Contact
Viggó Marteinsson
Research Group Leader
viggo@matis.is
Changes in the new volcano have not been studied anywhere else in the world but on Surtsey. Matís' participation in the collaboration revolves around research into the settlement of organisms, especially microorganisms.
Matís' scientists were among a group of scientists who went on the second of two expeditions to Surtsey in the summer of 2018, and the results are now being processed, but the data will be used for various studies.
The expedition examined, among other things, how a microbial community is formed and develops in the rock far below the earth's surface at high temperatures, up to 80 degrees.
This time, scientists left Institute of Natural History, Agricultural University , Institute of Earth Sciences, Matís and ÍSOR as well as master's and doctoral students, two foreign scientists and photographers.
The Surtsey Nature Reserve was approved by the United Nations World Heritage List in 2008. Great care is taken not to disturb the Surtsey ecosystem during the research. All parties involved in the project have been given detailed instructions regarding the preparation and the conditions there to ensure a minimum of disruption on the eve of being allowed to land on Surtsey.