Contact
Viggó Marteinsson
Research Group Leader
viggo@matis.is
The SUSTAIN project, a huge international project, is currently underway, the purpose of which is to drill two holes in the island and utilize the data obtained for various and complex studies. This is the largest study ever conducted on Surtsey and is a multinational group of scientists involved. Matís is a participant in the project, led by dr. Viggó Þ. Marteinsson, but the project as such is under the direction of dr. Magnús Tuma Guðmundsson, professor of geophysics at the University of Iceland and dr. Marie Jackson, Associate Professor at the University of Utah in the United States.
The researchers involved in the study are from Iceland, the United States, Germany, Norway, Sweden, the United Kingdom, Italy, New Zealand and Australia. Leading researchers in the project on behalf of Iceland are in addition to Magnús Tuma, Andri Stefánsson professor of geochemistry at the University of Iceland, Viggó Þór Marteinsson microbiologist from Matís, Tobias B. Weisenberger geochemist from Ísor and Kristján Jónasson geologist from the Icelandic Institute of Natural History. More specialists and technicians from these institutions will participate, but also experienced drilling geologists from Verkís and the Geotechnical Institute will be involved in the project, as well as a group of graduate students and new doctors.
A great deal of effort is put into not disturbing the ecosystem of Surtsey with this extensive research. All parties involved in the project and working on the island have received detailed instructions regarding the preparation and the conditions there to ensure a minimum of disruption. In addition, the Coast Guard has provided a helicopter that loads people and equipment back and forth so that intrusion will be kept to an absolute minimum in this sensitive and beautiful place.