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Murchisonfjord, Kinnvika

Murchisonfjord is located on the west side of Nordaustland.

General

Murchisonfjord is a rather small fjord on the western side of Nordaustland, in the northern Hinlopen Strait. It is about 15 km long and 10 km wide and named after Sir Roderick Murchison, an English 19th century geographer. With its many small islands, its barren, desert-like landscape, a geology that includes some beautiful colours and structures, some of Svalbard’s oldest fossils and last but not least some unique historical sites including the Swedish-Finnish station of Kinnvika which goes back to 1957, it is a very interesting area.

Polar desert landscape on Kvalrosshalvøya in Murchisonfjord.

Murchisonfjord Panorama

There are several pages within this website dedicated to specific sites in Murchisonfjord, with more background information and photos including 360 degree panoramic images.

Geology

Weakly metamorphic sediments, mostly dolomites and quarzite, which belong to the basement (Hecla Hoek), with steeply dipping strata. The same rocks as on Lågøya further north or further south on the northern side of Wahlenbergfjord. In places, you can find some of Spitsbergen’s oldest fossils that are visible with the naked eye: stromatolites, or colonies of calcareous algae, dating back to the Neoproterozoic. In other words, the age of these fossils is not far from one billion years. Stromatolites made an important contribution to the existence of free oxygen in the atmosphere, something we should be grateful for 🙂

Stromatolite.

In certain areas in inner Murchisonfjord such as Florabukta and Snaddvika, bedrock is quarzitic rather than carbonatic. Mineralic “impurities” such as iron oxide make for intense reddish colouration in some areas.

Red quarzitic sandstone south of Snaddvika in inner Murchisonfjord.

All of these rocks, both of carbonatic and quarzitic composition, are part of the same geological context. They are between 600 and 700 million years old (upper proterozoic).

Landscape

Barren, wide-open polar desert. The surroundings of Murchisonfjord are largely ice-free. The larger number of small islands in Murchisonfjord are a peculiar landscape feature. These are made up of hard, steeply dipping layers, and the NNW-SSE trend is quite obvious on maps and charts.

Small rocky hills on Kvalrosshalvøya.

Well-developed series of elevated beach ridges and ice wedge polygons can be found in many places in flat areas.

Ice wedges on Krossøya.

Flora and fauna

Very barren. The only vegetation worth mentioning is near a bird colony at Floraberget.

Svalbard poppy in Kinnvika.

Sightings of walruses are regular …

Walruses in Murchisonfjord.

… and the same goes for polar bears.

Polar bear in Kinnvika.

History

Russing hunters (Pomors) used the area for hunting into the 19th century and left some visible traces. The most prominent ones are two orthodox crosses which are still standing on islands – the only original ones of their kind in the whole archipelago which are still standing.

Pomor cross on Nordre Russeøya.

20th century trappers have visited Murchisonfjord only on relatively few occasions, but the modern history of professional polar bear hunting went on for as long as it was legal. Caribou is a trappers’ hut bit west of Kinnvika, on the coast of Hinlopen Strait. The name seems locally unusual, seemingly indicating north American influence. It was built in 1972 by the Norwegians Fredrik Rubach and Odd Ivar Ruud, father and son, who wintered there subsequently to hunt polar bears. Polar bears were completely protected in Spitsbergen in 1973, and this was accordingly the last wintering of hunters on Nordaustland. Unfortunately, the hut is deteriorating, as you can see on the indoor panorama here, which was taken in 2013.

Kinnvika

Kinnvika is certainly the most famous place in Murchisonfjord. Situated in a well sheltered bay on the northern side of the fjord, it was a research station built during the International Geophysical Year 1957-59 as a Swedish-Finnish effort. The station was quite substantial, with no less than 10 buildings spread over some area in case one of them would catch fire. Of course they did not forget to build a sauna! After all, they came from Finland and Sweden. It is certainly the northernmost sauna in Svalbard.

The old research station in Kinnvika.

An old amphibian vehicle is still there and some other stuff, some of it dating back to the Geophysical Year 1957-59, others is younger: in 2003-04, Marie Tieche and Hauke Trinks wintered in Kinnvika, and the station was put into use again, following the original intention of the place being a research area, during the latest International Polar Year of 2007-08, when scientists from 10 countries investigated the area in detail. The ice cap Vestfonna was an important focus of their work.