SURTSEY

((Icelandic: Surts Island), ) volcanic island off the southern coast of Iceland, southwest of the Vestmann Islands (Vestmannaeyjar). It emerged from the Atlantic Ocean in a fiery eruption in November 1963. During the next three and one-half years its volcanic core built up an island 1 square mile (2.5 square km) in area, with elevations more than 560 feet (171 m) above sea level and 950 feet (290 m) above the ocean floor. At the height of the eruptions, a column of steam nearly 4 miles (6 km) high rained ash over a large area, including the Vestmann Islands. After Surtsey cooled, numerous geologists, biologists, and ecologists visited it, and it is now the site of a long-term biological research program being conducted by Icelandic and American scientists. The island was named in 1965 by the government of Iceland for Sutur, the fire god of Icelandic mythology.