Jökull - 01.01.2012, Page 14

S. Steinþórsson
1967 he published an overview book in English cov-
ering the entire eruption. He also took the occasion to
write about former submarine eruptions off the coasts
of Iceland.
A minor lesson taken from the 1947–1948 Hekla
eruption had been that the next one was not to be ex-
pected for a century, around 2045. But to everybody’s
surprise Hekla ignored that prediction with a small
eruption in 1970, and following that in 1980, 1991,
and 2000. Again Sigurður was quick to publish, a
book the same year and a scientific article in 1972.
In the 1960s, and especially after 1970 the number
of earth scientists in Iceland increased dramatically
and Sigurður suggested in an interview that moni-
toring erupting volcanoes might be better left to the
young and eager. That notwithstanding he actively
followed the eruption in Heimaey 1973 and was first
author of an article which appeared in Nature about a
month after the beginning of the eruption. The Krafla
Fires 1974–1985 prompted him to write The post-
glacial history of the Mývatn area (1979), a subject
which he had begun studying in the 1950s; with others
he also wrote about a tiny tephra layer created by an
eruption through a geothermal drill hole. A descrip-
tion of the Hekla eruption 1980–1981, the last one he
studied, appeared posthumously in 1983. Thus the
first eruption and the last Sigurður Þórarinsson wit-
nessed in his life were in Hekla, Iceland’s most noto-
rious volcano, whose eruption history he himself had
unraveled. But strangely enough he never witnessed
an eruption in Grímsvötn, Iceland’s most active vol-
cano, which had called him home to Iceland in 1934
and whose mysteries and history he did most to ex-
plain.
Iceland’s best known geologist
Sigurður Þórarinsson’s main fields of study were
glaciology, geomorphology, and volcanology, espe-
cially tephrochronology, the branch of geological sci-
ence that he pioneered. Onwards from his student
days, however, he was a prolific writer about many
things, geological and otherwise. His list of arti-
cles includes reviews of foreign books about Iceland
and of modern literature in Iceland and Scandinavia;
also several articles on the history of science and the
history of Iceland (in 1961 he was awarded Hon-
orary Doctoral Degree in History at the University
of Iceland). His writings about nature conservation
around 1950 led to him being entrusted with the writ-
ing of Iceland’s first nature-conservation law, enacted
in 1956. He also was instrumental in having two re-
gions, the first in Iceland, placed under state protec-
tion due to their geological importance: the Skaftafell
area in SE-Iceland and the region around the Jökulsá
gorge in N-Iceland.
Sigurður, in addition to his many readable arti-
cles and books, became well known internationally as
a tireless and popular speaker at conferences and in
universities. After the Hekla eruption 1947–1948 he
traveled wide and far showing a film covering events
from beginning to end; he also became quite a suc-
cessful photographer and adept in using lantern slides
in his talks. In his own country, of course, he was
highly regarded as a scientist during his lifetime but,
in his own estimation, still better known for his popu-
lar songs. Be that as it may, but now at his 100th an-
niversary year, his pioneering work in tephrochronol-
ogy has borne fruits that probably are far beyond his
wildest dreams. And his popular songs still remain
popular.
ÁGRIP
Sigurður Þórarinsson var bóndasonur, alinn upp í
Vopnafirði. Þangað höfðu föðurforeldrar hans flúið
sandfallið frá Öskjugosinu 1875 ofan af Jökuldal með
föður hans nýfæddan. Með því að Sigurður reyndist
bráðþroska til bókar var hann sendur í skóla og lauk
stúdentsprófi frá Menntaskólanum á Akureyri vorið
1931. Hann var námshestur mikill og jafnvígur á flest-
ar námsgreinar; meðal annars taldist það til tíðinda
að sem „dúx“ flutti hann kveðjuræðu árgangsins á lat-
ínu blaðlaust. Náttúrufræðikennarinn Pálmi Hannes-
son átti sennilega þátt í því að Sigurður kaus að leggja
jarðfræði fyrir sig og hélt til Kaupmannahafnar haust-
ið 1931. Þar var hann þó aðeins einn vetur og hélt
áfram jarðfræðinámi sínu í Stokkhólmi, með grasa-
fræði og landfræði sem aukagreinar. Á þeim tíma voru
við háskólann merkir kennarar sem beint og óbeint
áttu eftir að hafa mikil áhrif á vísindaferil Sigurð-
ar, einkum Lennart von Post frumkvöðull í frjókorna-
greiningu og Hans W:son Ahlmann landmótunar- og
12 JÖKULL No. 62, 2012