Bulbjerg is a

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

cliff in northern

Jutland Jutland ( da, Jylland ; german: Jütland ; ang, Ēota land ), known anciently as the Cimbric or Cimbrian Peninsula ( la, Cimbricus Chersonesus; da, den Kimbriske Halvø, links=no or ; german: Kimbrische Halbinsel, links=no), is a peninsula of ...

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

, facing

Skagerrak The Skagerrak (, , ) is a strait running between the Jutland peninsula of Denmark, the southeast coast of Norway and the west coast of Sweden, connecting the North Sea and the Kattegat sea area through the Danish Straits to the Baltic Sea. The ...

. It is the only rock formation in Jutland, the only

bird cliff Bird cliffs, or nesting cliffs, are steep cliffs with numerous small shelves which serve as nesting locations for bird colonies. Bird cliffs are found on islands in the North Atlantic and Arctic, such as the Faroe Islands, Iceland, the Svalbard a ...

on the Danish mainland, and as such the only breeding place of the

black-legged kittiwake The black-legged kittiwake (''Rissa tridactyla'') is a seabird species in the gull family Laridae. This species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his landmark 1758 10th edition of ''Systema Naturae'' as ''Larus tridactylus''. The English ...

on the Danish mainland. Bulbjerg lies in the traditional district of

Hanherred Han Herred or Hanherrederne is a traditional district in northern Jutland, Denmark. It lies between Thy in the west and Vendsyssel in the east. To the north it faces the North Sea (Skagerrak) and to the south the Limfjord. There are only two towns ...

, close to Thy.

History

For centuries,

chalk Chalk is a soft, white, porous, sedimentary carbonate rock. It is a form of limestone composed of the mineral calcite and originally formed deep under the sea by the compression of microscopic plankton that had settled to the sea floor. Chalk ...

blocks were sawed out of the cliff and used as a building material in the surrounding area or burnt to

quicklime Calcium oxide (CaO), commonly known as quicklime or burnt lime, is a widely used chemical compound. It is a white, caustic, alkaline, crystalline solid at room temperature. The broadly used term "''lime''" connotes calcium-containing inorganic ma ...

. Former visitors have carved their names in the limestone, including a 19th-century king whose name can still be seen. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the German occupation force used Bulbjerg as a lookout point and built a small concrete fortification which still exists.

Skarreklit

Skarreklit was a rock column in the sea about 100 metres off Bulbjerg. It fell down in a storm in 1978, but its base can be seen at

low tide Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the Moon (and to a much lesser extent, the Sun) and are also caused by the Earth and Moon orbiting one another. Tide tables can ...

and calm sea. The base of the column was

flint Flint, occasionally flintstone, is a sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as the variety of chert that occurs in chalk or marly limestone. Flint was widely used historically to make stone tools and start fir ...

, allowing the column to withstand the forces of the waves, long after the sea had eroded the softer limestone around it. According to a legend, the fall of the column would mean the end of the world. Skarreklit is presumably named after the

cormorant Phalacrocoracidae is a family of approximately 40 species of aquatic birds commonly known as cormorants and shags. Several different classifications of the family have been proposed, but in 2021 the IOC adopted a consensus taxonomy of seven ge ...

(Danish: ''skarv'',

Jutlandic Jutlandic, or Jutish (Danish: ''jysk''; ), is the western variety of Danish, spoken on the peninsula of Jutland in Denmark. Generally, Jutlandic can be divided into two different dialects: general or Northern Jutlandic ( ; further divided into ...

dialect: ''skar''); ''klit'' means 'dune', in Jutlandic also 'cliff'.

Gallery

Image:Bulbjerg-Skarreklit JTH.jpg, Skarreklit (to the right) at the end of the 19th century Image:Bulbjerg rider.jpg, Kittiwakes at Bulbjerg File:Bulberg.jpg, Bulbjerg in 2013 File:Jammerbucht.jpg, View of Jammerbugt with Bulbjerg on right horizon

References

{{coord, 57, 9, 30, N, 9, 1, 29, E, region:DK_type:landmark, display=title Cliffs of Denmark