Spitsbergen and Prins Karl Forland, Svalbard Archipelago
Early this morning, the Svalbard Archipelago finally made its appearance to us. We headed straight for Kongsfjord, one of the main fjord systems on the western side of Spitsbergen (the largest island in the archipelago). The fog played games with us as we entered Kongsfjord, but by the time we continued into the northern branch known as Lilliehookfjord, conditions improved and we decided to go ashore for some exploring.
The ship anchored just off a small bay called Signehamn, where we found a perfect little protected beach for a landing and soon had the hikers ashore. The terrain here is very interesting, being composed of ancient metamorphic rocks, mostly schists, that have been dated to 1.8 billion years in age. The stuff we walked on was very fractured from many years of freeze/thaw action, but in addition to this phenomenon, we encountered stone runs and raised polygons of mud…both of which are also the results of freeze/thaw action.
One would almost have to characterize the region as lush, since there is an extensive carpet of mosses between the rocks, as well as lichens covering every face of the exposed rocks. It was very colorful, too, because the tiny polar willows were already in their autumn colors, thereby producing a kaleidoscope of red, yellow, brown, and gold colors in a few areas (see photo). In the distance, we could see a large kittiwake breeding site on a high cliff face, which was clearly delineated by the bright green slope beneath the nesting birds…a consequence of rich, ornithogenic soil produced by the birds. At the same time, some of us enjoyed Zodiac cruises in the bay and were able to admire the astounding geology and birdlife from the waterside.
Signehamn is significant from a historic point of view, because it was here that a minor action took place during World War II. German forces established a weather station just out of sight from the landing in 1941, but it was discovered by allied forces in 1943. A force of Norwegians attacked the half-dozen Germans stationed here and succeeded in driving them away (killing one in the process). The site was destroyed by the Norwegians, but a German U-boat picked up the five surviving Germans and then came back and sank the boat that brought the Norwegian soldiers, killing one of them in the process. We were able to examine some of the remains from the site, which today is mostly just rusting junk, including oil drums and other assorted bits and pieces.
During the afternoon, we sailed back out of Kongsfjord and then continued southward off the west coast of Spitsbergen and along the seaward side of Prins Karl Forland, a long island separated from Spitsbergen by a narrow, shallow sound. We then sailed around the southern end of Prins Karl Forland and into the sound up to a low point called Poolepynten. We could see a trapper’s cabin and a navigational aid near the shore and lots of driftwood and logs that had washed up onto the beach. And, at the actual point itself was a group of six male walruses. Most people opted to go ashore after dinner for a closer look at the walruses, all of which seemed very content to just lay quietly huddled tightly together. An additional male joined them while some of us were watching them. It seemed they retired for the night during our visit and became very still (even though the sun was still high above the horizon).
The aforementioned logs and driftwood were equally interesting, because we know that most of this material originated far across the Arctic Ocean in Siberia and drifted across the Arctic Basin and then floated southward with the East Greenland Current until being picked up by the North Atlantic Drift and brought to this position (see photo). Several of them showed damage caused by shipworms, which are only found in tropical and temperate waters. So, these particular specimens probably floated from North America northward in the Gulfstream and then continued with its offshoot current, the North Atlantic Drift, before being brought here to western Svalbard. In addition, there were many pieces of wood that obviously came from ships…perhaps even from shipwrecks long past. In this cold climate with little microbial action, the wood doesn’t deteriorate easily and there is no telling how long this impressive collection of wood has been accumulating here on this one lonely stretch of beach.
