Blomstrandhalvøya: Bratliekollen

Brat­lie­kol­len is 370 met­res high, which makes it the second-hig­hest “moun­tain” on Blom­strand­hal­vøya in Kongsfjord. The height may not be impres­si­ve, but the 360 degree pan­ora­ma view of the sur­roun­ding Kongsfjord cer­tain­ly is. Also Ny-Åle­sund is visi­ble from here, Spitsbergen’s nor­t­herm­most sett­le­ment. The land­scape bears strong cha­rac­ter of for­mer gla­cia­ti­on such as many lar­ge erra­tic bould­ers and roun­ded hills, clear traces of the ice age rather than recent gla­cia­ti­on. The hig­her parts of Blom­strand­hal­vøya have well-deve­lo­ped soli­fluc­tion are­as (can be pret­ty mud­dy!) and frost-pat­ter­ned ground.

Geo­lo­gi­cal­ly, Blom­strand­hal­vøya con­sists lar­ge­ly of pre-cam­bri­an marb­le, which was exploi­ted in the ear­ly 20th cen­tu­ry on a tri­al basis by the Nor­t­hern Explo­ra­ti­on Com­pa­ny in their marb­le mine Marb­le Island, which is today most­ly known as Ny Lon­don. Next to Marb­le Island, Blom­strand­hal­vøya is, at least among­st geo­lo­gists, known for the grot­tos and caves.

Pano 1 – Blom­strand­hal­vøya: Brat­lie­kol­len

Brat­lie­kol­len was named after Jens Kris­ti­an Mei­nich Brat­lie (1856-1939), a Nor­we­gi­an poli­ti­ci­an. “Kol­len” means hill.

The hig­hest ele­va­ti­on on Blom­strand­hal­vøya is Irgens­fel­let.

Pano 2 – Blom­strand­hal­vøya: Brat­lie­kol­len

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