Newly formed volcanic Island, Surtsey; Dr. ZoBell elected to Surtsey Research Society.
September 16, 1965
The beginnings of life on the newly formed volcanic island, Surtsey, near Iceland, whose origin is described as a major seismic disturbance of the century, are exciting scientists the world over, according to a La Jolla marine microbiologist who observed the island and followed its birth-pangs from the time of its eruption.
Dr. Claude E. ZoBell, professor of marine microbiology at the University of California, San Diego's Scripps Institution of Oceanography, has just received notice of his election as an associate founding member of the Surtsey Research Society.
Dr. Steingrimur Hermannsson, Society chairman, of Reykjavik, Iceland, said this recognition followed Dr. ZoBell's contributions to the international Surtsey Biology Conference held in Reykjavik earlier this year under the auspices of the Icelandic Research Council and the U.S. Office of Naval Research.
Surtsey blasted forth in November, 1963, some 500 feet beneath the ocean surface about ten miles off the south coast of Iceland. The roiling, churning, spewing waters were preceded by a decided increase in ocean temperatures in the area from their norm of about 45 degrees Fahrenheit.
The Icelandic government has since declared Surtsey a natural preserve for scientists keenly studying the initiation of life on what was recently a lifeless volcanic mass. The island's area is now some 700 acres; its peak, 450 to 500 feet above sea level.
"Actually, Surtsey's origin is one of the most outstanding seismic disturbances of the 20th century," said Dr. ZoBell, who flew over the island when he visited Iceland.
"It has been estimated that about 500 million cubic yards of lava were forced upward. The heat generated during the first five months was equivalent to the combustion of 80,000 barrels of crude oil per hour."
Surtsey is intermittently active. A black sand beach is forming from the lava that poured from the cone. Sea birds fly over, some stopping to land and warm their feet, and scientists and photographers have gone ashore to research the origin or establishment of life forms.
"There are not even any lichens on the island yet," said Dr. ZoBell, "but weekly surface water and air samples indicate that air-borne bacteria are arriving on Surtsey. Most interesting are bacteria of unknown origin which obtain their energy from the oxidation of molecular hydrogen, hydrogen sulphide, or from free sulphur, substances commonly associated with volcanoes.
"These organisms get their carbon from carbon dioxide in the air, as do plants. They reduce the carbon dioxide and convert it to bacterial cell tissue, or protoplasm. We believe these bacteria are helping to develop Surtsey's first soil. "We have evidence of the conversion of the volcano's ash, cinders, and lava rock into soil, or humus, if you will, including in it any dead organisms. Guano and materials washing ashore from the sea are also contributing to soil formation.
"Within weeks it seems likely that there will be sufficient soil on the island for the germination of seeds carried there on air currents, perhaps from nearby Iceland, possibly from Greenland, 400 miles distant."
Surtsey now has a salt-water lagoon and rainfall has formed a small fresh-water lake in the cone of the partially-dormant volcano.
The Icelandic Place Name committee named the volcano's vent Surtur and the island itself Surtsey (Isle of Surtur). The suffix -ey is Icelandic for island. Icelandic mythology has it that Surtur was a giant who brought destructive fire from the south and fought against Frey, god of fertility.