Augustabukta - Vibebukta

Gene­ral: The most­ly ice-free coas­tal stretch in the sou­thwes­tern part of Nord­aus­t­land. The coast is quite expo­sed and landings can be impos­si­ble in case of wind and seas from the sou­thwest, espe­ci­al­ly in Vibe­buk­ta. The ter­rain allows for more or less end­less hikes to the see­mingly near-by edge of the lar­ge ice caps.

Snow patch sculp­tu­red by wind and sun in polar desert near Tor­ell­ne­set, Nord­aus­t­land.

Geo­lo­gy: Light-colou­red Per­mi­an car­bo­na­te rocks, part­ly very fos­si­li­fe­rous and in places top­ped by remains of dio­ri­te intru­si­ons.

Recom­men­ded book for fur­ther, well-digesta­ble (real­ly!) info about geo­lo­gy and land­scape of Sval­bard.

Land­scape: Wide-stret­ching coas­tal plains near sea level. It is the see­mingly com­ple­te emp­ty­ness of this polar desert plains that can be stron­gly impres­si­ve, but a more careful look will soon reve­al a ran­ge of details such as fos­sil beach rid­ges with old drift­wood and wha­le­bo­nes, frost pat­ter­ned ground and the occa­sio­nal patch of some flowers and mos­ses. Some low moun­ta­ins often form a bar­ri­er bet­ween the coas­tal plains and the huge ice caps that domi­na­te the hori­zon fur­ther inland.

Flo­ra and Fau­na: High-arc­tic and accor­din­gly very bar­ren. Vege­ta­ti­on is scar­ce and most­ly limi­t­ed to sites such as depres­si­ons, rivu­lets, frost-pat­ter­ned ground, wea­the­ring wha­le­bo­nes and depres­si­ons bet­ween old beach rid­ges.

Colourful mos­ses in a litt­le river­bed (Augus­t­abuk­ta). The red colou­ra­ti­on may be a sign for mal­nu­tri­ti­on.

Lonely reinde­er and polar bears are occa­sio­nal­ly roa­ming the vast area, and some stee­per cliffs are home to smal­ler sea­bird colo­nies. Wal­ru­ses come to sui­ta­ble bea­ches to rest.

Wal­rus hau­lout site at Tor­ell­ne­set, in sou­thwes­tern Nord­aus­t­land.

Histo­ry: The area was map­ped in the 19^th cen­tu­ry by Swe­dish explo­rers, and in 1868 visi­ted by the First Ger­man North Pole Expe­di­ti­on under Cap­tain Kol­dew­ey. On this occa­si­on, Augus­t­abuk­ta was named after Marie Loui­se Augus­ta Katha­ri­ne, the wife of emper­or Fried­rich Wil­helm I. Vibe­buk­ta was later named after Andre­as Vibe, a Nor­we­gi­an topo­grapher.

Easy crossing of a small melt­wa­ter river in Augus­t­abuk­ta.

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