Lögberg-Heimskringla - 18.10.1996, Blaðsíða 6

6 • Lögberg-Heimskringla • Föstudagur 18, október 1996
Soccer Players
I C E L A N D I C
N E W S
Continued from page 1
the geothermal hot spots under-
ground in Iceland. Thirty-one
seismographs have been placed all
around the country for this purpose in
areas where none were operated
before. Seismograms already in place
will also be used in the study, in all
53 observation points will be
operated. Gillian Foulger, chairman of
the “Hot Spot Project,” said in an
interview with Morgunblaðið that
besides the observations, the project’s
results will be compared with
seismographic measurements in
Norway and Scotland. The hot areas
under Iceland are among the most
significant forces in land formation
and plate movements. Its effects are
strongly felt many hunderd km. out
from the coast of Iceland and its
source lies many hundred kms. in the
the earth’s mantle. The method used
in mapping the hot area is to measure
its effects on earthquake waves carried
here from earthquakes world-wide
and then compare the results to
various measurements. Gillian said
that few places in the world were as
desirable for geological studies as
Iceland, and nowhere was it as easy to
study the hot spots. Seizmological
measurements and mapping of the hot
spots will make iteasier for geologists
to understand quakes and volcanic
activity in Iceland. The knowledge
gained from this study will be mainly
two-fold: on the one hand to increase
knowledge about eruptions and on the
other to increase understanding of
geothermal areas for utilization of
energy.
MESSUBOÐ
Fyrsta Lúterska
Kirkja
Pastor Ingthor I. Isfeld
1030 a.m. The Service
First Lutheran Church
580 Victor St., Winnipeg
R3G 1R2 Ph. 772-7444
Determined To
Go Back
Fjóla and Petrína
The Canadians of Icelandic
descent, Petrína and Fjóla
Jónsdaughters, or Ena Cordes
and Viola Francey, had thought
favourably of the country of their
ancestry and wanted to visit there. The
dream became a reality when Petrína
won a trip to Iceland. Petrína lives in
Minneapolis and her sister in Winni-
peg. Petrína is a member of the Hekla
Club in Minneapolis where she won
a ten day trip for two from Baltimore
to Keflavík. They first stayed in
Reykjavík and then rented a car and
drove north to where their ancestral
roots lie. Their father Jón Ámason was
born in Glæsibær in Skagafjord in
1889. He moved West across the
ocean in 1906. Their mother, Ólöf
Stefánsdóttir, was bom in Winnipeg
but traced her family to Vopnafjord.
As children the sisters lived with their
family on a farm some distance from
Winnipeg where Icelandic was always
spoken in the home. They said it was
an isolated environment where they
heard mostly Icelandic during the first
years. They were taught to read and
write at home, but have mostly lost
the language, although they can get
by with simple things. The sisters’ trip
was like a fairy tale. Time went too
fast with many things to look at. They
had wanted to see much more and are
determined to come back. Many
things are curious in Iceland such as
when a horse planted himself on the
road and would not move. They also
found it humorous when a taxi driver
spoke to his colleague about them in
Iceland and did not know that they
understood. Many other interesting
incidents happened and the whole trip
was exeedingly enjoyable.
Minnist
v-y' ■ •
ÍERFÐASKRÁMYÐAR
The sculpture “Soccerplayers”
made by Sigurjón Ólafsson,
sculptor, which disappeared
from a show in 1938 and was not
found again until 1991 will be sold at
an auction at Bruun Rasmussen, in
Copenhagen. The “Soccerplayers” by
Ólafsson, made from metal in plaster,
is 101 cm. high. It was displayed at a
so-called Spanish Show of the art
show “Den Frie” in 1938 when it
disappeared and did not surface again
until 1991. It has been shown since
but has not been offered for sale in
the last half century. It is considered
to be among Ólafsson’s most im-
portant works and is valued at
$80,000. Other works on the auction
are: a painting of Þingvellir by
Ásgrímur Jónsson, valued at $4,000
and two paintings by Gunnlaugur
Blöndal; one of which is Kiki de
Montparnasse, painted in Paris in
1930 and valued at $25,000. □
yböETRY C^ORNER
IMAGININGICELAND
By Hon. Parker W. Borg
U.S. Ambassador to Iceland
Imagine floating on your back in a pool of warm
water with snow flakes falling gently on
your face;
Imagine riding a sure-footed horse across a rocky
plateau with vistas stretching forever in all
directions;
Imagine walking on sheer cliffs, hundreds of feet
above the crashing surf, watching thousands
of seabirds nesting, feeding and just plain
soaring;
Imagine fields of lava, hardened today as they
flowed from the earth a thousand years ago;
valleys of basalt columns, each eroded
differendy by time and the rushing of water;
spectacular waterfalls, each more unusual
than the last: rhyolite mountains of multiple
hues blotted throughout the summer with
patches of white unmelted snow: glaciers,
which from a distance look rounded and
gentle and up close rugged and threatening;
fuming vents of hot water, some leaping
hundreds of feet into the air and others
gushing steadily from the earth or bubbling
with plumes of steam;
Imagine a holiday of touring, camping, hiking,
skiing, and snow catting among such a
spectacle of different sites;
Imagine cool weather all summer, and evenings
where sunsets blend into sunrises;
Imagine an island the size of Virginia with a total
population the size of the city of Norfolk.