SPITSBERGEN (Norwegian SVALBARD), an Arctic archi pelago between Greenland and Novaya Zemlya in 76° 25' to 8o° 50' N. and 1 o° 20' to 35° E., has a total area of 25,00o sq.m. and comprises West Spitsbergen (15,20o sq.m.) North-East Land (about 6,000 sq.m.), Edge island (2,500 sq.m.), Barents island (58o sq.m.), Prince Charles Foreland, the Wiche islands, Hope island and many smaller islands, including Bear island in about
3o' N. 19° E. The archipelago was officially taken possession of by Norway in 1925.
The chief island is in the main a much dissected plateau with many deep fjords penetrating far inland. Small plains are found in the north and west. The sharp peaks that gave Spits bergen its name rise to 4,96o ft. in Horn Sund Tind in the south, 3,450 ft. in Mt. Monaco on Prince Charles Foreland and 4,77o ft. in Mt. Eidsvoll in the north-west. In the middle and east the mountains are flat-topped and seldom over 2,000 ft., but Mt. Newton (5,445 ft.) in New Friesland is the loftiest peak in Spits bergen. Rocks skirt many stretches of the open coasts but with accurate charting a number of safe harbours have been found. Glaciers fill the valleys except in the southern interior where they have receded. They generally reach the sea, of ten along broad fronts, but give rise to no large icebergs. Many are in a state of decrepitude, but a few seem to be advancing. An ice covering over New Friesland is the nearest approach to an ice sheet in West Spitsbergen. Barents and Edge islands have glaciers only on the east. The Wiche islands have no large glaciers, but North East Land and Giles (Gillis) Land are each covered with a dome of ice that almost envelops the island. Prince Charles Foreland has numerous glaciers. Bear Island with an area of 73 sq.m. rises to 1,630 f t. in Mt. Misery. The northern part is a plain at an elevation of about 15o feet. There are no glaciers. Harbours are small and poor. Hope island lies 125 m. east of South Cape, Spitsbergen, is 20 m. long and not more than one mile wide. It rises to 1,200 feet. There is no harbour.
The principal features of the geology are known. Most formations from early Palaeozoic, and perhaps Archaean, to recent occur. The oldest rocks appear chiefly on the west and north, including Prince Charles Fore land and North-East Land. They are the Hecla Hook series of Cambrian and Ordovician dolomites, limestones, shales and quartzites which form the Caledonian folds and overthrusts of the west. The folds can be traced as far east as the west of North-East Land. Granite and gneiss formerly believed to be Archaean probably belong to the same formation and were in volved in the Caledonian foldings. Some of these crystalline rocks, however, may prove to be pre-Cambrian. Outside the area of these old rocks Spitsbergen is mainly a plateau of relatively un disturbed strata lying unconformably on a platform of pre Devonian crystalline rocks. In the north-west there are Devonian rocks. These are unconformably overlain by lower Carboniferous or Culm sandstones and shales with some coal. Middle Carbonifer ous is rare and the Culm is generally succeeded by upper Carbonif erous limestones, Permo-Carboniferous cherts, and Permian sand stones and shales. Next come Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous sandstones, limestones and shales. In the Cretaceous beds there is coal. Unconformably there follow Tertiary sandstones and shales with several coal seams. Tertiary folding is obvious in the west against the Hecla Hook beds in places and in the east, but in central Spitsbergen is noticeable only in gentle undulations. Heavy faulting occurred in Tertiary times. Intrusions of dolerites and basalt were probably of Cretaceous (Neocomian) date. An extinct volcano and several hot springs (temp. 82° F) in Bock bay are Quaternary. The strand flat is well developed at 3o-6o ft. and post-glacial raised beaches are marked. Glacial and post glacial debris on low ground generally mask the solid rock and loose screes form fans on the lower slopes. Bear island is built of Hecla Hook, Devonian and Carboniferous beds. The two latter series contain some coal.