Eldey () is a small, uninhabited

island An island or isle is a piece of land, distinct from a continent, completely surrounded by water. There are continental islands, which were formed by being split from a continent by plate tectonics, and oceanic islands, which have never been ...

about off the coast of the Reykjanes

Peninsula A peninsula is a landform that extends from a mainland and is only connected to land on one side. Peninsulas exist on each continent. The largest peninsula in the world is the Arabian Peninsula. Etymology The word ''peninsula'' derives , . T ...

in southwest

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

. Located west-southwest of

Reykjavík Reykjavík is the Capital city, capital and largest city in Iceland. It is located in southwestern Iceland on the southern shore of Faxaflói, the Faxaflói Bay. With a latitude of 64°08′ N, the city is List of northernmost items, the worl ...

, the island of Eldey covers an area of about , and rises to a height of . Its sheer cliffs are home to large numbers of birds, including one of the largest

northern gannet The northern gannet (''Morus bassanus'') is a seabird, the largest species of the gannet family, Sulidae. It is native to the coasts of the Atlantic Ocean, breeding in Western Europe and Northeastern North America. It is the largest seabird in t ...

colonies in the world, with around 16,000 pairs. This colony can now be watched live via two webcams that are located on top of the island.

Volcanic system

The Eldey and Geirfuglasker volcanic systems together form the long Eldey volcanic system on the Reykjanes Ridge. The erupted rocks are from the tholeiitic magma series and

picrite basalt Picrite basalt or picrobasalt is a variety of high-magnesium olivine basalt that is very rich in the mineral olivine. It is dark with yellow-green olivine phenocrysts (20-50%) and black to dark brown pyroxene, mostly augite. The olivine-rich ...

. There is not a central volcano, but rather a number of flat-topped, elongated ridges arranged in enechelon fashion. Conical-, fissure- or shield-like volcanoes are superimposed on these ridges. Eldey, and the smaller skerries of Eldeyjardrangur, Geirfugladrangur and Geirfuglasker are the tops of historic volcanoes in the system. The Mid-Atlantic Ridge becomes at the Bight transform fault near 56.5°N the Reykjanes Ridge which extends north to Iceland's Reykjanes Peninsula at 63.87°N As it approaches Iceland the ridge becomes shallower, with a thickening of the oceanic crust beneath as it approaches the mantle plume associated with the Iceland hotspot. The Reykjanes Ridge has an average spreading rate of about /year. The latest confirmed eruption of the Eldey axial volcanic ridge occurred at its northern extremity in 1926 and it may have been active in 1970. A

tephra Tephra is fragmental material produced by a Volcano, volcanic eruption regardless of composition, fragment size, or emplacement mechanism. Volcanologists also refer to airborne fragments as pyroclasts. Once clasts have fallen to the ground, ...

eruption northwest of Eldey dusted the western shore of the Reykjanes Peninsula of Iceland occurred in June 1879. Geirfuglasker erupted in 1879 and there were 3 eruptions near Eldey between 1211 and 1422. A small geothermal area is located at depth east of Eldey.

The last of the great auks

The island formerly supported the last remnant population of the flightless

great auk The great auk (''Pinguinus impennis''), also known as the penguin or garefowl, is an Extinction, extinct species of flightless bird, flightless auk, alcid that first appeared around 400,000 years ago and Bird extinction, became extinct in the ...

s, after the birds moved there from Geirfuglasker following a volcanic eruption in 1830. When the colony was discovered in 1835, almost fifty birds were counted. Museums, desiring the skins of the auk for preservation and display, quickly began collecting birds from the colony. The last pair, found incubating an egg, were killed there in June 1844, when Icelandic sailors Jón Brandsson and Sigurður Ísleifsson strangled the adults and Ketill Ketilsson accidentally cracked the last egg of the species with his boot during the struggle.

In literature

*Eldey, and the fate of the great auk, are mentioned in '' The Water-Babies, A Fairy Tale for a Land Baby'' by

Charles Kingsley Charles Kingsley (12 June 1819 – 23 January 1875) was a broad church priest of the Church of England, a university professor, social reformer, historian, novelist and poet. He is particularly associated with Christian socialism, the workin ...

. *Eldey is described in detail in '' The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History'' by Elizabeth Kolbert. *''The Great Auk'', a novel by Allan W. Eckert, c. 1963, Library of Congress Cat.#63-18215

References

External links

*
Eldey
in the Catalogue of Icelandic Volcanoes
Live webcam
{{Authority control Uninhabited islands of Iceland Stacks of Iceland Islands of Iceland Volcanic systems of Iceland