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

from here

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

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

~

Day 2: Surtsey / Tense / Using Power

Surtsey

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

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

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

-Ce