Kvitøya

Template: Infobox Island / Maintenance / image missing

Kvitøya ( German: " White Island "), is an island of belonging to Norway, Svalbard Archipelago in the Barents Sea north-east of the island of North Country. It is the easternmost island of Spitsbergen, and thus the eastern part of Norway. Only 62 km further east is the Victoria Island, belonging to the Russian archipelago of Franz Josef Land. Kvitøya has an area of almost 700 km ² and is uninhabited.

Climate

As on the entire Svalbard archipelago, the climate of the high latitude is accordingly hocharktisch. Bring the West Spitsbergen Current (the last northern tip of the Gulf Stream ) along the western coast of Svalbard for arctic conditions still relatively high temperatures and lots of precipitation, the cold Ostspitzbergenstrom Kvitøya with its cold water and ice climatically firm grip has. Even in summer the islands are due to the ice conditions can not be achieved always.

Geology

The east side of the island consists mostly of the hard rock gabbro. The western Andréeneset consists of a colorful mixture of reddish and dark migmatite gneiss, with many dykes. It probably dates from the Mesoproterozoikum and is therefore more than a billion years old.

Landscape

Kvitøya is almost completely covered by the 700 km ² large ice cap Kvitøyjøkulen. Officially, there are only three ice-free locations. The largest of these is Andréeneset in the West at 5 km ² rocky - gravelly plains.

Flora and Fauna

Kvitøya is largely a hostile frozen wasteland. The vegetation on the few ice-free areas consists mainly of mosses and lichens. On the island there are terns colonies, polar bears stay there from time to time.

History

It is shrouded in legends about a mysterious " Giles - land" or " land Gillis ", first sighted in 1707 by Dutchman Cornelius Giles. Giles country appeared for many decades in all sizes, shapes and positions on various maps and was entered for the first time only in the late 19th century. Giles this country was known (or Kvitøya, as it is called today). Due to the discovery of there finally failed expedition of Salomon August Andrée, who drove with the balloon Örnen 1897 by Virgohamna on Danskøya out along with two companions, northwards Involuntarily landed three approximately 300 km north of Andréeneset on the ice, then turned to walk south and arrived on October 5, 1897 by Kvitøya, where they died after a few weeks. Only in 1930, the camp was discovered by the Norwegian Bratvaag expedition headed by Gunnar Horn. Today on Andréeneset is a concrete block as a monument to Salomon August Andrée, Knut Fraenkel and Nils Strindberg.

The Northeast Svalbard Nature Reserve

Kvitøya is located entirely in the Northeast Svalbard Nature Reserve. It is there any technical intervention ( construction of buildings, operation of mines, etc. ), any leave of waste, and prohibited any interference or introduction of animals and plants. In addition, the land must not be traveled by motorized vehicles. The Sysselmann can also completely block areas for visitors.