In this addition to the Scientists in the Field series, readers join scientists as they tackle something unusual in the world of ecosystems: colonization. Not a colonization by people, but one of cells, seeds, spores, and other life forms that blow in, fly in, float in, and struggle to survive on the beautiful but harsh new island of Surtsey.

Surtsey: Evolution of Life on a Volcanic Island focuses on the origin of life in the island of Surtsey. The book first offers information on the Surtsey Research Society, conservation measures, and scientists that comprise the Surtsey research team. The text then focuses on the submarine eruptions off the coasts of Iceland, the flow of lava, and the formation and disappearance of islets. The book also describes the landscape that came about after the eruption. The tephra cones of the Surtur I and II craters, lava, coastal plains, and thermal areas are discussed. The text also underscores the ecological aspects of the eruption. The Icelandic biota and ecological studies on the island are discussed. The text also traces the origin of life in the island, including the dispersal of seeds by birds and “Mermaids purses.“ The text also underscores the origin of marine algae and marine fauna on the island. The book then emphasizes the presence of bacteria, molds, lichens, mosses, terrestrial animals, birds, and vascular plants in the island. The text also examines the outer Westman Islands. Topographical features, method of research, plant communities, and vegetation of the smaller islands are described. The book also notes the vegetation of Heimaey and the effects of insular eruptions on the southern coast of Iceland. The text is a good source of reference for readers wanting to study volcanic eruptions.

Early on a November morning in 1963, off the coast of Iceland, a volcanic eruption was taking place deep under the ocean. On the surface, the crew of a nearby fishing boat were noticing some strange things: a sulfurous aroma in the air and the ocean swirling around the boat. Then, just before dawn, the volcanic eruption that had been increasing in intensity under the sea broke the surface and spewed lava miles in the air, just four miles from their fishing boat. By the next morning, something even more incredible had occurred. The cinder cone of the volcano had broken the surface of the water; a new island had been born. It was the newest place on Earth. The story of the birth of this island is powerfully told by Newbery Honor-winning author Kathryn Lasky. Christopher G. Knight’s dramatic photographs take the reader to the newest place on Earth – Surtsey island.

“At 11:35 p.m., as Radio Armero played cheerful music, a towering wave of mud and rocks bulldozed through the village, roaring like a squadron of fighter jets.” Twenty-three thousand people died in the 1985 eruption of Colombia’s Nevado del Ruiz. Today, more than one billion people worldwide live in volcanic danger zones. In this riveting nonfiction book—filled with spectacular photographs and sidebars—Rusch reveals the perilous, adrenaline-fueled, life-saving work of an international volcano crisis team (VDAP) and the sleeping giants they study, from Colombia to the Philippines, from Chile to Indonesia.

This book presents the natural, environmental and scenic richness of the world’s coastal and marine areas classified by UNESCO as “Natural World Heritage Sites”. Representing well-preserved areas of exceptional significance to the planet and to humankind, they include a total of 49 marine sites, formed by reefs, atolls and gulfs, and 35 coastal sites in all oceans and all continents with exception of Antarctica. They are being protected and preserved from most degrading uses for future generations as an important legacy from the past. Exploring their richness, this book analyzes and explains these sites in a clear, understandable, scientific way, and is of interest to all who work in or care about the geosciences, environmental sciences and biosciences.