Jan Mayen is 53 km long and is dominated by Beerenberg which rises 2277 meters directly from from the ocean. This photo shows the south end of Jan Mayen. 18 people live at Jan Mayen. I was working there 6 months for the Norwegian Metereological Institute together with 3 others. Nobody is permitted to stay at Jan Mayen for more than one year at a time, because of its isolation.
Mail drops are rare and made by plane.
For a long time scientists doubted the volcanic observations from the 18th and19th centuries, until a big eruption added 3 square kilometers to the island in 1970. During these weeks the sea water along the island was heated from its normal temperature around zero to about 30 degrees Celcius. A smaller eruption occured in the central crater in 1985. These days the only activity is small earthquakes and steam, mostly on the northern side of Beerenberg. In the central crater there is vapor now and then.