:09:12
Along this great system
of mid-ocean ridges
:09:14
suddenly volcanoes are born
:09:16
and ashy islands,
black and burning
:09:19
are thrust up out of the sea.
:09:22
We are witnessing the birth
of the island of Surtsey
:09:25
near lceland.
:09:33
For months,
this tiny ashen island
:09:35
waged a battle for survival
against the sea.
:09:39
lts survival depended
:09:39
on the surfacing of lava
from deep within the rift-
:09:43
lava which would armor Surtsey
:09:45
against the waves
of the north Atlantic.
:09:48
Surtsey had become
the newest battleground
:09:50
in Earth's oldest war-
:09:52
ln cessant forces of erosion,
relentless powers of creation.
:10:30
Surtsey survives.
:10:33
Today,
this small volcanic island
:10:36
so recently created from
the fire of Earth's interior
:10:39
has earned a place
on the maps of the Earth.
:10:43
Like Surtsey,
all of lceland was created
:10:46
in fiery volcanic emergence
:10:49
for here, the colossal
mid-Atlantic eidge has surfaced
:10:53
to form the greatest
volcanic island on Earth.
:10:57
Upon this extraordinary land
of ice and fire
:10:59
of glaciers stained
with the ashes