Upphav Føroya i orðum, myndum og á korti. Færøernes oprindelse i ord, billeder og på kort. The origin of the Faeroe Islands in text, pictures and on maps

This revised edition of the text to the geological map 1: 50,000 of the Faeroes is based on the 1969 edition.

The project of making large-scale survey maps of the Faeroes was planned and had, in a small way, started before the Second World War. At that time the work was based in Copenhagen, with one or two summer months of field work, which was often carried out under difficult conditions.

In 1940, when the Faeroes were occupied by British troops, all connection with Denmark was severed. There was no further mapping of the islands until after the end of the war, in 1945. The real impetus came when, in 1951, The Geological Survey of Denmark (Danmarks Geologiske Undersøgelse-DG U) established a station in the Faeroes. This greatly facilitated the organization of the work.

This was probably the first time that a plateau basalt area had been mapped on such a scale, 1: 50,000, and there was no previous experience to go by.

At first an extensive reconnaissance was carried out. From this it was decided to start the actual mapping in the lowest part of the series of strata, namely on Suouroy, where the coalbearing sequence provided a reliable correlation horizon. This horizon was also obvious on Vagar.

The next aim was to trace and fix the position of other easily recognizable correlation horizons throughout the whole area. As a result of a great deal of surveying, a continuous profile (a schematic or ideal profile) of the entire series of strata was built up. Many individual profiles were surveyed and by using the marker horizons it was possible to correlate these individual profiles with the ideal profile. In this way the entire series of strata could be divided into separate series, each representing a stage in the volcanism which created the plateau.

More than 20 years have passed since the geological map and text were published in 1969. As there are only a few copies still available of the combined text and maps, it was decided that the time was ripe to re-issue the maps in 1: 50,000 and furnish them with a shorter, well illustrated text, more suited for general use.

In this edition there is a short account of the geology of the islands, which is based on the symbols on the maps, but does not go into precise detail. As far as correlation horizons (marker horizons), profiles and dykes are concerned, the reader is referred to the table in the 1969 Danish edition, if further information is required. This new edition also contains the description of a route where the traveller can observe all the important aspects of the geological structure of the islands.

For their willing assistance, thanks are due to Asa Nolsøe Dam for typing the manuscript, Sheila Arnskov for translating the text to English, Martin Heinesen, J. H. W. Poulsen and Ulf Zachariasen for reading the manuscript and the proofs. Thanks are due to the Føroya Landsstyri for economic support.