Beerenberg is a
stratovolcano dominating the northeastern end of the Norwegian island of
Jan Mayen
Jan Mayen () is a Norwegian volcanic island in the Arctic Ocean with no permanent population. It is long (southwest-northeast) and in area, partly covered by glaciers (an area of around the Beerenberg volcano). It has two parts: larger ...
. It is high and is the world's northernmost
subaerial active
volcano
A volcano is a rupture in the Crust (geology), crust of a Planet#Planetary-mass objects, planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and volcanic gas, gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface.
On Ear ...
and the
only volcano in
Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...
. The volcano is topped by a mostly ice-filled
crater about wide,
with numerous peaks along its rim including the highest summit, Haakon VII Toppen, on its western side.
Name
Its name is
Dutch
Dutch commonly refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands
* Dutch people ()
* Dutch language ()
Dutch may also refer to:
Places
* Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States
* Pennsylvania Dutch Country
People E ...
for "Bear Mountain", and comes from the
polar bears seen there by Dutch whalers in the early 17th century.
Description
The upper slopes of the volcano are largely ice-covered, with several major glaciers including five which reach the sea. The longest of the glaciers is the
Weyprecht Glacier, which flows from the summit crater via a breach through the northwestern portion of the crater rim, and extends about down to the sea.
Beerenberg is composed primarily of
basalt
Basalt (; ) is an aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the surface of a rocky planet or moon. More than 90 ...
ic
lava
Lava is molten or partially molten rock (magma) that has been expelled from the interior of a terrestrial planet (such as Earth) or a moon onto its surface. Lava may be erupted at a volcano or through a fracture in the crust, on land or un ...
flows with minor amounts of
tephra
Tephra is fragmental material produced by a volcanic eruption regardless of composition, fragment size, or emplacement mechanism.
Volcanologists also refer to airborne fragments as pyroclasts. Once clasts have fallen to the ground, they re ...
. Numerous
cinder cones have been formed along slope
fissure
A fissure is a long, narrow crack opening along the surface of Earth. The term is derived from the Latin word , which means 'cleft' or 'crack'. Fissures emerge in Earth's crust, on ice sheets and glaciers, and on volcanoes.
Ground fissure
...
s.
History
There was an Austrian attempt to reach the summit of Beerenberg, presumably whilst the Austrians had a weather station on the island in 1882-83, but the attempt failed due to poor weather. The first recorded ascent was in the summer of 1921, by an expedition led by Dr. P.L. Mercanton, joined by J.M. Wordie, T.C. Lethbridge and three others. The British expedition was taken to the island by the Norwegian meteorological service, which was establishing a wireless station on the island.
Its most recent eruptions took place in 1970
and 1985, both of which were flank eruptions from fissures on the northeast side of the mountain. Other eruptions with historical records occurred in 1732, 1818, and 1851.
See also
*
List of volcanoes in Norway
*
List of mountains in Norway by prominence
This is a list of the mountains of Norway, ordered by their topographic prominence. On the island Jan Mayen, a Norwegian administered island northeast of Iceland, the volcano Beerenberg has a height and prominence , and on the island Spitsbergen i ...
References
External links
New Jan Mayen Homepage including general info, photos, blog, and webcam
Old Jan Mayen Homepage, including general info, photos, blog, and webcam
Beerenberg Expedition 2008 PicturesPictures and a map of Beerenberg1970 Beerenberg volcanic eruption captured on film
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Landforms of Jan Mayen
Volcanoes of Norway
Mountains of Norway
Holocene stratovolcanoes
Ridge volcanoes
Active volcanoes
Volcanoes of the Arctic Ocean
Extreme points of Earth
