustainable development.”

Other articles of the Act on Nature Conservationwhich relate to the protection of Surtsey includethe following: • Article 37, which confers special protection

inter alia to volcanic craters, pseudocraters(rootless vents) and lava fields

• Article 38, which calls for the authorisation ofprojects by the Environment and Food Agencyof Iceland if there is any risk of damage toprotected sites of natural interest

• Article 53, which defines nature reserves as“areas which it is important to preserve be-cause of their special landscape or biosphere.”

Regulation No. 148/1998, based on Act No.79/1997 on fishing within the Icelandic FisheriesJurisdiction, further restricts fisheries within theSurtsey Nature Reserve by banning towed bottomgear within the eastern part of the reserve.

Protection and management of the property5

Surtsey with Geirfuglasker in the foreground. (Photo: Erling Ólafsson 2005).


5.c Means of implementingprotective measures

The Act on Nature Conservation (No. 44/1999, inArticle 37) grants special protection to certainlandscape and habitat types, including volcaniccraters, pseudocraters (rootless vents) and lavafields. No one is allowed to alter, damage ordestroy features that fall under Article 37 withoutprior consent by the Environment and FoodAgency of Iceland and the relevant municipality.

The Declaration of Surtsey Nature Reservestates that violating the protective regulations willresult in a fine or imprisonment of up to twoyears. This provision is based on Article 76 in theAct on Nature Conservation (No. 44/1999),which reads as follows: “Anyone who violates theprovisions of this Act or rules adopted by virtuethereof shall be subject to fines or imprisonmentof up to two years. Fines shall be paid to the StateTreasury. Cases under this Article shall be prose-cuted in accordance with provisions for criminalproceedings, cf. the Criminal Proceedings Act,No. 19/1991.”

The Environment and Food Agency of Icelandis responsible for implementing the protectivemeasures of Surtsey. A visitors' centre with apermanent warden will be established inVestmannaeyjar town. The management planunder preparation (Appendix 10) will furtherspecify implementation measures for the SurtseyNature Reserve.

5.d Existing plans related tothe municipality and region inwhich the proposed property islocated

A Nature Conservation Strategy, 2004–2008, wasconfirmed by the Icelandic Parliament in 2004.This Strategy, to be renewed every five years, ismeant to ensure the protection of a representativesample of Iceland's biological and geologicaldiversity, as well as sites of outstanding naturalbeauty or of cultural or historic significance. Alarge part of the Vestmannaeyjar archipelago isone of the areas scheduled for protection in the

Nature Conservation Strategy, 2004–2008. Thereasons given include the characteristic andspectacular landscape of the Vestmannaeyjararchipelago and their scientific and educationalvalue in terms of geomorphology; however, theirrich birdlife is the foremost reason. For example,Vestmannaeyjar is home to Europe's largestbreeding colony of the leach's petrel Oceanodro-ma leucorrhoa and to the only breeding colony ofthe Manx shearwater Puffinus puffinus in Iceland.Over one-third of the Icelandic puffin Fraterculaarctica population breeds in Vestmannaeyjar, andthese islands are of general international impor-tance regarding areas with seabird populations ofover one million pairs (Ólafur Einarsson et al.2002).

The entire country is subject to planningrequirements, according to Iceland's Planningand Building Act, No. 73/1997, No. 135/1997and No. 58/1999. A municipal plan is adevelopment plan for a specific municipality,detailing the local authority's policy regardingland use, transportation and service systems,environmental matters, and the development ofsettlement in the municipality over a period of atleast 12 years. The Municipal plan for Vestmanna-eyjar archipelago, 2002–2014, was confirmed bythe local government and ratified by the Ministerfor the Environment on 4 March 2005.

The Municipal plan for Vestmannaeyjararchipelago confirms the government's intentionto protect the entire archipelago as a managednature reserve, while allowing sustainable use ofits natural resources.

5.e Property management planor other management system

A Draft Management Plan for Surtsey NatureReserve, 2007–2017, is attached (Appendix 10).The primary aim of this plan is to ensure thecontinued protection and management of thereserve.

The Surtsey Research Society, besidescoordinating and enhancing scientific work onSurtsey, has functioned since 1965 as an officialguardian of the island. In the 1974 Declaration of Surtsey Nature Reserve (Appendix 1b), theNature Conservation Council (now the Environ-

88



ment and Food Agency of Iceland) bestowedsupervision of the island upon the Society.

Supervision includes inter alia maintenance ofthe field hut, keeping track of scientific missionsand other visits to the island, informing peopleabout the conservation regime on the island andreviewing applications for permission to goashore on the island. More or less all scientistsand researchers that have formally applied forpermission to conduct scientific research onSurtsey have been granted such permission.Natural history journalists and photographershave also, with few exceptions, been grantedpermission to visit Surtsey, while most otherapplications have been turned down.

The Society's Rules on Pálsbær remind guestsof the hut not being a mere shelter for theshipwrecked, but also a centre for importantscientific research. Therefore, it is highlyimportant that every rule be strictly adhered to,such as avoiding bringing any soil traces,organisms or pollutants to the island, or leavingany organic waste on the island.

The current Declaration of Surtsey NatureReserve (2006) states that the Environment andFood Agency of Iceland has overall responsibilityfor the reserve. The Surtsey Research Societycoordinates and promotes scientific research onSurtsey. The Icelandic Institute of Natural History

is engaged in scientific research and responsiblefor monitoring activities, carried out in coopera-tion with the Marine Research Institute and theSurtsey Research Society (Chapter 7b). The rolesof these four key players will be further specifiedin the above mentioned management plan.

5.f Sources and levels offinance

The Surtsey Research Society receives a smallyearly allocation (some 7,000 EUR) through theState Treasury budget, which is used to publishthe periodical Surtsey Research, update theSociety's homepage (www.surtsey.is) andmaintain the field hut Pálsbær. All workconducted by the Society's members is voluntary.

The Icelandic Institute of Natural History andthe Marine Research Institute provide significantin-kind support by financing scientific researchand the monitoring of Surtsey. Previously this alsoapplied to the Agricultural Research Institute,which participated actively in field work onSurtsey until the 1990s. The Icelandic CoastGuard also provides significant in-kind supportby transporting scientists and their crews to theisland.

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5 PROTECTION AND MANAGEMENT OF THE PROPERTY

“A room with a view.” (Photo from within Pálsbær:Borgþór Magnússon 2005).

Scientists boarding a helicopter from the IcelandicCoast Guard after a successful expedition to Surtsey in2004. (Photo: Erling Ólafsson).


5.g Sources of expertise andtraining in conservation andmanagement techniquesThe Environment and Food Agency of Iceland hasstaff trained in conservation management,including wardens in the national parks andnature reserves managed by the Agency.

The Icelandic Institute of Natural History andthe Marine Research Institute, which are now thetwo main institutes engaged in research onSurtsey, have experts in the fields of geology,geomorphology, volcanology, geography,petrography, oceanography, zoology, botany andecology. These experts are active in basic natureresearch, environmental monitoring and resourcemanagement at national, Nordic, European andinternational levels and have the necessaryexpertise to underpin the long-term protectionand management of the area.

On a local level, the Vestmannaeyjar ResearchCentre and the South Iceland Nature ResearchCentre in Vestmannaeyjar town employ severalgeologists and biologists who are mainly engagedin local research and monitoring.

5.h Visitor facilities andstatistics

The town of Vestmannaeyjar can be reached byair or by ferry from the mainland. Accommoda-tion is available at hotels, hostels and campsites.There are several visitor attractions on the island,including a folk museum, art museum, photo-graphy museum and aquarium. The latest starattraction is the Pompei of the North project –excavation of houses that were buried undertephra during the volcanic eruption on Heimaeyin 1973, which was the first eruption in a denselypopulated area in Iceland's history and a majoreconomic disaster. The objective of this project isto give visitors the opportunity to see whatactually happened.

Surtsey is protected as a strict nature reserveand closed to the general public. Although touristsare not allowed to visit Surtsey, they can view itfrom the air and from the sea. Aerial sightseeingtours are available from Reykjavik and the town

of Vestmannaeyjar and provide an excellent viewof the island. Boat trips are also available fromthe Vestmannaeyjar harbour. The duration of around trip by boat is about 4–5 hours.

Scientists have accessed the island by boatand rubber rafts, small planes and helicopters. A small airstrip was in operation until 1976, but is no longer usable or visible. Since then, the only air transportation has been by helicopter.The field hut Pálsbær has all the necessaryfacilities and can easily accommodate 8–10people.

5.i Policies and programmesrelated to the presentation andpromotion of the propertyThe Surtsey Research Society has been instrumen-tal in providing information and promoting Surtseyfrom the very beginning.

The Surtsey Research Society maintains awebsite (www.surtsey.is) with information on theSociety, the origin and development of Surtseyand its ecosystem, scientific work on Surtsey, andthe protection of the island as a nature reserve.The Society publishes Surtsey Research (formerlythe Surtsey Research Progress Report), which isnow available on the website. The series includeseleven issues, with the first one published in1965 and the twelfth issue being prepared forpublication. The reports to date contain 201papers by scientists who have worked or areworking on Surtsey. These reports are the mostreliable and comprehensive information availableon the island's development and on scientificfindings concerning the island. The full Surtseyanbibliography is extensive: over 900 papers andbooks have been published on the island'sdevelopment. The full bibliography can beaccessed at the Surtsey website.

Other sources of information about Surtseyand its environs include the following: theEnvironment and Food Agency of Iceland(www.ust.is), Icelandic Institute of Natural History(www.ni.is), Vestmannaeyjar Research Centre(www.setur.is), South Iceland Nature ResearchCentre (www.nattsud.is), Vestmannaeyjar munici-pality (www.vestmannaeyjar.is) and Heimaslóð –Vestmannaeyjar (www.heimaslod.is).

90



The Surtsey Research Society has coordinatedseveral national and international conferencesand meetings focusing on various aspects ofSurtsey. The Surtsey Biology Conference was heldin Reykjavik in April 1965 with 38 participants:22 from Iceland and 16 from abroad. ABiological Outline for research on and aroundSurtsey was presented, “evaluated, scrutinisedand accepted”, as stated in the minutes from theconference. A second conference, the SurtseyResearch Conference, was held in Reykjavik inJune 1967, with a total of 76 participants: 36from Iceland and 40 from abroad. The thirty- andforty-year anniversaries of the Surtsey eruptionhave been commemorated by open seminars inReykjavik. In the autumn of 2005, a workshop,Surtsey and its management, was held in thetown of Vestmannaeyjar. At this workshop,scientists outlined the geological and ecologicaldevelopment of the island and participantsdiscussed its significance and future.

5.j Staffing levels

All areas in Iceland which are protectedaccording to the Act on nature conservation areoverseen by the Nature Conservation andOutdoor Recreation Division at the Environmentand Food Agency of Iceland. The Divisionemploys staff trained in the conservation andmanagement of protected areas. During thesummer months, several wardens are employedat protected areas. Every warden must attend aspecial training course in environmental law,conservation and outdoor recreation, and theduties of the warden are to aid and guide visitorsand to interpret the locality's natural and culturalphenomena. A permanent warden will bestationed at the planned Surtsey visitors centre inthe town of Vestmannaeyjar.

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5 PROTECTION AND MANAGEMENT OF THE PROPERTY

Scientists are among the few allowed to visit Surtsey; here is an entomologist at work in the seemingly lifeless desert.(Photo: Erling Ólafsson 2005).


The small crater Bjallan. (Photo: Hervé Jezequel 2005).


6.a Key indicators for measur-ing the state of conservation

As explained in Chapter 4, there are few discerni-ble environmental pressures at work on Surtsey,and its conservation status is considered excel-lent. Under the current regime of strict protec-tion, the Surtsey island essentially protects itself.Hence there has been no direct monitoring of itsconservation status in the past. However, severalnatural parameters have been regularly monitoredsince the island’s conception (Table 6.1). Variouslong-term aspects of vegetation will in particularprovide important baselines and indicatorsconcerning the response of a young island systemto disturbances such as climatic change.

The management plan under preparation(Appendix 10) will further address the issue ofindicators to measure the natural state of Surtseyand its conservation status.

There are no plans to use the island fortourism in the near future. Outside pressuresinclude litter, which the sea washes up on thebeach every year and may be potentially

hazardous for birds. Shipping accidents and oilspills that would affect Surtsey are consideredunlikely. However, an emergency procedure andresponse plan for potential oil spills will bedeveloped as part of the management plan underpreparation (Appendix 10).

6.b Administrative arrange-ments for monitoring propertyThe following agencies are responsible for themonitoring referenced in Table 6.1:

Icelandic Institute of Natural HistoryHlemmur 3–5IS-105 Reykjaví[email protected]

Marine Research InstituteSkúlagata 4IS-121 Reykjavík [email protected]

93

Monitoring6

Parameter monitored Periodicity Location of record

Influx and colonisation of new species of vascular plants, Annually Icelandic Institute of Natural Historymosses, lichens, insects and birdsVegetation development within permanent plots Bi-annually Icelandic Institute of Natural HistoryEcosystem parameters (plant biomass, soil respiration, Every few years Icelandic Institute of Natural Historysoil chemistry, etc.) within permanent plots Thorough bird surveys Every ten years Icelandic Institute of Natural HistoryErosion (size and outline) of the island, Bi-annually Icelandic Institute ofNatural Historyas shown by aerial photographs Development and extent of the palagonite tuff Bi-annually Icelandic Institute of Natural HistoryDevelopment of the hydrothermal area through Bi-annually Icelandic Institute of Natural Historytemperature measurements Survey of coastal and submarine biota Every ten years Marine Research InstituteOffshore wave measurements at a depth of 130 m Continuously Icelandic Maritime Administration

since 1988Record of climate (wind speed, temperature, precipitation) Continuously The Icelandic Meteorological Officeat Stórhöfði, some 19 km northeast of Surtsey

Table 6.1. Natural parameters monitored on and around Surtsey.


The Icelandic Meteorological OfficeBústaðavegur 9IS-150 Reykjaví[email protected]

6.c Results of previousreporting exercises

Although several hundred scientific papers havebeen published on Surtsey’s natural history anddevelopment, this report represents the firstcomprehensive assessment of the island’s naturalstate and conservation.

In September 2005, an open seminar was heldin the town of Vestmannaeyjar on the subjectSurtsey and its management. On this occasion,scientists and representatives of the local commu-nity discussed the island's future management,including whether to allow controlled tourism onthe island. The seminar concluded, however, thatit would be unwise to lift the tourist ban on Surts-

ey, both because it would jeopardise its value asa laboratory of nature and also because transportto and from the island, whether by boat or air, isunsafe. The seminar recommended that a SurtseyCentre be established in the town, with themission of informing people about Surtsey and itsdevelopment.

94


A team of ecologists sampling vegetation in one of the permanent study plots on Surtsey. (Photo: Erling Ólafsson 2003).

Participants at the workshop, Surtsey and itsmanagement, in the town of Vestmannaeyjar,September 2005. (Photo: Ómar Garðarsson 2005).


7.a Supplementary materialThis nomination report is supplemented by thefollowing audiovisual and printed material: • A videotape with three films by Ósvaldur

Knudsen (1965, 1967 and 1973): Birth of anisland; Sequel to Surtsey; and Land out of theocean. Additional filming and editing by VilliKnudsen.

• A Videotape/DVD by Páll Steingrímsson(1993): Surtsey 30-years of age [in German].

• A DVD by Helga Brekkan and Torgny Nordin(2003): The black island.

• A book by Sturla Friðriksson (2005): Surtsey,ecosystems formed. Varði, The SurtseyResearch Society, Reykjavík, 112 pages.

• Surtsey Research Progress Reports No. IX(1982), X (1992) and XI (2000). The SurtseyResearch Society, Reykjavík.

• A set of slides.

7.b Declaration of SurtseyNature Reserve, 2006

ADVERTISEMENT

Of a nature reserve on Surtsey island

Art. 1Declaration of conservation

The Minister for the Environment has, in consul-tation with the Minister of Fisheries and in accordwith the proposal of the Environment and FoodAgency and the Icelandic Institute of NaturalHistory, as well as with the consent of the munic-ipality of Vestmannaeyjar [the Westman Islands],decided to renew the declared conservation ofSurtsey in such manner that the declaration ofconservation shall apply to the entire volcano,whether above the surface of the sea or under-water, including the craters of Jólnir, Syrtlingurand Surtla, together with a specified area ofocean around the island. The protected area isconserved as a nature reserve in accord with

Subparagraph 1 of the first paragraph of Art. 53 ofthe Act on Nature Conservation, No. 44/1999.

Art. 2Objective of conservation

The objective of declaring Surtsey a protectedarea is to ensure that development of the islandwill be in keeping with the principles of natureitself, as provided in Art. 1 of the Act on NatureConservation. The purpose of conservation is toensure that colonisation by plants and animals,biotic succession and the shaping of geologicalformations will be as natural as possible, and thathuman disruption will be minimised.

The declaration of conservation is based interalia upon the great value of the area in scientificand nature conservation terms, both for Icelandand internationally; the area has complete andundisturbed natural features which reflect thedevelopmental processes of nature, and whichare highly sensitive to disruption.

Art. 3Boundaries of the nature reserve

The nature reserve includes Surtsey above sealevel and down to the sea floor, together with anarea of ocean around the island which isdemarcated by a line drawn between four cornerpoints; see the accompanying table. Thecoordinates of the points are designated by theISNET93 system and by longitude and latitude(degrees, minutes and seconds). The boundariesof the area are shown on the accompanying map.

95

1 Documentation 7

Table ISNET93 Degrees

Point X coordinate Y coordinate Longitude Latitude

1 415350 315875 20º41'15'' 63º16'08''2 423700 315875 20º41'15'' 63º20'22''3 423700 308020 20º31'16'' 63º20'22''4 415350 308020 20º31'16'' 63º16'08''


Art. 4Supervision of the nature reserve, etc.

The Environment and Food Agency conducts thesupervision of the nature reserve. A six-memberadvisory committee shall be appointed to advisethe Environment and Food Agency on matters ofthe nature reserve and shall include onerepresentative of the Surtsey Research Society, ofthe Icelandic Institute of Natural History, of theMarine Research Institute and of the Environmentand Food Agency and two representatives of themunicipality of the Westman Islands. The repre-sentative of the Environment and Food Agencyshall be the committee chairperson. This commit-tee shall be appointed to a term of four years.

The Surtsey Research Society coordinates andseeks to further scientific research on Surtsey andinside the nature reserve boundaries. A specialagreement shall be concluded in this regard, tobe approved by the Minister for the Environment.

The Icelandic Institute of Natural Historyconducts research and the regular monitoring ofnatural conditions in the nature reserve, incooperation with the Marine Research Instituteand Surtsey Research Society.

Art. 5Access to the nature reserve

It is prohibited to go ashore on Surtsey or to diveby the island except for research purposes andrelated activities and with the written permissionof the Environment and Food Agency.

Vessels are permitted to travel within thereserve around Surtsey.

Art. 6Conservation of vegetation, animal life and

geological formations

It is prohibited to disturb vegetation, animal lifeor geological formations or other natural featureswithin the reserve.

It is prohibited to transport to the island liveanimals, plants, seeds or plant parts, or otherorganisms. Transporting minerals and soil to theisland is also prohibited.

Art. 7Land use and construction

Construction, disturbing the earth, extractingmaterials and otherwise altering the land or thesea floor within the nature reserve are prohibited,

96


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except by permission of the Environment andFood Agency and the Westman Islands municipalcouncil, upon their receiving the opinion of theSurtsey Research Society. It is permissible tomaintain such structures as the Surtsey ResearchSociety's hut (Pálsbær) and the helicopter landingfacilities on the island, as hitherto and as isdescribed in the conservation plan.

It is prohibited to bury waste or leave it on theisland or within the boundaries of the naturereserve.

Art. 8Fishing and use of firearms

Fishing with fishing gear which is dragged alongthe sea floor, for instance bottom trawls, Danishseines or dredges, is prohibited in the naturereserve within the area bounded by the followingpoints: 1) 20°36'04'' W and 63°16'08'' N 2) 20°40'00'' W and 63°16'08'' N 3) 20°40'00'' W and 63°17'52'' N 4) 20°35'31'' W and 63°20'22'' N 5) 20°31'16'' W and 63°18'15'' N.

The use of firearms is prohibited within thenature reserve, both on land and at sea.

Art. 9Exemptions

Upon receiving the opinion of the Environmentand Food Agency and the municipality of theWestman Islands, the Minister for the Environ-ment may authorise departures from these rulesin particular circumstances, and may provide inmore detail for the conservation of the area.

Art. 10Penalties

Violation of the declared protection entails finesor imprisonment for up to two years.

Art. 11Entry into force

This declaration of protection shall take effectimmediately. At the same time, the advertisedDeclaration No. 122/1974, of Surtsey as areserve, expires.

Ministry for the Environment, 27 January 2006

Sigríður Anna Þórðardóttir

Magnús Jóhannesson

[Translation: Lingua / Norðan Jökuls ehf.]

7.c Form and date of recent recordsThe Surtsey island and volcano has attracted theinterest of a large number of scientists. Thusdetailed information exists on its natural historyin numerous scientific publications, many ofwhich are cited in this nomination report orpresented with it as supplementary material (a full bibliography is also provided at:www.surtsey.is). Sturla Friðriksson's recent bookfrom 2005 Surtsey, ecosystems formed provides a general overview of the island's nature. A geological map, prepared by Sveinn P.Jakobsson in January 2006 (attached), providesthe most recent reference to the geology ofSurtsey.

7.d Agencies holdingimportant records

Icelandic Institute of Natural HistoryHlemmur 3–5IS-105 Reykjavík

Surtsey Research SocietyHlemmur 3–5IS-105 Reykjavík

Marine Research InstituteSkúlagata 4IS-121 Reykjavík

University of IcelandSuðurgata 1 IS-101 Reykjavík

National Land Survey of IcelandStillholti 16–18IS-300 Akranes

LoftmyndirLaugavegi 13IS-101 Reykjavík

Icelandic Maritime AdministrationVesturvör 2IS-200 Kópavogur

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7 DOCUMENTATION


The Icelandic Meteorological OfficeBústaðavegi 9IS-150 Reykjavík

National and University Library of IcelandArngrímsgötu 3 IS-107 Reykjavík

Environment and Food Agency of IcelandSuðurlandsbraut 24IS-108 Reykjavík

Agricultural University of IcelandKeldnaholtIS-112 Reykjavík

Ministry for the EnvironmentSkuggasund 1IS-150 Reykjavík

Ministry of Education, Science and CultureSölvhólsgötu 4 IS-150 Reykjavík

7.e Bibliography A full bibliography of scientific publicationsrelevant to Surtsey (1963–2006) is provided on aseparate CD, attached to this nomination report,and can be found as well at: www.surtsey.is

References:Ari T. Guðmundsson 2001. Íslenskar eldstöðvar [Icelandic

volcanoes] (in Icelandic). Vaka-Helgafell, Reykjavík, 320pages.

Aðalsteinn Sigurðsson 2000. A survey of the benthic coastalfauna of Surtsey in 1992 and a comparison with earlierdata. Surtsey Research 11: 75–83.

Bergþór Jóhannsson 1968. Bryological observation on Surtsey.Surtsey Research Progress Report IV: 61.

Björn Hróarsson 1990. Hraunhellar á Íslandi [Icelandic lavacaves] (in Icelandic). Mál og menning, Reykjavík, 174pages.

Blanchard, D. C., and Sveinbjörn Björnsson 1967. Water andthe generation of volcanic electricity. Mon. Weather Rev.95: 895–898.

Borgþór Magnússon, Sigurður H. Magnússon and JónGuðmundsson 1996. Gróðurframvinda í Surtsey[Vegetation succession on the volcanic island Surtsey] (in Icelandic with an English summary). Búvísindi 10:253–272.

Borgþór Magnússon and Sigurður H. Magnússon 2000.Vegetation succession on Surtsey, Iceland, during1990–1998 under the influence of breeding gulls. Surtsey Research 11: 9–20.

Borgþór Magnússon and Erling Ólafsson 2003. Fuglar ogframvinda í Surtsey [The colonisation of Surtsey volcanicisland by birds and plants] (in Icelandic, with Englishsummary). Fuglar, Ársrit Fuglaverndar 2003, 22–29.

Calles, B., K. Lindé and J. O. Norrman 1982. Thegeomorphology of Surtsey island in 1980. SurtseyResearch Progress Report IX: 117–132.

Daði Björnsson 2004. Photogrammetric acquisition of theerosion of the Surtsey volcanic island. Stuttgart Universityof Applied Sciences. Unpublished M. Sc. thesis, 65 pages.

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Erling Ólafsson 1971. Bird observations on Surtsey in 1971.In: Surtsey. Technical Progress Report of biologicalresearch on the volcanic island Surtsey and environmentfor the year 1975. Submitted to the Department ofEnergy, Washington DC Contract no. AT(11-1)-3521.Appendix VI, 3 pages.

Erling Ólafsson 1982. The status of the land-arthropod faunaon Surtsey, Iceland, in summer 1981. Surtsey ResearchProgress Report IX: 68–72.

Erlingur Hauksson 1992a. Observations on seals on Surtsey inthe period 1980–1989. Surtsey Research Progress ReportX: 31–32.

Erlingur Hauksson 1992b. Studies of the subtidal fauna ofSurtsey, Iceland, in 1980–1987 and changes in subtidalfauna from 1964 to 1987. Surtsey Research ProgressReport X: 33–42.

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Finnur Guðmundsson 1966. Birds observed on Surtsey.Surtsey Research Progress Report II: 23–28.

Finnur Guðmundsson 1967. Bird observations on Surtsey in1966. Surtsey Research Progress Report III: 37–41.

Finnur Guðmundsson 1970. Bird migration studies on Surtseyin the spring of 1968. Surtsey Research Progress ReportV: 30–38.

Finnur Guðmundsson 1972. Ornithological work on Surtseyin 1969 and 1970. Surtsey Research Progress Report VI:64–65.

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Friedman, J. D., D. M. Preble and Sveinn P. Jakobsson 1976.Geothermal flux through palagonitized tephra, Surtsey,Iceland – The Surtsey temperature data relay experimentvia Landsat-1. Journ. Res. US Geol. Surv. 4(6): 645–659.

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Gjelstrup, P. 2000. Soil mites and collembolans on Surtsey,Iceland, 32 years after the eruption. Surtsey Research 11:43–50.

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Guðmundur E. Sigvaldason and Gunnlaugur Elísson 1968.Collection and analysis of volcanic gases at Surtsey,Iceland. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 32: 797–805.

Henriksson, L. E. and E. Henriksson 1974. Occurrence offungi on the volcanic island of Surtsey, Iceland. ActaBotanica Islandica 3: 82–88.

Hólmfríður Sigurðardóttir 2000. Status of collembolans(Collembola) on Surtsey, Iceland, in 1995 and firstencounter of earthworms (Lumbricidae) in 1993. SurtseyResearch 11: 51–55.

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Johnson Jr., T. W. 1966. Report on research in mycology, 30March to 5 April, 1966. Surtsey Research Progress ReportII: 29–30.

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Norrman, J. O. 1970. Trends in post-volcanic development ofSurtsey island. Progress report on geomorphologicalactivities in 1968. Surtsey Research Progress Report V:95–112.

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Norrman, J. O. 1985. Stages of coastal development in Surtseyisland, Iceland. In: Guttormur Sigbjarnarson (ed.),Iceland Coastal and River Symposium, Proceedings, pp.33–40.

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Ólafur Einarsson, Hörður Kristinsson, Kristinn HaukurSkarphéðinsson and Jón Gunnar Ottósson 2002. Vernduntegunda og svæða. Tillögur Náttúrufræðistofnunar Íslandsvegna Náttúruverndaráætlunar [Species and habitat con-servation. Recommendations of the Institute of NaturalHistory for the Nature Conservation Strategy] (in Iceland-ic). Náttúrufræðistofnun Íslands NÍ-02016, 118 pages.

Ólafur Ingólfsson 1982. Some observations on the sedimentsof Surtsey. Surtsey Research Progress Report IX: 133–141.

Reynir Fjalar Reynisson 2006. Xenoliths of exotic origin inSurtsey Island, Iceland. Surtsey Research 12 (accepted).

Schwabe, G. H. 1970a. On the algal settlement in craters onSurtsey during summer 1968. Surtsey Research ProgressReport V: 68–69.

Schwabe, G. H. 1970b. Blaualgen und Vorstufen derBodenbildung auf vulkanischem Substrat, bisherigeBefunde auf Surtsey, Island. Mitt. Dtsch. Bodenkundl.Ges., 10: 198–199.

Sigurður Jónsson 1966. Initial settlement of marine benthicalgae on the rocky shore of Surtsey, the new volcanicisland in the North Atlantic. Surtsey Research ProgressReport II: 35–48.

Sigurður Jónsson, Karl Gunnarsson and J.-P. Briane 1987.Évolution de la nouvelle flore marine de l'île volcaniquede Surtsey, Islande. Rit Fiskideildar 10: 1–30.

Sigurður Jónsson and Karl Gunnarsson 2000. Seaweedcolonisation at Surtsey, the volcanic island south ofIceland. Surtsey Research 11: 59–68.

Sigurður Steinþórsson 1965. Surtsey: Petrology and chemistry.Surtsey Research Progress Report I: 41–49.

Sigurður Steinþórsson 1972. The opaque mineralogy ofSurtsey. Surtsey Research Progress Report VI: 152–157.

Sigurður Þórarinsson 1964. Surtsey. Eyjan nýja í Atlantshafi/Surtsey: The new island in the North Atlantic (inIcelandic and English). Almenna Bókafélagið, Reykjavík,108 pages.

Sigurður Þórarinsson 1965. Neðansjávargos við Ísland[Submarine eruptions off the coasts of Iceland] (inIcelandic with an English summary). Náttúrufræðingurinn35: 49–74.

Sigurður Þórarinsson 1966. Sitt af hverju um Surtseyjargosið[Some facts about the Surtsey eruption] (in Icelandic withan English summary). Náttúrufræðingurinn 35: 153–181.

Sigurður Þórarinsson 1967. Surtsey. The new island in theNorth Atlantic. Viking Press Inc., New York, 115 pages.

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Skúli Magnússon and Sturla Friðriksson 1974. Moss vegetationon Surtsey in 1971 and 1972. Surtsey Research ProgressReport VII: 45–57.

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Sturla Friðriksson 1964. Um aðflutning lífvera til Surtseyjar[The colonization of dryland biota on the island ofSurtsey, off the coast of Iceland] (in Icelandic withEnglish summary). Náttúrufræðingurinn 34: 83–89.

Sturla Friðriksson 1966a. The pioneer species of vascularplants in Surtsey, Cakile edentula. Surtsey ResearchProgress Report II: 63–65.

Sturla Friðriksson 1966b. The possible oceanic dispersal ofseed and other plant parts to Surtsey. Surtsey ResearchProgress Report II: 59–62.

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7 DOCUMENTATION


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Sturla Friðriksson 1978. Vascular plants on Surtsey1971–1976. Surtsey Research Progress Report VIII: 9–24.

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Sturla Friðriksson 2005. Surtsey – ecosystems formed.Reykjavík, Varði, the Surtsey Research Society, 112pages.

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8.a PreparerSigurður Á. ÞráinssonMinistry for the EnvironmentSkuggasundi 1IS-150 Reykjavík, IcelandPhone: +354 545-8600, fax: +345 562-4566e-mail: [email protected]

8.b Official local agency Environment and Food Agency of IcelandSuðurlandsbraut 24IS-108 Reykjavík, IcelandPhone: +354 591 2000, fax: +354 591-2010e-mail: [email protected]

Icelandic Institute of Natural HistoryHlemmur 3–5IS-105 Reykjavík, IcelandPhone: +354 590 0500, fax: +354 590 0595e-mail: [email protected]

8.c Other local institutions Vestmannaeyjar Town CounsilTröðIS-900 Vestmannaeyjar, Icelandwww.vestmannaeyjar.is

The Vestmannaeyjar Research CentreStrandvegur 50IS-900 Vestmannaeyjar, Iceland www.setur.is

South Iceland Research CentreStrandvegur 50IS-900 Vestmannaeyjar, Iceland www.setur.is/stofnun-nattsud.htm

Vestmannaeyjar Museum of Natural HistoryHeiðarvegi 12IS-900 Vestmannaeyjar, Iceland

Vestmannaeyjar Tourist OfficeTröðIS-900 Vestmannaeyjar, Icelandwww.vestmannaeyjar.is

8.d Official web addresswww.surtsey.isContact name: Sveinn P. Jakobsson, Surtsey Research Societye-mail: [email protected]; [email protected]

www.ust.isContact name: Árni BragasonEnvironment and Food Agency of Icelande-mail: [email protected]

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Contact information of responsible authorities8


The western sea-cliffs of Surtsey. (Photo: Ragnar Th. Sigurðsson 2005).


The Icelandic Government decided in December 2005 to nominate Surtsey for inclusion in the WorldHeritage List as a natural heritage site.

The nomination is based on extensive scientific research and close observation of the creation andnatural history of Surtsey from 1963 to the present time. It is supported by local people, scientists andrelevant authorties.

Signed on behalf of the State Party

_____________________________________________________________________________

Place and date

_____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________

Þorgerður Katrín Gunnarsdóttir Jónína Bjartmarz

Minister of Education, Science and Culture Minister for the Environment

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Signature on behalf of the State Party 9


The Icelandic Institute of Natural History and the Icelandic World Heritage Committee would like to express its sincere thanks to the following experts who contributed with their knowledge and expertice to this nomination document:

Árni Þór Vésteinsson, Geographer, Icelandic Coast Guard, Hydrographic DepartmentBjarni Diðrik Sigurðsson, Professor, Agricultural University of IcelandBryndís Brandsdóttir, Geologist, Institute of Earth Sciences, University of IcelandDaði Björnsson, Geographer, LoftmyndirErlingur Hauksson, Marine biologist, Research Committee on Seafood Quality, ReykjavíkFrosti Gíslason, Director, Environmental Issues and Public Works, Vestmannaeyjar Garðar Pálsson, former Captain, Icelandic Coast Guard, ReykjavíkGuðbjörg Inga Aradóttir, Biologist, Icelandic Institute of Natural History Guðmundur Guðmundsson, Physicist, ReykjavíkGuðmundur Ó. Ingvarsson, Geographer, MorgunblaðiðGunnar B. Guðmundsson, Geophysicist, The Icelandic Meteorological OfficeHallgrímur Daði Indriðason, Geologist/webmaster, Surtsey Research SocietyHöskuldur Björnsson, Engineer, Marine Research Institute, ReykjavíkIngvar Atli Sigurðsson, Manager, South Iceland Nature Research Centre, VestmannaeyjarJón Gunnar Ottósson, Director General, Icelandic Institute of Natural HistoryKjartan Thors, Geologist, Jarðfræðistofa Kjartans Thors, ReykjavíkKristinn H. Skarphéðinsson, Zoologist, Icelandic Institute of Natural HistoryKristján Jónasson, Geologist, Icelandic Institute of Natural HistoryMagnús Guðmundsson, Director General, National Land Survey of IcelandMagnús Tumi Guðmundsson, Geophysicist, Institute of Earth Sciences, University of IcelandMargrét Hallgrímsdóttir, Director General, National Museum of Iceland María Ingimarsdóttir, Biologist, Icelandic Institute of Natural HistoryNíels Óskarsson, Geochemist, Institute of Earth Sciences, University of IcelandPáll Marvin Jónsson, Manager, Vestmannaeyjar Research Centre, University of Iceland Peter Stott, Retrospective Inventory, UNESCO World Heritage CentreRegína Hreinsdóttir, Geographer, Icelandic Institute of Natural HistorySigfús Jóhannesson, Datamanager, Marine Research Institute, ReykjavíkSigrún Jónsdóttir, Cartographer, Icelandic Institute of Natural HistorySigurður H. Magnússon, Plant ecologist, Icelandic Institute of Natural HistorySigurður Steinþórsson, Professor, Institute of Earth Sciences, University of IcelandStarri Heiðmarsson, Lichenologist, Icelandic Institute of Natural HistorySteinunn Jakobsdóttir, Head of Department, The Icelandic Meteorological Office Sturla Friðriksson, Ecologist and Author, ReykjavíkSvanhildur Egilsdóttir, Biologist, Marine Research Institute, ReykjavíkSveinbjörn Björnsson, Geophysicist, the National Energy AuthoritySven Þ. Sigurðsson, Professor, University of IcelandSynnøve Vinsrygg, Deputy Director, Nordic World Heritage Foundation, Norway

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Acknowledgements


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List of figuresFig. 1.1. Map and location of the Surtsey Nature ReserveFig. 2.1. The Mid-Atlantic Ridge in the region of IcelandFig. 2.2. Simplified geological map of IcelandFig. 2.3. Active volcanic systems in Iceland and on its insular shelfFig. 2.4. Simplified geological map of the Vestmannaeyjar archipelagoFig. 2.5. Three-dimensional model of the Surtsey volcanoFig. 2.6. Geological map of Surtsey (2006)Fig. 2.7. NW-SE profile through the Surtsey volcanoFigure in box page 14. Possible origin of exotic xenoliths from Surtsey Fig. 2.8. Meteorological facts from the weather station at Stórhöfði, 1971–2000Fig. 2.9. Wind direction frequency at Stórhöfði, 1971–2000Fig. 2.10. Offshore wave statistics based on significant wave heights off SurtseyFig. 2.11. Area of individual Vestmannaeyjar islands in relation to number of vascular plants Fig. 2.12. Permanent study plots on Surtsey and total vegetation coverFig. 2.13. Diversity of moss and vascular plant species in permanent study plots on SurtseyFig. 2.14. Distribution maps for breeding birds on Surtsey Fig. 2.15. Example of two invertebrate species Fig. in box page 32. Invertebrate diversity on Surtsey Fig. 2.16. Cluster analysis of samples from varying depths in the Surtsey littoral zoneFig. 2.17. Factorial correspondence analysis of algal species at Surtsey Fig. 2.18. Block diagrams illustrating the development of the Surtsey volcanoFig. 2.19. Simplified geological map of Surtsey in 1967Fig. 2.20. Aerial photographs of the Surtsey eruption taken between 1964 and 1967Fig. 2.21. Temperature measurements in the drill hole on Surtsey Fig. 2.22. Rate of palagonitisation and consolidation on the surface of SurtseyFig. 2.23. Areal changes of Surtsey and its three principal geological formations Fig. 2.24. Changes in the shoreline of Surtsey between 1967 and 2004 Fig. 2.25. Abrasion of the seamounts Surtla, Syrtlingur and JólnirFig. 2.26. Prediction model on the future development of Surtsey Fig. 2.27. Colonisation and survival of vascular plant species on Surtsey 1965–2005Fig. 2.28. Species colonisation and development of plant communities and birdlife on SurtseyFig. 2.29. Distribution of sea sandwort and scurvygrass on Surtsey in 1967, 1977 and 1997 Fig. 2.30. Number of species in the Surtsey littoral and sublittoral zones 1964 to 1997 Fig. 3.1. The Surtsey Nature Reserve in relation to other World Heritage Sites with volcanic features Fig. 4.1. Fishing activities using towed bottom gear in the waters off Surtsey during the period 1987 to 2005 Fig. 4.2. Mean yearly catches of fish and Norway lobster in the Surtsey Nature Reserve, 1987 to 2005 Fig. 4.3. Main shipping routes off the southern coast of Iceland

Lists of figures, tables and appendices


List of tables:Table 2.1. Secondary minerals formed at SurtseyTable 2.2. Taxonomic groups of vascular plants on Surtsey and their success of establishment Table 2.3. Most common vascular plants on Surtsey Table 2.4. Most common bryophyte species on Surtsey Table 2.5. Breeding birds on SurtseyTable 2.6. Terrestrial invertebrates on SurtseyTable 2.7. Marine mammals observed on or in close proximity to SurtseyTable 2.8. History of the Surtsey eruptionTable 3.1. Resent volcanic islands and their status Table 6.1. Natural parameters monitored on and around Surtsey

List of appendices:Appendix 1. Declarations of Surtsey as a nature reserve 1965 (a) and 1974 (b)Appendix 2. Vascular plants on SurtseyAppendix 3. Bryophyte species recorded on SurtseyAppendix 4. Lichen species recorded on SurtseyAppendix 5. Fungi species recorded on SurtseyAppendix 6. Bird species seen on or around SurtseyAppendix 7. Terrestrial invertebrates recorded on SurtseyAppendix 8. Seaweed species recorded at SurtseyAppendix 9a. Marine zoobenthos found at Surtsey at 0–40 m depthAppendix 9b. Marine zoobenthos found at Surtsey at 16–125 m depthAppendix 9c. Fish species found in the sea around SurtseyAppendix 10. Draft Management Plan for the Surtsey Nature Reserve 2007–2017

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Lyme grass Leymus arenarius against red walls of the crater Surtur. (Photo: Snorri Baldursson 2006).


Appendix 1a. Declaration of Surtsey as a Nature Reserve

The protection of Surtsey as a nature reserve entered into force through an announcement in the Official Gazette on 19 May 1965;below is the code of conduct for the reserve.

The Nature Conservation Council of Iceland

Makes known: According to the authority provided in Sub-article C of Article One, and the third paragraph of Art. 12 of Act No. 48/1956, onNature Conservation, the Nature Conservation Council has determined to declare Surtsey a reserve.

Declaring Surtsey a reserve is done above all for the purpose of ensuring that the colonisation and succession of life on theisland in coming years will be as natural as possible and will undergo minimal disturbances caused by man, as this is extremelyimportant from a scientific standpoint. Therefore, it is hereby forbidden to go ashore at Surtsey except with a permit from theSurtsey Research Committee, which, since this committee supervises all scientific investigations at Surtsey, the Nature ConservationCouncil has decided to entrust with supervision of the island.

It is prohibited to disrupt anything on the island or to transport animals, plants, seeds, or plant parts there, and it is likewiseprohibited to leave behind waste of any kind.

Those who might be authorised to go ashore on the island are obliged to adhere in every respect to rules established by theNature Conservation Council, in consultation with the Surtsey Research Committee, on treatment of the island.

Those violating provisions of this decision will be held responsible in accordance with Art. 33 of Act No. 48/1956 on NatureConservation.

Appendix 1 b. Declaration on the nature reserve at Surtsey

The protection of Surtsey was revised through a new Act on Nature Conservation (No. 47/1971), which entered into force in 1971(and has since been superseded by Act No. 55/1999). Also, the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture announced this revisedprotection in the Official Gazette (Law and Ministerial Gazette B, No. 122/1974), as appearing below.

Declaration on the reserve at Surtsey

In accordance with the authorisation in Art. 24 of Act No. 47/1971, on nature conservation, [the Environment and Food Agency]has decided for its part to declare Surtsey a reserve.The following rules shall apply to this reserve:2. It is forbidden to go ashore on the island except by permission of the Surtsey Research Society, which supervises scientific

research there and which [the Environment and Food Agency] has entrusted with supervising the island. 3. It is prohibited to disrupt anything on the island. Permission from [the Environment and Food Agency] is required to build any

lasting man-made structure. 4. It is prohibited to bring any live animals, plants, seeds or plant parts to the island. 5. It is prohibited to leave behind any kind of waste on the island or in its proximity. 6. Shooting is prohibited within 2 km of the island.

Sanctions for violating these rules shall be in accordance with provisions of the Act on Nature Conservation.

Previous provisions on protecting the island are hereby revoked.

The Ministry has approved the declaration of the reserve, and this declaration is hereby published with reference to Art. 32 and 33of Act No. 47/1971, on nature conservation, and reserve status shall take effect upon publication of this advertisement in the Lawand Ministerial Gazette.

In the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture, 3 April 1974

Magnús T. Ólafsson

Knútur Hallsson

107

Appendices


108


Species found from 1965 to 2005 Species status in 2005Alive Viable In permanent

population plots

PterydophytesCystopteris fragilis (L.) Bernh. Brittle bladder-fern X XEquisetum arvense L. Field horsetail XPolypodium vulgare L. Common polypody X

MonocotsGrasses

Agrostis capillaris L. Common bent X X XAgrostis stolonifera L. Creeping bent X X XAgrostis vinealis Schreber Velvet bentAlopecurus geniculatus L. Marsh foxtail XAnthoxanthum odoratum L. Sweet vernal-grass XDeschampsia beringensis Hult. Bering's tufted hairgrass XFestuca rubra L. ssp. richardsonii (Hook.) Hultén Arctic fescue X X XLeymus arenarius (L.) Hochst. Lyme-grass X X XPhleum pratense L. Timothy XPoa annua L. Annual meadow-grass X X XPoa glauca Vahl Glaucous meadow-grass XPoa pratensis L. Smooth meadow-grass X X XPuccinellia capillaris (Lilj.) Jansen Reflexed saltmarsh-grass X X XPuccinellia coarctata Fern & Weath Common saltmarsh-grass

Sedges and rushesCarex maritima Gunnerus Curved sedge X X XEleocharis quinqueflora (F. X. Hartmann) O. Schwarz Few-flowered spike-rush XJuncus alpinoarticulatus Chaix Alpine rush X XJuncus arcticus Willd. ssp. intermedius Hyl. Iceland rush XLuzula multiflora (Retz.) Lej. Heath wood-rush XLuzula spicata (L.) DC. Spiked wood-rush

OrchidsPlatanthera hyperborea (L.) Lindley Northern green orchid

Appendix 2. Vascular plants on Surtsey

Lyme-grass Leymus arenarius. (Photo: Hervé Jezequel 2005).


109

APPENDICES

Species status in 2005Alive Viable In permanent

population plots

DicotsForbs

Alchemilla filicaulis Buser Common lady's-mantle Angelica archangelica L. Garden angelica XArabidopsis petraea (L.) Northern rock-cress X X XArgentina anserina (L.) Rydb. Silverweed X XArmeria maritima (Miller) Willd. Thrift X X XAtriplex glabriuscula Edmonston Orache XCakile arctica Pobed Sea rocket X XCapsella bursa-pastoris (L.) Medikus Shepherd's purseCerastium fontanum Baumg. Common mouse-ear X X XCochlearia officinalis L. Common scurvygrass X X XEpilobium palustre L. Marsh willowherbEuphrasia wettsteinii Gussarova Cold eyebright X X XGalium normanii O. C. Dahl Slender bedstrawGalium verum L. Lady's bedstraw XHonckenya peploides (L.) Ehrh. Sea sandwort X X XLeontodon autumnalis L. Autumn hawkbit X XMertensia maritima (L.) S. F. Gray Oysterplant X X XMontia fontana L. Blinks X XMyosotis arvensis (L.) Hill Field forget-me-not XOxyria digyna (L.) Hill Mountain sorrel XPlantago lanceolata L. Ribwort plantain XPlantago maritima L. Sea plantain XPolygonum aviculare L. KnotgrassRanunculus acris L. Meadow buttercup X X XRumex acetocella L. Sheep's sorrel X X XRumex acetosa L. Common sorrel X X XRumex longifolius DC. (Danser) Rech. f. Northern dock X XSagina procumbens L. Procumbent pearlwort X X XSilene uniflora Roth Sea campion X X XStellaria media (L.) Vill. Common chickweed X X XTaraxacum sp. Dandelion X XTripleurospermum maritimum (L.) W. D. J. Koch Sea mayweed X X X

Dwarf shrubsEmpetrum nigrum L. Crowberry X X XSalix herbaceae L. Dwarf willow X XSalix lanata L. Woolly willow XSalix phylicifolia L. Tea-leaved willow X

Total: 60 species 51 30 25

English names from: Hörður Kristinsson. A Guide to the Flowering Plants and Ferns of Iceland. Mál og menning, Reykjavík 1998.

Blooming oysterplant Mertensi maritima on Surtsey sand. (Photo: Hervé Jezequel 2005).


110


In permanent plotsAmblystegium serpens (Hedw.) Schimp. Amphidium lapponicum (Hedw.) Schimp. Anomobryum julaceum (P. Gaertn. et al.) Schimp. Aongstroemia longipes (Sommerf.) Bruch et Schimp. Atrichum undulatum (Hedw.) P. Beauv. Aulacomnium palustre (Hedw.) Schwägr. Barbula unguiculata Hedw. Bartramia ithyphylla Brid. Brachythecium albicans (Hedw.) Schimp. XBrachythecium rivulare Schimp. Brachythecium rutabulum (Hedw.) Schimp. Brachythecium salebrosum (F. Weber et D. Mohr) Schimp. XBrachythecium velutinum (Hedw.) Schimp. Bryoerythrophyllum recurvirostrum (Hedw.) P. C. Chen Bryum argenteum Hedw. XBryum dichotomum Hedw. XBryum imbricatum (Schwägr.) Bruch et Schimp. Bryum klinggraeffii Schimp. Bryum pallens Sw. Bryum pallescens Schleich. ex Schwägr. Bryum salinum I. Hagen ex Limpr. Cephaloziella divaricata (Sm.) Schiffn. XCephaloziella hampeana (Nees) Schiffn. XCeratodon purpureus (Hedw.) Brid. XDichodontium pellucidum (Hedw.) Schimp. Dicranella crispa (Hedw.) Schimp. Dicranella schreberiana (Hedw.) Dixon Dicranella varia (Hedw.) Schimp. Dicranoweisia crispula (Hedw.) Milde Didymodon fallax (Hedw.) R. H. Zander Didymodon icmadophilus (Schimp. ex Müll. Hal.) K. SaitoDidymodon insulanus (De Not.) M. O. Hill Distichium capillaceum (Hedw.) Bruch et Schimp. Ditrichum cylindricum (Hedw.) Grout Ditrichum heteromallum (Hedw.) E. Britton Drepanocladus aduncus (Hedw.) Warnst. XDrepanocladus polygamus (Schimp.) Hedenäs Encalypta ciliata Hedw.

In permanent plotsFissidens adianthoides Hedw. Funaria hygrometrica Hedw. Grimmia torquata Hornsch. ex Grev. Hypnum lindbergii Mitt. Isopterygiopsis pulchella (Hedw.) Z. Iwats. Jungermannia pumila With. Leptobryum pyriforme (Hedw.) Wilson Lophozia excisa (Dicks.) Dumort. Marchantia polymorpha L. Mnium hornum Hedw. Oncophorus virens (Hedw.) Brid. Philonotis arnellii Husn. Philonotis tomentella Molendo Plagiomnium cuspidatum (Hedw.) T. J. Kop. Pogonatum urnigerum (Hedw.) P. Beauv. Pohlia annotina (Hedw.) Lindb. Pohlia filum (Schimp.) Mårtensson Pohlia wahlenbergii (F. Weber et D. Mohr) A. L. Andrews Polytrichum alpinum Hedw. Polytrichum longisetum Sw. ex Brid. Polytrichum piliferum Hedw. Polytrichum sphaerothecium (Besch.) Müll. Hal. Psilopilum laevigatum (Wahlenb.) Lindb. Racomitrium ericoides (Brid.) Brid. XRacomitrium fasciculare (Hedw.) Brid. XRacomitrium lanuginosum (Hedw.) Brid. XReboulia hemisphaerica (L.) Raddi Rhytidiadelphus squarrosus (Hedw.) Warnst. Sanionia uncinata (Hedw.) Loeske XScapania scandica (Arnell et H. Buch) Macvicar Schistidium flexipile (Lindb. ex Broth.) G. Roth XSchistidium frigidum H. H. Blom Schistidium maritimum (Turner) Bruch et Schimp. XSchistidium strictum (Turner) Loeske ex Mårtensson XStraminergon stramineum (Brid.) Hedenäs Trichostomum brachydontium Bruch Ulota phyllantha Brid. X

Appendix 3. Bryophyte species recorded on Surtsey

The moss Racomitrium lanuginosum growing on lava blocks in the shelter of the Surtungur crater. (Photo: HervéJezequel 2005).


111

APPENDICES

Fruticose lichens:Cladonia chlorophaea (Flörke ex Sommerf.) Spreng.Cladonia furcata (Huds.) Schrad.Cladonia islandica nom. prov.Cladonia macroceras (Delise) Hav.Cladonia pocillum (Ach.) GrognotCladonia rangiformis Hoffm.Cladonia symphicarpa (Flörke) Fr. Cladonia sp.Stereocaulon alpinum LaurerStereocaulon arcticum LyngeStereocaulon capitellatum H. Magn.Stereocaulon condensatum Hoffm. (?)Stereocaulon depressum (Frey) I. M. LambStereocaulon glareosum (L. I. Savicz) H. Magn.Stereocaulon rivulorum H. Magn.Stereocaulon spathuliferum Vain.Stereocaulon tomentosum Fr.Stereocaulon vanoyei Duv.Stereocaulon vesuvianum Pers.

Foliose lichens:Collema tenax (Sw.) Ach. em. Degel.Leptogium lichenoides (L.) Zahlbr.Leptogium sp.Peltigera canina (L.) Willd.Peltigera didactyla (With.) J. R. LaundonPeltigera neckeri Hepp. ex Müll. Arg.Peltigera rufescens (Weiss) Humb. (?)Peltigera venosa (L.) Hoffm.Xanthoria candelaria (L.) Th. Fr.Xanthoria parietina (L.) Th. Fr.

Crustose lichens:Acarospora smaragdula (Wahlenb.) A. Massal.Acarospora sp.Arthonia gelidae R.Sant.Arthonia lapidicola (Taylor) Branth & Rostr.Caloplaca citrina (Hoffm.) Th. Fr.Caloplaca verruculifera (Vain.) Zahlbr.Calvitimela armeniaca (DC.) HafellnerCandelariella coralliza (Nyl.) H. Magn.Catillaria chalybeia (Borrer) A. Massal.Gyalidea fritzei (Stein) Vezda Hymenelia arctica (Lynge) LutzoniLecania subfuscula (Nyl.) S. EkmanLecanora poliophaea (Wahlenb.) Ach.Lecanora salina H. Magn.Lecidea lapicida (Ach.) Ach. var. pantherina Ach.Lichenomphalia sp.Micarea sp.Pertusaria lactea (L.) ArnoldPilophorus cereolus (Ach.) Th. Fr. (?)Pilophorus dovrensis (Nyl.) Timdal, Hertel & RamboldPlacopsis gelida (L.) Linds.Placopsis lambii Hertel & V. WirthPorpidia cinereoatra (Ach.) Hertel & KnophPorpidia flavicunda (Ach.) Gowan (?)Porpidia melinodes (Körb.) Gowan & AhtiPorpidia soredizodes (Lamy ex Nyl.) J. R. LaundonPorpidia tuberculosa (Sm.) Hertel & KnophProtopannaria pezizoides (Weber) P. M. Jørgensen & S. EkmanPsilolechia clavulifera (Nyl.) CoppinsPsilolechia leprosa Coppins & PurvisPyrenidium hyalosporum Alstrup, D. Hawksw. & R. Sant.Rhizocarpon expallescens Th. Fr.Rhizocarpon lavatum (Fr.) Hazsl.Rinodina gennarii Bagl.Scoliciosporum umbrinum (Ach.) ArnoldStereocaulon tornense (H. Magn.) P. James & Purvis (?)Trapelia coarctata (Sm.) M. ChoisyTrapelia involuta (Taylor) HertelVerrucaria aethiobola Wahlenb.Verrucaria aquatilis MuddVerrucaria sp.

Appendix 4. Lichens species recorded in Surtsey

The lichen Stereocaulon alpinum growing on a bed of Racomitrium lanuginosum. (Photo: Erling Ólafsson 2005).


112


Fungi on Surtsey island, including species that were isolatedfrom the soil and grown in culture media in the researchlaboratory.

Absidia corymbifera (Cohn) Sacc. & TrotterAphanomycopsis bacillariacearum Scherff.Arrhenia rustica (Fr.) Redhead, Lutzoni, Moncalvo & VilgalysCadophora fastigiata Lagerb. & MelinCadophora malorum (Kidd & Beaumont) W. GamsCeriosporopsis halima LinderCladosporium macrocarpum PreussDinemasporium marinum Sv. NilssonEntoloma sericeum (Bull.) Quél.Epicoccum nigrum LinkKirschsteiniothelia maritima (Linder) D. Hawksw.Lamprospora crouanii (Cooke) SeaverLecanicillium psalliotae (Treschew) Zare & W. GamsLulworthia medusa (Ellis & Everh.) Cribb & J. W. CribbMucor hiemalis WehmerOctospora axillaris (Nees) M.M. MoserOnygena corvina Alb. & Schwein.Penicillium citrinum ThomPenicillium palitans WestlingPeziza varia (Hedw.) Fr.Phoma putaminum Speg.Trichoderma harzianum RifaiTrichoderma viride Pers.: Fr.Ulocladium botrytis Preuss

Appendix 5. Fungi species recorded on Surtsey

An agaric of the genus Panaeolus growing in apatch of sea sandwort. (Photo: Erling Ólafsson2005).


113

APPENDICES

Red-throated diver Gavia stellataGreat northern diver Gavia immerNorthern fulmar* Fulmarus glacialisManx shearwater Puffinus puffinusStorm petrel Hydrobates pelagicusLeach's petrel Oceanodroma leucorhoaGannet Sula bassanaGreat cormorant Phalacrocorax carboEuropean shag Phalacrocorax aristotelisSquacco heron Ardeola ralloidesGrey heron Ardea cinereaWhooper swan Cygnus cygnusPink-footed goose Anser brachyrhynchusGreylag goose* Anser anserBarnacle goose Branta leucopsisBrent goose Branta berniclaEuropean widgeon Anas penelopeEuropean teal Anas creccaMallard Anas platyrhynchosTufted duck Aythya fuligulaCommon eider Somateria mollissimaKing eider Somateria spectabilisHarlequin duck Histrionicus histrionicusLong-tailed duck Clangula hyemalisCommon scoter Melanitta nigraRed-breasted merganser Mergus serratorMerlin Falco columbariusGyrfalcon Falco rusticolusCorncrake Crex crexEurasian oystercatcher Haematopus ostralegusRinged plover Charadrius hiaticulaGolden plover Pluvialis apricariaKnot Calidris canutusSanderling Calidris albaPurple sandpiper Calidris maritimaDunlin Calidris alpinaCommon snipe Gallinago gallinagoWhimbrel Numenius phaeopusRedshank Tringa totanusTurnstone Arenaria interpresRed-necked phalarope Phalaropus lobatusGrey phalarope Phalaropus fulicariusArctic skua Stercorarius parasiticusGreat skua Stercorarius skuaLittle gull Larus minutusBlack-headed gull Larus ridibundusCommon gull Larus canusLesser black-backed gull* Larus fuscusHerring gull* Larus argentatusIceland gull Larus glaucoidesGlaucous gull* Larus hyperboreusGreat black-backed gull* Larus marinusKittiwake* Rissa tridactylaArctic tern* Sterna paradisaeaCommon guillemot Uria aalgeBrünnich's guillemot Uria lomviaRazorbill Alca tordaBlack guillemot* Cepphus grylleLittle auk Alle alleCommon puffin* Fratercula arcticaTurtle dove Streptopelia turturLong-eared owl Asio otusShort-eared owl Asio flammeusSkylark Alauda arvensis

Swallow Hirundo rusticaMeadow pipit* Anthus pratensisRock pipit Anthus petrosusWhite wagtail* Motacilla albaEuropean robin Erithacus rubeculaRedstart Phoenicurus phoenicurusWheatear Oenanthe oenantheRing ouzel Turdus torquatusFieldfare Turdus pilarisSong thrush Turdus philomelosEuropean blackbird Turdus merulaEuropean redwing Turdus iliacusGarden warbler Sylvia borinChiffchaff Phylloscopus collybitaWillow warbler Phylloscopus trochilusJackdaw Corvus monedulaRaven (*) Corvus coraxStarling Sturnus vulgarisChaffinch Fringilla coelebsBrambling Fringilla montifringillaRedpoll Carduelis flammeaCrossbill Loxia curvirostraLapland bunting Calcarius lapponicusSnow bunting* Plectrophenax nivalisNorthern oriole Icterus galbula

* = Have bred on Surtsey(*) = Have built nests but never laid eggs

Appendix 6. Bird species seen on or around Surtsey

Newly hatched fulmar chick Fulmarus glacialis onSurtsey. (Photo: Borgþór Magnússon 2005).


114


ARTHROPODA Joint-legged animals

INSECTA

Collembola SpringtailsHypogastruridae

Ceratophysella denticulata (Bagnall, 1941)Ceratophysella succinea (Gisin, 1949)Hypogastrura assimilis (Krausbauer, 1898)Hypogastrura purpurescens (Lubbock, 1967)

NeanuridaeAnurida granaria (Nicolet, 1847)Friesea mirabilis (Tullberg, 1871)

OnychiuridaeMesaphorura krausbaueri Börner, 1901Mesaphorura macrochaeta Rusek, 1976Protaphorura armata (Tullberg, 1869)Thalassaphorura duplopunctata (Strenzke, 1954)

IsotomidaeArchisotoma besselsi (Packard, 1877)Desoria violacea (Tullberg, 1876)Folsomia brevicauda Agrell, 1939Folsomia fimetaria (Linnaeus, 1758)Folsomia quadrioculata (Tullberg, 1871)Isotoma anglicana Lubbock, 1862Isotoma maritima (Tullberg, 1871)Isotomiella minor (Schaeffer, 1896)Parisotoma notabilis (Schaeffer, 1896)Proisotoma minuta (Tullberg, 1871)Pseudisotoma sensibilis (Tullberg, 1876)Vertagopus arboreus (Linnaeus, 1758)

SminthuridaeSminthuridae indet. sp.

NeelidaeNeelides minutus (Folsom, 1901)

Protura ProturansProtentomidae

Protentomon thienemanni Strenzke, 1942

Mallophaga LiceMenoponidae

Eidmanniella pustulosa (Nitzsch, 1866)

Hemiptera True bugsSaldidae

Salda littoralis (Linnaeus, 1758)Corixidae

Arctocorisa carinata (Sahlberg, 1819)Drepanociphidae

Euceraphis punctipennis (Zetterstedt, 1828)Aphididae

Acyrtociphon auctum (Walker, 1849) Brachycaudus helichrysi (Kaltenbach, 1843)Aphididae indet. spp.

OrthezidaeArctorthezia cataphracta (Olafsen, 1772)

Thysanoptera ThripsThripidae

Apterothrips secticornis (Trybom, 1896)Aptinothrips rufus (Gmelin, 1788)Taenipthrips atratus (Haliday, 1836)

Neuroptera LacewingsHemerobiidae

Wesmaelius nervosus (Fabricius, 1793)

Thricoptera Caddis fliesLimnephilidae

Limnephilus affinis Curtis, 1834Limnephilus elegans Curtis, 1834Limnephilus fenestratus (Zetterstedt, 1840)Limnephilus griseus (Linnaeus, 1758)

Lepidoptera Butterflies and mothsPlutellidae

Plutella xylostella (Linnaeus, 1758)Rhigognostis senilella (Zetterstedt, 1839)

GelechiidaeBryotropha similis (Stainton, 1854)

TortricidaeEana osseana (Scopoli, 1763)

PyralidaeMatilella fusca (Haworth, 1811)Crambus pascuella (Linnaeus, 1758)Nomophila noctuella (Denis & Schiffermüller, 1775)

NymphalidaeVanessa atalanta (Linnaeus, 1758)Vanessa cardui (Linnaeus, 1758)

GeometridaeEpirrhoe alternata (Müller, 1764)Xanthorhoe decoloraria (Esper, 1806)Xanthorhoe designata (Hufnagel, 1767)

NoctuidaeAgrotis ipsilon (Hufnagel, 1766)Autographa gamma (Linnaeus, 1758)Cerapteryx graminis (Linnaeus, 1758)Chortodes stigmatica (Eversmann, 1855)Diarsia mendica (Fabricius, 1775)Euxoa ochrogaster (Guenée, 1852)Noctua pronuba (Linnaeus, 1758)Peridroma saucia (Hübner, 1808)Phlogophora meticulosa (Linnaeus, 1758)

Coleoptera BeetlesCarabidae

Amara quenseli (Schönherr, 1806)Bembidion bipunctatum (Linnaeus, 1761)Nebria rufescens (Ström, 1768)Notiophilus biguttatus (Fabricius, 1779)Patrobus septentrionis (Dejean, 1828)Trichocellus cognatus (Gyllenhal, 1827)

DytiscidaeAgabus bipustulatus (Linnaeus, 1767)

StaphylinidaeAmischa analis (Gravenhorst, 1802)Atheta amicula (Stephens, 1832)Atheta atramentaria (Gyllenhal, 1810)Atheta excellens (Kraatz, 1856)Atheta fungi (Gravenhorst, 1806)Atheta graminicola (Gravenhorst, 1806)Atheta vestita (Gravenhorst, 1806)Omalium excavatum Stephens, 1834Oxypoda islandica Kraatz, 1857Parocyusa rubicunda (Erichson, 1837)

LathridiidaeLathridius minutus (Linnaeus, 1767)

Appendix 7. Terrestrial invertebrates recorded on Surtsey


CoccinellidaeCoccinella undecimpunctata Linnaeus, 1758

CurculionidaeBarynotus squamosus Germar, 1824Ceutorhynchus insularis Dieckmann, 1971Otiorhynchus arcticus (Fabricius, 1780)

Hymenoptera HymenopteransIchneumonidae

Aclastus gracilis (Thomson, 1884)Atractodes ambiguus Ruthe, 1859Campoletis sp.Diadegma boreale Horstmann, 1980Enizemum ornatum (Gravenhorst, 1829)Nepiera collector (Thunberg, 1822)Ophion nigricans Ruthe, 1859Pimpla arctica Zetterstedt, 1838Pimpla sodalis Ruthe, 1859Stilpnus tenebricosus (Gravenhorst, 1829)Sussaba pulchella (Holmgren, 1858)

BraconidaeAlysia manducator (Panzer, 1799)Chorebus cf. cytherea (Nixon, 1837)Chorebus sp.Dacnusa sp.Meteorus rubens (Nees, 1811)

AphidiidaeMonoctonus caricis (Haliday, 1833)Aphidiidae indet. spp.

CynipidaeAlloxysta sp.

EucoilidaeTrybliographa sp.

PteromalidaeCyrtogaster vulgaris Walker, 1833Eupteromalus fucicola (Walker, 1835)Pteromalidae indet. spp.

DiapriidaePolypeza ciliata (Thomson, 1859)

ScelionidaeTrimorus sp.

PlatygastridaePlatygaster splendidulus Ruthe, 1859

MegaspilidaeDendrocerus bifoveatus (Kieffer, 1907)

Diptera True fliesTipulidae

Prionocera turcica (Fabricius, 1794)Tipula marmorata Meigen, 1818Tipula rufina Meigen, 1818

LimoniidaeLimonia autumnalis (Staeger, 1840)Erioptera hybrida (Meigen, 1804)

AnisopodidaeSylvicola fenestralis (Scopoli, 1763)

TrichoceridaeTrichocera maculipennis Meigen, 1818

BibionidaeBibio nigriventris Haliday, 1833Dilophus femoratus Meigen, 1804

ScatopsidaeScatopse notata (Linnaeus, 1758)

SciaridaeBradysia cf. nitidicollis (Meigen, 1818)Lycoriella conspicua (Winnertz, 1867)Sciaridae indet. spp.

MycetophilidaeBrevicornu sp.Exechia frigida (Boheman, 1865)Exechia nigra (Edwards, 1925)Exechia micans Lastovka & Matile, 1974

ChironomidaeChironomus spp.Cricotopus sp.Diamesa bertrami Edwards, 1935Diamesa bohemani Goetghebuer, 1932Diamesa incallida (Walker, 1856)Diamesa zernii Edwards, 1933Eukiefferiella minor (Edwards, 1929)Halocladius variabilis (Staeger, 1839)Metriocnemus eurynotus (Holmgren, 1883)Micropsectra atrofasciata Kieffer, 1911Micropsectra lindrothi Goetghebuer, 1931Paracladopelma laminata (Kieffer, 1921)Procladius islandicus Goetghebuer, 1931Psectrocladius limbatellus (Holmgren, 1869)Smitthia sp.Tanytarsus gracilentus (Holmgren, 1883)Telmatogeton japonicus Tokunaga, 1933Oliverida tricornis (Oliver, 1976)

CeratopogonidaeCeratopogonidae indet. sp.

SimuliidaeSimulium aureum (Fries, 1824)Simulium vittatum Zetterstedt, 1838

EmpididaeClinocera stagnalis (Haliday, 1833)

DolichopodidaeDolichopus plumipes (Scopoli, 1763)Hydrophorus viridis (Meigen, 1824)Syntormon pallipes (Fabricius, 1794)

LonchopteridaeLonchoptera furcata (Fallén, 1823)

SyrphidaeEupeodes corollae (Fabricius, 1794)Eupeodes lundbecki (Soot-Ryen, 1946)Eupeodes punctifer (Frey, 1934)Helophilus pendulus (Linnaeus, 1758)Melangyna lasiophthalma (Zetterstedt, 1843)Melanostoma mellinum (Linnaeus, 1758)Parasyrphus tarsatus (Zetterstedt, 1838)Platycheirus albimanus (Fabricius, 1781)Platycheirus clypeatus (Meigen, 1822)Platycheirus manicatus (Meigen, 1822)Platycheirus peltatus (Meigen, 1822)Syrphus torvus Osten-Sacken, 1875

PhoridaeMegaselia pumila (Meigen, 1830)Megaselia sordida (Zetterstedt, 1838)

PiophilidaePiophila vulgaris Fallén, 1820

SciomyzidaePherbellia ventralis (Fallén, 1820)Tetanocera robusta Loew, 1847

HelcomyzidaeHeterocheila buccata (Fallén, 1820)

SepsidaeThemira dampfi Becker, 1915Themira pusilla (Zetterstedt, 1847)

CoelopidaeCoelopa frigida (Fabricius, 1805)

115

APPENDICES


AnthomyzidaeAnthomyza socculata (Zetterstedt, 1847)

CarniidaeMeaneura lamellata Collin, 1930

HeleomyzidaeHeleomyza borealis (Bohemann, 1866)Heleomyza serrata (Linnaeus, 1758)Neoleria prominens (Becker, 1897)Tephrochlaena oraria Collin, 1943

DrosophilidaeDrosophila funebris (Fabricius, 1787)Scaptomyza graminum (Fallén, 1823)Scaptomyza pallida (Zetterstedt, 1847)

SphaeroceridaeCopromyza equina Fallén, 1820Copromyza nigrina (Gimmerthal, 1847)Crumomyia nigra (Meigen, 1830)Kimosina empirica (Hutton, 1901)Leptocera lutosa (Stenhammar, 1855)Minilimosina fungicola (Haliday, 1836)Spelobia clunipes (Meigen, 1830)Spelobia luteilabris (Rondani, 1880)Spelobia pseudosetaria (Duda, 1918)Spelobia rufilabris (Stenhammar, 1855)Thoracochaeta zosterae (Haliday, 1833)

EphydridaeDiscocerina bohemanni (Becker, 1896)Hydrellia griseola (Fallén, 1823)Parydra pusilla (Meigen, 1830)Philygria vittipennis (Zetterstedt, 1838)Scatella stagnalis (Fallén, 1823)Scatella tenuicosta Collin, 1930

ScathophagidaeChaetosa punctipes (Meigen, 1826)Scathophaga calida Curtis, 1832Scathophaga furcata (Say, 1823)Scathophaga litorea Fallén, 1819Scathophaga stercoraria (Linnaeus, 1758)

AnthomyiidaeBotanophila betarum (Lintner, 1883)Botanophila fugax (Meigen, 1826)Botanophila rubrigena (Schnabl, 1815)Delia angustifrons (Meigen, 1826)Delia echinata (Séguy, 1923)Delia fabricii (Holmgren, 1873)Delia platura (Meigen, 1826)Delia radicum (Linnaeus, 1758)Delia setigera (Stein, 1920)Fucellia fucorum (Fallén, 1819)Fucellia maritima (Haliday, 1838)Lasiomma picipes (Meigen, 1826)Pegoplata infirma (Meigen, 1826)Zaphne brunneifrons (Zetterstedt, 1838)Zaphne divisa (Meigen, 1826)Zaphne frontata (Zetterstedt, 1838)

MuscidaeCoenosia pumila (Fallén, 1825)Graphomyia maculata (Scopoli, 1763)Helina annosa (Zetterstedt, 1838)Hydrotaea armipes (Fallén, 1825)Hydrotaea dentipes (Fabricius, 1805)Limnophora pandellei Séguy, 1923Limnophora sinuata Collin, 1930Musca domestica Linnaeus, 1758Mydaea palpalis Stein, 1916Myospila meditabunda (Fabricius, 1781)

Spilogona baltica (Ringdahl, 1918)Spilogona micans (Ringdahl, 1918)Spilogona pacifica (Meigen, 1826)Thricops rostratus (Meade, 1882)

FanniidaeFannia canicularis (Linnaeus, 1761)Fannia glaucescens (Zetterstedt, 1845)

CalliphoridaeCalliphora uralensis Villeneuve, 1922Calliphora vicina Robineau-Desvoidy, 1830Cynomya mortuorum (Linnaeus, 1761)Phormia terraenovae Robineau-Desvoidy, 1830

HippoboscidaeOrnithomyia avicularia (Linnaeus, 1758)Ornithomyia chloropus Bergroth, 1901

Siphonaptera FleasCeratophyllidae

Dasypsyllus gallinulae (Dale, 1878)

ARACHNIDA Arachnids

Araneae SpidersLinyphiidae

Agyneta nigripes (Simon, 1884)Allomengea scopigera (Grube, 1859)Erigone arctica (White, 1852)Erigone atra Blackwall, 1833Erigone tirolensis L. Koch, 1872Islandiana princeps Brændegaard, 1932Lepthyphantes complicatus (Emerton, 1882)Lepthyphantes mengei Kulczynski, 1887Lepthyphantes zimmermanni Bertkau, 1890Leptotrix hardyi (Blackwall, 1850)Savignya frontata (Blackwall, 1833)Walckenaeria clavicornis (Emerton, 1882)Walckenaeria nudipalpis (Westring, 1851)

Acari Mites and ticksGammasina

Dendrolaelaps oudemansi Halbert, 1915Haemogamasus nidi Michael, 1892Macrocheles matrius Hull, 1925Rhodacarus roseus Oudemans, 1902Thinoseius spinosus Willmann, 1930Eviphis ostrinus (C. L. Koch, 1836)Zercon triangularis C. L. Koch, 1836Arctoseius sp.Eugamasus kraepelina (nomen dubium)Halolaelaps suecicus (Sellnick, 1957)Halolaelaps sp.Parasitus halophilus Sellnick, 1957

IxodidaIxodes ricinus (Linnaeus, 1758)Ceratixodes uriae (White, 1852)

ActinedidaCocceupodes clavifrons (Canestrini, 1886)Ereynetes agilis (Berlese, 1923)Pedeculaster mesembrinae (Canestrini, 1881)Tarsonemus fusarii Cooreman, 1941Nanorchestes arboriger (Berlese, 1904)Rhagidia mordax Oudemans, 1906Rhagidia sp.Penthalodes ovalis (Dugès, 1834)Petrobia apicalis (Banks, 1917)Bdella sp.

116



Neomolgus littoralis (Linnaeus)Anystis sp.Bakerdalia sp.

AcarididaCaloglyphus reglei Myianoetus digiferusMyianoetus vesparumTyrophagus similisTyrophagus dimidiatusSchwiebia cavernicolaHistiostoma feroniarumHistiostoma (hypopus)

OribatidaLauroppia falcata (Paoli, 1908)Oribotritia faeroensis (Sellnick, 1923)Hypochthonius rufulus C. L. Koch, 1836Liochthonius lapponicus (Trägardh, 1910)Liochthonius muscorum Forsslund, 1964Liochthonius propinquus Niedbala, 1972Eniochthonius minutissimus (Berlese, 1903)Hermannia sp.Tectocepheus velatus (Michael, 1880)Suctobelbella subcornigera (Forsslund, 1941)Suctobelbella sarekensis (Forsslund, 1941)Suctobelbella acutidens (Forsslund, 1941)Quadroppia quadricarinata (Michael, 1885)Quadroppia sp.Oppiella nova (Oudemans, 1902)Oppiella splendens (C. L. Koch, 1841)Medioppia subpectinata (Oudemans, 1900)Autogneta longilamellata (Michael, 1885)Ameronothrus lineatus (Thorell, 1871)Ameronothrus nigrofemoratus (C. L. Koch, 1879)Zygoribatula exilis (Nicolet, 1855)Chamobates cuspidatus (Michael, 1884)Ophidiotrichus connexus (Berlese, 1904)Achipteria coleoptrata (Linnaeus, 1758)

ANNELIDA Segmented worms

Oligochaeta EarthwormsLumbricidae

Lumbricus castaneus (Savigny, 1826)Enchytraeidae

Enchytraeidae indet. spp.

MOLLUSCA Molluscs

Gastropoda Snails and slugsAgriolimacidae

Deroceras agreste (Linnaeus, 1758)Vitrinidae

Vitrina pellucida (O. F. Müller, 1774)

NEMATODA Roundworms

RhabditinaCephalobidae

Acrobeloides nanus (de Man, 1884)

MonhysteridaMonhysteridae

Monhystera sp.

ROTATORIA Rotifers

EurolatariaPhilodinidae

Philodina acuticornis odiosa Milne, 1916

HabrotrochidaeHabrotrocha

Habrotrocha constricta (Dujardin, 1841)Habrotrocha sp.

PloimaEuchlandidae

Euchlanis dilatata Ehrenberg, 1832Notommatidae

Cephalodella gibba (Ehrenberg, 1832)Cephalodella gracilis (Ehrenberg, 1832)

117

APPENDICES

The muscid fly Tricops rostratus visiting an autumnhawkbit Leontodon autumnalis. (Photo: Erling Ólafsson2005).


118


Green algaeAcrochaete viridis (Reinke) R. NielsenAcrochaete wittrockii (Wille) R. NielsenAcrosiphonia arcta (Dillwyn) J. Agardh Blidingia minima (Nägeli ex Kützing) KylinBryopsis plumosa (Hudson) C. AgardhDerbesia marina (Lyngbye) SolierEndodictyon infestans H. GranEnteromorpha compressa (Linnaeus) NeesEnteromorpha flexuosa (Wulfen) J. AgardhEnteromorpha intestinalis (Linnaeus) NeesEnteromorpha linza (Linnaeus) J. AgardhEnteromorpha prolifera (O. F. Müller) J. AgardhEpicladia flustrae ReinkeSahlingia subintegra (Rosenvinge) KornmannMonostroma grevillei (Thuret) WittrockOmphalophyllum ulvaceum RosenvingePseudentoclonium submarinum WilleSpongomorpha aeruginosa (Linnaeus) van den HoekUlothrix speciosa (Carmichael ex Harvey in Hooker) KützingUlothrix flacca (Dillwyn) Thuret in Le Jolis Ulothrix subflaccida WilleUlva lactuca LinnaeusUlvaria fusca (Postels & Ruprecht) RuprechtUrospora bangioides (Harvey) Holmes & BattersUrospora penicilliformis (Roth) Areschoug Urospora wormskioldii (Mertens in Hornemann) Rosenvinge

Brown algaeAlaria esculenta (Linnaeus) GrevilleChorda filum (Linnaeus) StackhouseDesmarestia aculeata (Linnaeus) LamourouxDesmarestia ligulata (Lightfoot) LamourouxDesmarestia viridis (O. F. Müller) LamourouxEctocarpus fasciculatus HarveyEctocarpus siliculosus (Dillwyn) LyngbyeFucus spiralis LinnaeusHalosiphon tomentosum (Lyngbye) JaasundHaplospora globosa KjellmanHincksia granulosa (J. E. Smith) P. SilvaHincksia hincksiae (Harvey) P. SilvaHincksia ovata (Kjellman) P. SilvaHincksia recurvata (Kuckuck) unpublished combinationHincksia secunda (Kützing) P. SilvaLaminaria digitata (Hudson) LamourouxLaminaria hyperborea (Gunnerus) FoslieLeptonematella fasciculata (Reinke) SilvaPetalonia fascia (O. F. Müller) KuntzePetalonia zosterifolia (Reinke) KuntzePetroderma maculiforme (Wollny) Kuckuck Phaeostroma pustulosum KuckuckProtectocarpus speciosus (Børgesen) Kornmann in Kuckuck Pylaiella littoralis (Linnaeus) KjellmanScytosiphon lomentarius (Lyngbye) LinkSphacelaria caespitula Lyngbye

Red algaeAchrochaetium secundatum (Lyngbye) NägeliAntithamnionella floccosa (O. F. Müller) WhittickAudouinella membranacea (Magnus) Papenfuss Audouinella pectinata (Kylin) PapenfussBangia artropurpurea (Roth) C. AgardhCallophyllis cristata (C. Agardh) KützingDelesseria sanguinea (Hudson) LamourouxLomentaria clavellosa (Turner) GaillonLomentaria orcadensis (Harvey) Collins ex W. R. TaylorMeiodiscus spetzbergensis

(Kjellm) G. W. Saunders & McLachlanMembranoptera alata (Hudson) StackhousePhycodrys rubens (Linnaeus) BattersErythrodermis traillii (Holmes ex Batters) Guiry & GarbaryPlocamium cartilagineum (Linnaeus) DixonPolysiphonia stricta (Dillwyn) GrevillePorphyra miniata (C. Agardh) C. AgardhPorphyra purpurea (Roth) C. AgardhPorphyra umbilicalis (Linnaeus) KützingPorphyropsis coccinea (J. Agardh ex Areschoug) RosenvingeRhodochorton purpureum (Lightfoot) Rosenvinge Rhodophysema elegans (P. Crouan & H. Crouan) DixonScagelothamnion pusillum (Ruprecht) Athanasiadis in Maggs

& Hommersand

Appendix 8. Seaweed species recorded at Surtsey

Alaria esculenta growing at 5 m depth in Surtsey. (Photo: Karl Gunnarsson 1997).


119

APPENDICES

The following animal species were collected in the littoral andsublittoral zones down to depths of 40 m.

Porifera spongesGrantia compressa (Fabricius, 1780)Halichondria panicea (Pallas, 1766)Sycon ciliatum (Fabricius, 1780)

Scyphozoa stalked jellyfishHaliclystus octoradiatus (Lamarck, 1816)

Hydrozoa hydroidsAequorea forskalea (Forsskal, 1775)Bougainvillia ramosa (Van Beneden, 1844)Callycella syringa (Linnaeus, 1767)Campanularia integra Macgillivray, 1842Clytia hemisphaerica (Linnaeus, 1758)Clytia sarsi Cornelius, 1982Corymorpha nutans M. Sars, 1835Cuspidella humilis (Alder, 1862)Diphasia rosacea (Linnaeus, 1758)Dulichia porrecta (Bate, 1857) Eudendrium capillare Alder, 1856Eudendrium rameum (Pallas, 1766)Filellum serpens (Hassall, 1848)Halecium curvicaule Lorenz, 1886Halecium halecium (Linnaeus, 1758)Halecium labrosum Alder, 1859Halecium muricatum (Ellis et Solander, 1786)Hydractinia carica Bergh, 1887Lafoeina tenuis Van Beneden, 1847Obelia hyalina Clarke, 1879Obelia longissima (Pallas, 1766)Perigonimus roseus Jäderholm, 1909Phialella quadrata (Forbes, 1848)Tubularia larynx Ellis et Solander, 1786

Alcyonacea soft coralAlcyonium digitatum Linnaeus, 1758

Actinaria sea anemoneUrticina felina (Linnaeus, 1761)

Polycheta bristle wormsHydroides norvegica (Gunnerus, 1768)Pomatoceros triqueter (Linnaeus, 1767)

Gastropoda gastropodsAporrhais pespelicanis Linnaeus, 1758Buccinum undatum Linnaeus, 1758Cryptonatica affinis (Gmelin, 1791)Gibbula tumida (Montagu, 1803)Hinia incrassata (Ström, 1768)Lacuna pallidula (E. M. da Costa, 1778)Lacuna vincta (Montagu, 1803)Limacina helicina (Phipps, 1774) PteropodMargarites groenlandicus (Gmelin, 1791)Margarites helicinus (Phipps, 1774)Margarites olivaceus (T. Brown, 1827)Neptunea despecta (Linnaeus, 1758)Odostomia unidentata (Montagu, 1803)Omalogyra atomus (Philippi, 1841)Onoba semicostata (Montagu, 1803)Patina pellucida (Linnaeus, 1758)Skeneopsis planorbis (Fabricius, 1780)Tectura testudinalis (O. F. Müller, 1776)

Tectura virginea (O. F. Müller, 1776)Velutina velutina (O. F. Müller, 1776)

Bivalvia bivalvesAbra nitida (O. F. Müller, 1776)Abra prismatica (Montagu, 1803)Chlamys distorta (da Costa, 1778)Chlamys islandica (O. F. Müller, 1776)Crassadoma pusio (Linnaeus, 1758)Heteranomia squamula (Linnaeus, 1758)Hiatella arctica (Linnaeus, 1767)Kellia suborbicularis (Montagu, 1803) Lyonsia norvegica (Gmelin, 1791) Modiolula phaseolina (Philippi, 1844)Musculus discors (Linnaeus, 1767)Mya truncata Linnaeus, 1758Mytilus edulis Linnaeus, 1758Palliolum tigerinum (O. F. Müller, 1776)Parvicardium pinnulatum (Conrad, 1831)Spisula solida (Linnaeus, 1758)

Nudibranchia sea slugsAcanthodoris pilosa (Abildgaard in O. F. Müller, 1789)Adalaria proxima (Alder et Hancock, 1854)Aeolidia papillosa (Linnaeus, 1761)Ancula gibbosa (Risso, 1818)Archidoris pseudoargus (Rapp, 1827)Catronia aurantia (Alder et Hancock, 1854)Dentronodus frondosus (Ascanius, 1774)Doto coronata (Gmelin, 1791)Doto pinnatifida (Montagu, 1804)Eubranchus pallidus (Alder et Hancock, 1842)Flabellina verrucosa (M. Sars, 1829)Onchidoris bilamellata (Linnaeus, 1767)Onchidoris muricata (O. F. Müller, 1776)Tergipes tergipes (Forskal, 1775)

Crustacea/Amphipoda amphipodsAmpithoe rubricata (Montagu, 1808)Apherusa jurinei H. Milne-Edwards, 1830Calliopius laeviusculus Krøyer, 1838Caprella linearis Linnaeus, 1767Caprella septentrionalis Krøyer, 1838Gammarellus angulosus (Rathke, 1843)Gammarellus homari Fabricius, 1779Gammaropsis nitida Stimpson, 1853Hyperia galba (Montagu, 1813) Hyperoche medusarum (Krøyer, 1838)Ischyrocerus anguipes Krøyer, 1838Jassa falcata (Montagu, 1808)Metopa alderi (Bate, 1857)Metopa borealis G. O. Sars, 1882Metopa bruzeli (Goes, 1866)Metopa pusilla G. O. Sars, 1892Metopa rubrovittata G. O. SarsMetopa solsbergi Schneider, 1884Obelia geniculata (Linnaeus, 1758)Parapleustes bicuspis (Krøyer, 1838)Pleusymtes glaber (Boeck, 1861)Stenothoe monoculoides (Montagu, 1813)

Crustacea/Isopoda isopodsIdotea granulosa Rathke, 1843Idotea neglecta G. O. Sars, 1897Idotea pelagica Leach, 1815

Appendix 9a. Marine zoobenthos found on hard substrate at 0 to 40 m depth at Surtsey


Janira maculosa Leach, 1814Janiropsis breviremis G. O. Sars, 1899Munna kröyeri Goodsir, 1842

Crustacea/Cirripedia acorn barnaclesBalanus balanus (Linnaeus, 1758)Chirona hameri (Ascianus, 1767)Semibalanus balanoides (Linnaeus, 1766)Verruca stroemia O. F. Müller, 1776

Crustacea/Natantia shrimpsCrangon allmanii Kinahan, 1857Eualus pusiolus (Krøyer, 1841)

Crustacea/Anomura squat lobsterGalathea nexa Embleton, 1834

Crustacea/Brachyura crabsHyas coarctatus Leach, 1815Pagurus bernhardus (Linnaeus, 1758)Pandalus montagui Leach, 1814Polybius holsatus (Fabricius, 1798)

Crustacea/Copopoda copepodHarpacticus arcticus Poppe, 1884

Pyconogonida sea spiderNymphon hirtum Krøyer, 1844

Bryozoa bryozoansAlcyonidium albidum Alder, 1857Alcyonidium mamillatum Alder, 1857Alcyonidium mytili Dalyell, 1847Alcyonidium parasiticum (Fleming, 1828)Alcyonidium polyoum HassallAmphiblestrum flemingi (Busk, 1854)Arachnidium fibrosum Hincks, 1880Bartensia gracilis (M. Sars)Buskia nitens Alder, 1857Callopora craticula (Alder, 1857)Callopora dumerilii (Audouin, 1826)Callopora lineata (Linnaeus, 1767)Celleporella hyalina (Linnaeus, 1767)Celleporina hassallii (Johnston, 1847)Cribrilina annulata (Fabricius, 1780)Cribrilina cryptooecium Norman, 1903Cribrilina punctata Hassall, 1841Cylindroporella tubulosa (Norman, 1868)Diplosolen obelia (Johnston, 1838)Electra pilosa (Linnaeus, 1768)Escharella immersa (Fleming, 1828)Flustra foliacea Linnaeus, 1758Lichenopora hispida (Fleming, 1828)Lichenopora verrucaria (Fabricius, 1780)Membranipora membranacea (Linnaeus, 1767)Membraniporella nitida (Johnston, 1838)Microporella ciliata (Pallas, 1766)Parasmittina trispinosa (Johnston, 1838)Plagioecia patina (Lamarck, 1816)Porella alba Noordgard, 1906Porella minuta (Norman, 1868)Porella smitti Kluge, 1907Scizomavella linearis (Hassall)Scruparia ambigua (d'Orbigny, 1841)Scruparia chelata (Linnaeus, 1758)Scrupocellaria elongata (Smitt, 1868)Scrupocellaria scruposa (Linnaeus, 1758)Tegella arctica (d'Orbigny, 1851)Tegella unicornis (Fleming, 1828)

Tricellaria ternata (Ellis et Solander, 1786)Tubulipora liliacea (Pallas, 1766)Umbonula littoralis Hastings, 1944

Echinodermata/Asteroidea starfishHippasteria phrygiana (Parelius, 1768) Asterias rubens Linnaeus, 1758

Echinodermata/Echinoidea sea urchins Echinus esculentus Linnaeus, 1758Strongylocentrotus droebachiensis (O. F. Müller, 1776)

Echinodermata/Ophiuroidea brittle starOphiopholis aculeata (Linnaeus, 1767)

Echinodermata/Holothurioidea sea cucumberCucumaria frondosa (Gunnerus, 1767)

Ascidiacea tunicatesAscidia callosa Stimpson, 1852Ascidia obliqua Alder, 1863Boltenia echinata (Linnaeus, 1767)Halocynthia pyriformis (Rathke in O. F. Müller, 1806)Styela rustica (Linnaeus, 1767)

Pisces fishAmmodytes tobianus Linnaeus, 1758 Sand eelCyclopterus lumpus Linnaeus, 1758 LumpsuckerLimanda limanda (Linnaeus, 1758) DabLiparis montagui (Donovan, 1804) Montagu's sea snailLophius piscatorius Linnaeus, 1758 AnglerfishMicrostomus kitt (Walbaum, 1792) Lemon sole

Appendix 9b.

Animals found in the sand at 16 to 125 m depths on theunderwater slope of the volcano at Surtsey. Nephropsnorvegicus* was fished at 140 to 160 m around Surtsey

Polychaeta bristle wormsAmmotrypane aulogaster Rathke, 1843Anaitides groenlandica OerstedCapitella capitata (Fabricius, 1780)Diplocirrus glaucus (Malmgren, 1867)Ditrupa arietina (O. F. Müller, 1776)Sthenelais filamentosa Ditlevsen, 1917Goniada maculata Oersted, 1843Kefersteinia cirrata (Keferstein, 1862)Nephtys hombergii Savigny, 1818Owenia fusiformis delle Chiaje, 1841 Pectinaria koreni (Malmgren, 1866)Pholoe minuta (Fabricius, 1780)Scoloplos armiger (O. F. Müller, 1776)Spio filicornis (O. F. Müller, 1766)Spiophanes bombyx (Claparède, 1870)Castalia punctata (O. F. Müller, 1788)Eteone longa (Fabricius, 1780)Lanice conchilega (Pallas, 1766)Nephtys longisetosa Örsted, 1882Scolelepis squamata (O. F. Müller, 1789)Pseudopolydora antennata (Claparède, 1870)Thelepus cincinnatus (Fabricius, 1780)

120



Crustacea/Amphipoda amphipodHippomedon denticulatus (Bate, 1857)

Crustacea/Brachyura crabsEurynome aspera (Pennant, 1777)Nephrops norvegicus* (Linnaeus, 1758)Philocheras bispinosus (Hailstone, 1835)

Bivalvia bivalvesAbra nitida (O. F. Müller, 1776)Abra prismatica (Montagu, 1808)Acanthocardium echinatum (Linnaeus, 1758)Arctica islandica (Linnaeus, 1767)Macoma calcarea (Gmelin, 1791)Spisula elleptica (Brown, 1827)

Echinodermata/Ophiuroidea brittle starsAmphiura filiformis (O.F. Müller, 1776)Ophiocten affinis (Lütken, 1858)

Echinodermata/Echinoidea sea urchinEchinocardium flavescens (O. F. Müller, 1776)

Appendix 9c. Fish species found in the sea around Surtsey

Starry ray Amblyraja radiata (Donovan, 1808)Sand eel* Ammodytes tobianus Linnaeus, 1758Wolffish Anarhichas lupus (Linnaeus, 1758)Spotted catfish Anarichias minor Ólafsson, 1772Greater silver smelt Argentina silus (Ascanius, 1775)Tusk Brosme brosme (Ascanius, 1772) Basking shark Cetorhinus maximus (Gunnerus, 1765)Herring Clupea harengus Linnaeus, 1758Roundnose grenadier Coryphaenoides rupestris Gunnerus,1765Lumpsucker* Cyclopterus lumpus Linnaeus, 1758Common skate Dipturus batis (Linnaeus, 1758)Cod Gadus morhua Linnaeus, 1758Witch Glyptocephalus cynoglossus (Linnaeus, 1758)Long rough dab Hippoglossoides platessoides (Fabricius, 1780)Halibut Hippoglossus hippoglossus (Linnaeus, 1758)Megrim Lepidorhombus whiffiagonis (Walbaum, 1792)Dab** Limanda limanda (Linnaeus, 1758)Montagu's sea snail* Liparis montagui (Donovan, 1804)Anglerfish* Lophius piscatorius Linnaeus, 1758Capelin Mallotus villosus (Müller, 1776)Haddock Melanogrammus aeglefinus Linnaeus, 1758Whiting Merlangius merlangus Linnaeus, 1758Lemon sole* Microstomus kitt (Walbaum, 1792)Blue ling Molva dypterygia (Pennant, 1784)Ling Molva molva (Linnaeus, 1758)Plaice Pleuronectes platessa Linnaeus, 1758Saithe Pollachius virens (Linnaeus, 1758)Redfish Sebastes marinus (Linnaeus, 1758)Deep-sea rosefish Sebastes mentella (Travin, 1951)

* Found sublittorally; listed also in App. 9a.** Found both in the shallow sublittoral and deeper than 100 m; listed also in App. 9a.

121

APPENDICES

Common starfish, Asterias rubens in the shallow sublittoral at Surtsey. (Photo: Karl Gunnarsson 1997).


IntroductionSurtsey island has been managed for conservation ever sincethe original Declaration of the Surtsey Nature Reserve by theMinister of Education, Science and Culture on 19 May 1965,in the Icelandic Official Gazette. A new declaration came intoforce in 1974, pursuant to the revised Act on NatureConservation, No. 47/1971. The third Declaration of theSurtsey Nature Reserve was issued by the Minister for theEnvironment in January 2006. At that time the Reserve wasenlarged to incorporate the entire Surtsey volcano as it standson the sea floor, together with a significant area of thesurrounding seas. The codes of conduct and conservationprovisions of the Declaration are based on the Act on NatureConservation, No. 44/1999.

The Environment and Food Agency of Iceland is responsiblefor the conservation, protection and management of theSurtsey Nature Reserve. To advise the Agency on mattersregarding the Reserve, a special Advisory Committee wasappointed in January 2006, composed of two members fromthe Municipality of Vestmannaeyjar and one representativefrom the Surtsey Research Society, the Icelandic Institute ofNatural History, the Marine Research Institute and theEnvironment and Food Agency.

This draft Management Plan for the Surtsey Nature Reserve,2007–2017, provides a long-term vision for Reservemanagement, along with a series of more detailed goals andobjectives that include the necessary measures for integratedconservation, research, monitoring and interpretation. Duringthe first quarter of 2007, the draft plan will be subject toreview by the Municipality of Vestmannaeyjar, the SurtseyResearch Society, Icelandic Institute of Natural History,Marine Research Institute, South Iceland Research Centre andVestmannaeyjar Research Centre. A final plan will then beprepared and confirmed by the Minister for the Environment.

VisionThe vision of Surtsey Nature Reserve management is toestablish the Reserve as an internationally renowned site forthe integrated conservation, study, monitoring andinterpretation of a globally significant natural phenomenon.The island’s terrestrial component will be conserved throughrestricted access and the highest protection and conservationstandards. A buffer zone around the island will serve tosafeguard its marine features from threats posed by tanker andother shipping traffic, over-fishing and offshore energydevelopment. A World Heritage Site status will strengthen thelong-term conservation of Surtsey as a pristine nature reserve.

Guiding principle and management goalsThe guiding principle behind the Declaration of the SurtseyNature Reserve was ensuring that development of the islandand its submerged components remain in keeping withnatural evolutionary processes, free of human intervention.Measures have been taken to guarantee that biotic succession,geomorphological processes and colonisation by plants andanimals follow natural pathways and undergo minimal humandisruption. This has reinforced the value of Surtsey for scienceand nature conservation, both within Iceland and on a globalbasis.

The management of the Surtsey Nature Reserve, 2007–2017,will be founded on this guiding principle, as well as on the

goals listed below; they provide the long-term framework formanagement and a basis for selecting and assessingobjectives.

Conservation: The principal land use in the Surtsey NatureReserve comprises conservation. The island and surroundingseas will be managed towards conserving the natural heritage,so as to maintain key features and provide a model of bestpractice. Conservation management measures will aim atensuring to the greatest possible extent that natural featuresand processes remain undisturbed by man. Intervention,however, may occur when called for to protect any moresignificant natural features from deterioration or hazard. Insuch cases, decisions will be made on a case-by-case basis,allowing for the reversibility of any actions taken and forminimum disturbance to other natural features and processes.

Research: Such scientific research shall be encouraged aswill improve understanding of natural features in the SurtseyNature Reserve, or will assist in protecting and managing itsglobally outstanding qualities. The Environment and FoodAgency will commission such research on a case-by-casebasis, in cooperation with the Surtsey Research Society.Research will only be permitted if it is in keeping with theDeclaration of the Surtsey Nature Reserve and leads to nodamage to nature in the Reserve.

The Surtsey Nature Reserve is to be a model of integratedconservation management, whereby nature conservation andresearch interests are considered together. Where there is apotential conflict of interests between research and natureconservation, decisions will be made with reference to theDeclaration of the Surtsey Nature Reserve and provisions ofthe Act on Nature Conservation, No. 44/1999, followingconsultation with the Advisory Committee.

Access: It is prohibited to go ashore on Surtsey or to dive bythe island except when carrying out research purposes andrelated activities and bearing written permission from theEnvironment and Food Agency. Vessels are however permittedto travel through the Reserve around Surtsey.

Education and interpretation: There is a wealth of primaryand secondary information sources on Surtsey and its eruptionand development; these are kept by several agencies andorganisations as well as by individuals. The Environment andFood Agency, in cooperation with the Surtsey ResearchSociety, is to work towards collating this material. Educationand interpretation programmes will be developed, inpartnership with those maintaining the information, in orderto instill a long-lasting appreciation for Surtsey Nature Reservecharacteristics and for the importance of sustainableconservation management at this unique site. Interpretationfacilities will be established in the town of Vestmannaeyjar onHeimaey, the only inhabited island in the archipelago.

Development: It is recognized that some developmentactivities are inevitable concerning operations for monitoring,research and conservation within the Surtsey Nature Reserve.No new construction or renovation may proceed until it hasundergone an environmental impact assessment and thedetermination has been made of its meeting the followingcriteria: it is considered essential, temporary and reversible; itsevaluated effects are judged to have minimal detrimental

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Appendix 10: Draft Management Plan for the Surtsey Nature Reserve, 2007–2017


effects on natural features, landscape or the wilderness qualityof the Reserve; and it does not conflict with statutorystipulations.

Man-made hazards and risks: The main sailing routesbetween Iceland and Europe pass through the vicinity of theSurtsey Nature Reserve. However, larger ships do not usuallycome close to the Reserve, due to sea conditions and limitedwater depth. Automatic identification systems cover Icelandicterritorial waters, and every vessel that carries cargo oil and/orother hazardous cargo within the Icelandic pollutionprevention zone is required to report to the Icelandic CoastGuard Maritime Traffic Service.

The Surtsey Nature Reserve is included in the Icelandiccontingency plan for oil pollution incidents. Strong currents,high wave energy and the island’s shore types (cliffs, coarse-grained pebble beaches) are considered in the island’s favour,since they limit the risk of long-term effects on the biota by oilspills. Equipment to combat oil pollution is kept ready inHeimaey, with supplements in Reykjavík. According to theIcelandic Marine Pollution Act, No. 33/2004, a ship-owner isobliged to remove any shipwreck on beaches, and theEnvironment and Food Agency can order the removal ofsunken ships.

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From the very beginning humaninfluence on Surtsey has been minimal.(Photo: Hervé Jezequel 2005).



Documents

The Nomination of Surtsey for the UNESCO World Heritage List