Surtsey Island never ceases to amaze. The newborn island of Surtsey is a clear example of the birth of islands and life on them

Geologists were quite surprised by their discoveries.

As one scholar wrote, “on Surtsey Island, it took only a few months to form such a diverse and mature landscape - it’s almost unbelievable!”.

"It had spacious sandy beaches, pebbly shores, impressive rocks, soft hills, ravines, channels and boulders, hewn by surf waves (see: photo on the left), some of which were almost round and were located on a coastal platform formed by water, cut into the rock ". And all this, despite the "extremely young age" of the island!

The surprise of geologists can be understood if we take into account the modern worldview, according to which the formation of a "diverse and mature" relief is enough young island Surtsey had to take a huge amount of time - millions of years! Such ideas are a legacy of the uniformitarian theory (about the ancient age of the earth) that gained popularity several decades before Darwin's era.

Solarfilma photo,

Up to this point, great scientists understood that the earth was relatively young (about 6,000 years old) and that its shape had changed dramatically due to the uplift of the waters associated with the worldwide flood of Noah's time, which occurred about 4,500 years ago. If one understands the power of the flood waters and accepts that the story of Genesis 7:11 about the “springs of the great deep being broken up” (which could imply volcanic activity) is a real event, this will give a completely new point reference in our relation to geography, topography and geology.

And on the contrary, a person who is confident in the multi-million-year age of the Earth will be “extremely surprised” by what he sees on the island of Surtsey.

Author of an article that appeared in 2006 in a scientific journal New Scientist, confirmed that Surtsey never ceases to amaze us so far: “This island surprises many geographers, who believe that canyons, ravines and other landforms should take tens of thousands or even millions of years to form, and here they formed in less than a decade.” .

Biologists were also very surprised: “From the very beginning, the speed, skill and total unpredictability of Surtsey’s nature took them by surprise.”. For example, the “first conquerors” of the island, in their opinion, should have been lichen and moss, but they saw flowering plants.

The explorers who descended on the island in the spring of 1965 saw green shoots and the most beautiful white flowers of sea mustard rooted in volcanic ash while still in the sea. They were followed by sandgrass, sea gerbil, cottongrass and ferns. Moss appeared on the island only in 1967, and lichens - since 1970.

Why did scientists expect that it was mosses and lichens that would be the first conquering plants on the island? Is it because, according to the theory of evolution, it was mosses and lichens that were the first plants on Earth after it supposedly cooled from lava after its birth? However, the Bible says that all types of plants were created at the same time - on the third day of Creation Week, while the Earth was covered with water, not lava. In addition, based on the story of the Flood that occurred in the time of Noah, there is no reason to believe that the first plants on the Earth, from which the waters had just receded, should have been mosses and lichens (Genesis 8:11).

On Surtsey, the evolutionary paradigm had no predictive value. “There was no complex evolutionary adaptation to environment and even ecosystem replication was not observed neighboring islands. What has come has come" .

What has come has come . And all this greatly surprised evolutionary biologists, who, despite all the lessons they had to learn after repopulating Mount St. Helens (USA) with plants after the volcanic eruption in 1980, again underestimated the ability of creation to repopulate the destroyed areas.

It seems that the island of Surtsey was the first to be inhabited by insects. Just as the helicopter crews that first landed in the Mt. St. Helens disaster area reported being chased by flies, so the people who first set foot on Surtsey Island in 1964 report being met on shore. flies. Like Mount St. Helens, spiders have been found on Surtsey that fly in the air on silk cobwebs. Other species of insects came to Surtsey by sea, having sailed there along with tufts of grass. Some tiny insects washed ashore along with floating islands.

In 1970, birds began to nest on the island of Surtsey, and their chicks began to appear just three years after lava stopped erupting. The island was first inhabited by sea birds such as fulmars and black murres, which built their nests from pebbles and stayed close to the rocks. And in the fall of 1985, a couple of clovers flew to the island, building a nest of plants on the lowlands from lava. The following year, they returned to the island, accompanied by other choughs, and now the island has a permanent colony of more than 300 pairs of these birds.

Birds have helped Surtsey island with landscaping. Snow buntings brought rosemary heather seeds in their stomachs from Britain, and these seeds, mixed with bird droppings, germinated very quickly. Now, near the habitat of the klush colony, a “bright green oasis” spreads into the distance. Now geese graze on the green of the island, and this cycle continues. Plants support the life of insects, which attract birds that bring seeds of new plants. Among the new “acquisitions” we can mention willow grass and hatchets (fig. on the right). According to the Icelandic Institute natural history, “Now there is a fully functioning ecosystem on Surtsey Island”.

Surtsey island lesson

Skeptics try to oppose the teachings of Christianity and claim that the account of history presented in the Bible cannot be true, referring to the fact that the formation geological features The Earths would have been gone for millions of years, and the biological restoration of the Earth after the Flood would have been impossible in the short amount of time given in the Bible.

However, with its existence, the island of Surtsey proves that skeptics are wrong. He also shows us in incredible ways how, after the Flood, plants and animals were able to populate the world as we see it today. " What has come has come". If only the skeptics had learned the lessons of Surtsey before it was too late! Erosion on Surtsey Island occurs at a rate of approximately one hectare per year.

In 1967, when the volcanic eruption ceased, the area of Surtsey Island was 2.7 km2. Today it has halved. Although the island's 154-meter peak is formed by a hard basalt core, which should make the island more resilient, geologist Svein Jakobson of the Surtsey Island Exploration Society believes that the island's volcanic ash plains will completely washed away in about one century. And there is a lesson in this too:

Surtsey Volcano - desert island in Iceland, the most south point countries, object of the World natural heritage.

Surtsey is one of the few islands that appeared in historical time, and almost the only one on which scientific research has been carried out since the first moment of the appearance of solid rock above sea level.

Surtsey appeared on November 14, 1963. A few days earlier, at a depth of 130 meters, an underwater volcano erupted southwest of the Vestmannaeyar Islands. Until June 1967, there were about a hundred eruptions, after which the island reached an area of 2.7 km². However, later erosion and washout by waves reduced the area of the island to 1.5 km² in 2000.

The island was named Surtsey, which in Icelandic means "island of Surtur", in honor of the lord of the fire giants. In addition to the main island, several small islands also formed.

The island consisted only of volcanic pumice, however, it attracted the attention of scientists from all over the world, since it was possible to observe the appearance of life on the island using its example. Access to the island "for the purity of the experiment" was limited.

Scientists have determined that bacteria and other microorganisms settled on the island already in the first hours of the birth of the island.

Plants also gradually began to appear on the island. At first it was mosses and lichens that appeared on the island already in 1965. In the mid-1980s, there were already more than 20 plant species on the island, and in 1998 the first shrub appeared.

Surtsey lies on the flight path of many bird species. Of course, birds, both migratory and living on Vestmannaeyar, land, fertilizing the barren soils of the island with their droppings, which, in addition to organic and mineral substances, contain undigested plant seeds, which contributes to the spread of new species.

The first sightings on the island were petrels and auks. In 1986, a colony of seagulls nesting on the island was discovered. In addition, the island is visited by birds such as swans, wild geese and crows. In the 21st century, puffin nesting sites were discovered.

Other forms of life have also been found on Surtsey: worms, spiders, beetles, flies, mites and others.

The marine life near the island is typical for the area and is rich in fish and plankton.

The erosion of the island is one of the main problems of Surtsey and the surrounding islets. Over the 40 years of its existence, the area of the island has almost halved, however, since the mid-1980s, the rate of erosion has slowed down sharply. Experts predict that the island will stop shrinking in size in a few years.

The climate is typical of Vestmannaeyar and south coast Iceland. The ocean near the island does not freeze, floating ice very rare in this area. The temperature of the coldest period (January-February) exceeds zero mark(+1 - +1.5°C), the warmest (July-August) - +10.5°C. It rains frequently throughout the year, sometimes snow falls in winter, which melts quickly. The annual rainfall is about 1600 millimeters.

Located approximately 30 kilometers off the south coast of Iceland small island Surtsey is one of the youngest islands in the world at just over fifty years old. Like most islands, Surtsey was born in underwater eruption volcano that began at a depth of 130 meters in the Norwegian Sea. Hot lava continued to form the platform until it reached the surface on November 14, 1963. It was this day that became the official date of birth of the island.

The breathtaking birth of Surtsey was witnessed by the crew of a trawler sailing nearby. Seeing a dark column of smoke in the distance, the captain mistook it for a fire on the ship. On their way to the rescue, they discovered a growing island. Within a few days the island reached over 500 meters in length and a height of 45 meters.

new island named after Surtur, the god of fire from Norse mythology. Less than three weeks after the island appeared, a team of three French journalists ventured onto the still-smoldering rock. They stayed there for fifteen minutes before a massive explosion forced them to leave. Fortunately, the French did not claim ownership of the island, although the journalists did joke about it. Before any political disputes began, Iceland quickly asserted the rights to rule the new island.

Meanwhile, the volcano continued to erupt and the island continued to grow. When the eruption finally stopped on June 5, 1967, the island had grown to a size of 2.7 square kilometers. Its highest point was 174 meters above sea level. But since the end of the eruption, the island has only decreased in size, as it is formed from a weak volcanic rock known as tephra. It is quickly destroyed by the waters of the North Atlantic. As of 2012, the surface area has halved and the maximum elevation has fallen to 155 meters. Now the level of erosion has slowed down, and the size of the island will stop at its current level for about 100 years. All this gives reason to believe that the young island of Surtsey will exist for at least several more centuries.

What makes Surtsey even more exciting and interesting for scientists is the settlement of the island with plants and bird colonies. The first plants were found on its banks in the spring of 1965. Over the next twenty years, about twenty varieties of new plants appeared, but only half of them took root in the nutrient-poor sandy soil. As soon as birds began to arrive on the island, their droppings fertilized the soil and there were much more plants. By 2008, there were already 69 varieties, among which mosses and lichens predominated. New species continue to arrive on the island with the help of the sea, wind and birds, adding 2 to 5 plants per year. Without a doubt, this is one of the most unusual islands in the world.

Surtsey is also teeming with animal life. Twelve species regularly inhabit the island, including murre, gull and Atlantic petrel. Migrating birds use the island as a stopping place, and seals bask on the northern shore. The presence attracted killer whales to the shores of Surtsey, and insects, slugs, spiders and beetles number in the hundreds of species.

This place is included in the list of 25 popular indoor attractions in the world. In order to allow the nature of the island to develop naturally without human intervention, very few people are allowed to visit Surtsey. One of the visitors tried to grow potatoes on the island, but they immediately dug them up after the seedlings were found. Once, at the tourist camp, waste was not properly removed, as a result of which a tomato bush took root. It was also destroyed so as not to disturb the natural ecosystem. Since 1965, Surtsey has been a nature reserve and an object world heritage UNESCO.

The uninhabited Icelandic island of Surtsey North Atlantic is located 32 km from the south coastline Iceland. This is one of those small islands that appeared against the backdrop of eruptions. underwater volcanoes. Surtsey Island arose in 1963 in connection with the eruption of such a volcano near the Westmannaair Islands. The birth of the island was witnessed by members of the crew of the fishing vessel Aileifer II, who observed eruptions of steam and fire of underwater origin.

From the Icelandic "Surtsey" sounds like "the island of Surtur", where Surtur is a Norwegian mythical character who commands fire giants. From a height of flight, the outlines of the island look like a huge rodent with craters like eye sockets. The forming materials of the island were pumice, ash and ash - characteristic volcanic rocks. This mixture is also called devilish (tephra). The island is boundlessly interested in scientists from all over the world.

The fact is that on the example of such rare phenomena as the formation of a new island in the ocean, one can gain invaluable experience and make intriguing observations. Scientists were interested in the most ancient question of the universe: how does life originate on earth. Since 1967, Surtsey has become a kind of laboratory where scientists can see firsthand how life is conquering new expanses on earth.

In addition, all the people involved in the project were very surprised at the speed of formation of a diverse landscape on the island of Surtsey. As a rule, this takes a long time - millions of years! And on Surtsey, the landscape in all its diversity was practically formed in just a decade, given the fact that bacteria appeared on the island after a couple of hours.

Surtsey Island, with its emergence and rapid adaptation of the internal ecosystem, is one of the brightest representatives of the uniformitarian theory, which disputes ancient age Earth. It preceded Darwin's famous theory. From the observations of scientists, it became obvious that microorganisms were not the first inhabitants of the island, as prescribed in biology books in the section on the origin of life on earth.

Sea mustard inflorescences and ferns were the first to conquer the island. Further, lichens and mosses settled on the island, after 35 years thickets of shrubs appeared, migratory flocks of birds brought here seeds of new plant species and fertilizers in the form of droppings. Thus, after a while, a functioning ecosystem developed on the island.

At birth, the area of the island covered 2.7 km 2, and today, washout by waves and erosion have left only half. One of the geologists of the Society for the Exploration of the Island suggests that the plains of the island will be washed away in one century. According to other forecasts, after a few years, the size of the island will stop decreasing.

The Icelandic island of Surtsey is also famous for being a natural heritage site by UNESCO. It should be noted that there is a fact that the likelihood of renewed activity of the underground volcano remains. And at some point, the island of Surtsey will cease to exist in the flames that gave birth to it.

Surtsey Island (Surtur) is located 32 kilometers off the southern coast of Iceland.
Surtsey Island volcanic origin, was formed in 1963, as a result of the eruption of an underwater volcano.
Eruptions lasted until June 1967, the area of the island was 2.7 square meters. km.
Under the influence of erosion, the island has now decreased to 1.4 square meters. km (as of 2004).

The name Surtsey comes from Norse mythology. It is named after the fire god Surtur (lord of the fire giants).

Surtsey- one of the few islands that appeared in historical time,
and perhaps the only one on which, from the first moment of the appearance of solid rock above ocean level, scientific research has been carried out.

The island consisted only of volcanic pumice, however, it attracted the attention of scientists from all over the world, since it was possible to observe the appearance of life on the island using its example.
After the formation, bacteria and other microorganisms appeared on the island almost immediately. And already in 1965, mosses and lichens appeared here.

In 1970, birds began nesting on Surtsey Island, and their chicks began to appear only three years after the lava stopped erupting. The island was first inhabited by sea birds such as fulmars and black murres, which built their nests from pebbles and stayed close to the rocks. And in the fall of 1985, a couple of clovers flew to the island, building a nest of plants on the lowlands from lava. The following year, they returned to the island, accompanied by other choughs, and now the island has a permanent colony of more than 300 pairs of these birds.

In the 80s, there were 20 plant species, and in 2004, Surtsey was inhabited by 60 varieties. Animal world also developed rapidly, now 335 species of invertebrates (beetles, worms, spiders, flies and others) have been found on the island.

Since 1967, when the volcanoes subsided, Surtsey has become a kind of laboratory, where scientists have a unique opportunity to observe firsthand how life conquers new spaces.
Naturally, for the purity of the experiment, access to it was strictly limited, and the researchers who were honored to go to " new land”, dressed in shoe covers and overalls.

The author of an article that appeared in 2006 in the scientific journal New Scientist confirmed that Surtsey never ceases to amaze us to this day: “This island surprises many geographers who believe that tens of thousands of or even millions of years, but here they formed in less than a decade"

However, the threat of renewal volcanic activity remains, and one day Surtsey may perish in the same flames that gave birth to him.