Photo Credit: Brian Gratwicke/ Wikimedia Commons
Fact 7: Iceland Has a “New” Island Scientists Still Study
Most countries are not in the habit of casually acquiring new land, but Iceland is not most countries. Between 1963 and 1967, a volcanic eruption created the island of Surtsey off Iceland’s south coast. UNESCO describes it as a new island formed by volcanic eruptions and notes that it was legally protected from its birth. That alone would make it memorable. But the truly remarkable part is what happened next: humans largely stepped back. Because Surtsey was protected from normal human interference, scientists gained an extraordinary chance to observe how plant and animal life began to colonize brand-new land. It is not every day a country ends up with a natural experiment rising out of the sea.
Surtsey has produced long-term information on the colonization process of new land by plant and animal life, precisely because it has remained protected. In a world where so much nature is studied after it has already been heavily shaped by people, Surtsey offers something rare: a chance to watch ecological succession unfold with minimal interference. It also feels like the perfect final note for Iceland.
Of course, the country with volcanic eruptions, tectonic rifts, ancient parliament, geothermal pools, unusual naming traditions, and no standing army would also have a scientifically priceless island that did not even exist before the 1960s. Iceland does not merely stand apart from other countries. It keeps finding new ways to prove it.
