How The End survived

SLN geography@Iceland 2003 Photo-enquiry 4

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4 Why did the house 'The End' survive and the one called ‘Lava’ didn't?

	4.1 What happened here?
	4.2 The house is called ‘The End’ and it is now at the end of the street where it wasn't before – why might that be?
	4.3 This is Heimaey in the Westmann Islands off the South Coast of Iceland.
	4.4 The town of 4000 people is in the shadow of the volcano.
	4.5 The eruption of 1973 thankfully didn't kill anyone but it came mighty close.
	4.6 It is only a six minute flight from the mainland of Iceland. You can see the islands in the distance.
	4.7 It is a five seater plane plus the pilot.
	4.8 The Westmann Islands are volcanic islands that have erupted from the sea.
	4.9 Many people make their living from fishing -15% 0f Iceland's fish catch.
	4.10 The sea is very stormy around the rocky islands.
	4.11 The harbour is vital to the economy of the islands.
	4.12 Fish processing factories sit around the harbour to smoke, dry and freeze fish.
	4.13 The Westmann Islands are home to millions of seabirds and .....
	4.14 ..... one elephant!
	4.15 The steep cliffs mean islanders use ropes to capture seabirds to eat, but they have 8 million puffins and there are strict rules about how many and which birds they can take.
	4.16 The elephant is made of columnar basalt which is an ancient lava flow.
	4.17 The islands are almost all lava. Here you can see the 5000 year old lava on top of older lava still.
	4.18 The islands are on a constructive plate margin, where the North American Plate and the Eurasian Plate are moving apart. This line of islands marks a line of volcanic activity.
	4.19 Surtsey the newest Westmann Island, is a new volcanic island following an eruption in November 1963.
	4.20 The dark rock is lava that erupted from Heimaey in 1973 and threatened the town.
	4.21 Some people lost their homes. This house was called Lava and was buried under hot burning lava and it was on the end of the street.
	4.22 The lava engulfed 360 houses and nearly blocked out the harbour.
	4.23 These stones mark where the houses were and how far down below lava they are. This one is 17 m below. The lava is up to 22 metres thick.
	4.24 This is how close the lava came to some houses. ‘The End’ is the house to the left and now is at the end of the street where is wasn’t before. Superstition or coincidence, it makes a great story.
	4.25 The eruption created 2.6 km2 of new land.
	4.26 The new land was very rocky and stony - the mayor declared in the 1980s that anyone who could create a garden could own the new land. Many people failed.
	4.27 This is what 2 elderly people have achieved in 15 years where many others failed.
	4.28 The land is still hot enough to bake bread after 30 years.
	4.28 You would be waiting 3 days!
	4.29 The rim of the volcano smells sulphurous but on a lovely day what a sight looking back to the mainland of Iceland and Myrdalsjokull [the ice cap].
	4.30 The new land is eroding at 8m per year so the lighthouse is on wheels.
	The question remains when will it erupt again and will the people of the Westmann Islands be so lucky again.