Visiting Surtsey

We have been time traveling back to 1963 and 1964, after our presence was requested by Dr. Sigurdur Thorarinsson to study the new (1963 new) volcanic island of Surtsey. First, he asked what we think would happen to the island since it was originally made of ash. We conducted wave tests on rocky, sandy, and "ashy" coasts and found that an ashy coast would erode quickly.

After relaying this news to him, we received another letter, asking for help deciding which types of scientist should visit the island at first. There was only room in the helicopter for three scientists in addition to the pilot, so we had to make tough decisions, weighing the options carefully against our knowledge of what conditions would exist on the island at first.

We made a list of types of scientists:

Then, we wrote to Dr. Thorarinsson to explain our thinking.