Sorgfjorden, Spitsbergen
Travelers on the Endeavour awoke to a picture-perfect day with bright skies and calm winds as the ship entered Sorgfjorden on the northeastern tip of Spitsbergen. As we entered the narrow fjord we spotted an old cabin, built by a Swedish scientific expedition in the 1890’s, on the exposed spit of land east of the waterway. The Endeavour anchored as we ate breakfast and prepared for our first hike ashore. After breakfast, we assembled into groups for long, medium, and short hikes on the flat land below a steep cliff of ancient (Precambrian) metamorphic rocks (schist) to the west of the anchorage. Mountains just south of us are underlain by some of the oldest rocks of Svalbard: the Hecla Hoek rocks that are at least 2.5 billion years old. However, the rocks beneath our feet, metamorphosed sandstone, and dolomite, were likely no more than a billion years old! The largely broken up rocks, now in raised beach terraces, were partly obscured by beautiful patches of moss, lichen, purple saxifrage, moss campion, and spider plant. The flats provided excellent views of reindeer spread out beyond the lowermost beach terrace. We returned to the Endeavour for a choice of light lunch on the pool deck or the traditional buffet in the dining room. After lunch we enjoyed the sunny weather as the ship turned south into Hinlopen Stretet in order to attempt passage through the thick ice that had been seen the night before. However, our path was blocked by the ice and we turned back to the north. Between 3 and 6 pm Harold Stowell and Tom Smith presented illustrated lectures on Svalbard geology and Polar bears, respectively. During the early evening, we enjoyed a fine dinner as the Endeavour turned south toward Krossfjorden on the west coast of Spitsbergen.
Travelers on the Endeavour awoke to a picture-perfect day with bright skies and calm winds as the ship entered Sorgfjorden on the northeastern tip of Spitsbergen. As we entered the narrow fjord we spotted an old cabin, built by a Swedish scientific expedition in the 1890’s, on the exposed spit of land east of the waterway. The Endeavour anchored as we ate breakfast and prepared for our first hike ashore. After breakfast, we assembled into groups for long, medium, and short hikes on the flat land below a steep cliff of ancient (Precambrian) metamorphic rocks (schist) to the west of the anchorage. Mountains just south of us are underlain by some of the oldest rocks of Svalbard: the Hecla Hoek rocks that are at least 2.5 billion years old. However, the rocks beneath our feet, metamorphosed sandstone, and dolomite, were likely no more than a billion years old! The largely broken up rocks, now in raised beach terraces, were partly obscured by beautiful patches of moss, lichen, purple saxifrage, moss campion, and spider plant. The flats provided excellent views of reindeer spread out beyond the lowermost beach terrace. We returned to the Endeavour for a choice of light lunch on the pool deck or the traditional buffet in the dining room. After lunch we enjoyed the sunny weather as the ship turned south into Hinlopen Stretet in order to attempt passage through the thick ice that had been seen the night before. However, our path was blocked by the ice and we turned back to the north. Between 3 and 6 pm Harold Stowell and Tom Smith presented illustrated lectures on Svalbard geology and Polar bears, respectively. During the early evening, we enjoyed a fine dinner as the Endeavour turned south toward Krossfjorden on the west coast of Spitsbergen.
