Introduction

On 14 November 1964, a new volcanic island rose out of the sea, about 30 km south of Iceland. Its complex volcanic evolution, with major changes in eruptive mechanisms and constant erosion by the waves (which continuously threatened to destroy the entire island) came to an end in June 1967. The island was called Surtsey by Icelandic volcanologists in reference to the mythical fire giant Surtur. The development of the island Surtsey has been well-documented (376), often under harsh conditions. The nature, however, of the physical processes that take place when water and magma meet below the water surface as well as in the interface between water and land were not of major interest to scientists in the 1960s.