Rit (Vísindafélag Íslendinga) - 01.06.1939, Blaðsíða 5

I. POSITION AND TOPOGRAPHY.
The Westmann Islands are 14 in number without
counting the smaller rocks and skerries. They lie on a
ridge running from NE to SW in the area from lat.
63° 19' N and long. 33° 5' W to lat. 63° 38' N and long.
32° 45' W.
Most of the islands are formed of tufa with streaks of
basalt and outcrops of lava here and there, which shows
that they owe their origin to volcanic outbursts before
and after the close of the glacial age. In some places
there ar,e also complete craters and half collapsed crater
walls. Helgafell in Heimaey is a typical volcano, a cone-
shaped pyramid with a deep, basin-shaped depression
in the summit. Bunki in Bjarnarey is also a regular and
cone-shaped crater with a hole like a basin in the top.
In Brandurinn the remains of a crater are visible and
the basalt plug stands up out of the sea under the south
side of the island. Bunki in Elliðaey and Klettsvík are
also the remains of craters etc. etc. In this way the ba-
salt has served as a shield for the tufa against the denu-
dation of the surf.
Heimaey is the largest of the islands and the only
one that is inhabited. It is bounded on the north by a
perpendicular chain of crags split into two parts by the
Þrælaeiði. In the eastern end there are Heimaklettur,
the highest hill in the island (283 m above sea level),
Miðklettur and Ystiklettur. In the western end are
Klif, Há and Dalfjall. Between Há and Dalfjall lies
Herjólfsdalur, bounded in the north by a high ridge but