Andréetangen is a headland at the eastern side of

Tjuvfjorden Tjuvfjorden () is a 45 km long and up to 30 km wide fjord separating Edgeøya’s two southern promontories, Kvalpynten (Whale Point) and Svarthuken (old name: Negro Point). The fjord was originally named ''Deicrowe's Sound'' by the En ...

on the southwestern coast of

Edgeøya Edgeøya (), anglicised as Edge Island, is a Norway, Norwegian island located in southeast of the Svalbard archipelago; with an area of , it is the third-largest island in this archipelago. An Arctic island, it forms part of the Søraust-Svalbard ...

Svalbard Svalbard ( , ), previously known as Spitsbergen or Spitzbergen, is a Norway, Norwegian archipelago that lies at the convergence of the Arctic Ocean with the Atlantic Ocean. North of continental Europe, mainland Europe, it lies about midway be ...

. The headland is named after German geographer Karl Andrée. Off the headland are the two islands Zieglerøya and

Delitschøya Delitschøya is an island off Andréetangen at the eastern side of Tjuvfjorden, at Edgeøya, Svalbard Svalbard ( , ), previously known as Spitsbergen or Spitzbergen, is a Norway, Norwegian archipelago that lies at the convergence of the Arc ...

. Andréetangen lies within the

Søraust-Svalbard Nature Reserve Søraust-Svalbard Nature Reserve () is located in the south-eastern part of the Svalbard archipelago in Norway. The nature reserve covers all of Edgeøya and Barentsøya in addition to a number of smaller islands, including Thousand Islands (Sval ...

, and its low-lying tundra coastline is rich in biodiversity. It is known for its

walrus The walrus (''Odobenus rosmarus'') is a large pinniped marine mammal with discontinuous distribution about the North Pole in the Arctic Ocean and subarctic seas of the Northern Hemisphere. It is the only extant species in the family Odobeni ...

es which bask on the beach, and as a breeding ground for

Arctic skua The parasitic jaeger (North America) or Arctic skua (Europe) (''Stercorarius parasiticus''), is a seabird in the skua family Stercorariidae. It is a migratory species breeding in Northern Scandinavia, Scotland, Iceland, Greenland, Northern Canada ...

Purple sandpiper The purple sandpiper (''Calidris maritima'') is a small shorebird in the sandpiper family Scolopacidae. This is a hardy sandpiper that breeds in the arctic and subarctic regions of Eurasia and North America and winters further south on the Atlan ...

Arctic tern The Arctic tern (''Sterna paradisaea'') is a tern in the family Laridae. This bird has a circumpolar breeding distribution covering the Arctic and sub-Arctic regions of Europe (as far south as Brittany), Asia, and North America (as far south ...

and

snow bunting The snow bunting (''Plectrophenax nivalis'') is a passerine bird in the family Calcariidae. It is an Arctic specialist, with a circumpolar Arctic breeding range throughout the northern hemisphere. There are small isolated populations on a few ...

. A hut was built at Andréetangen by the polar bear trapper Henry Rudi in 1946.

Location and geology

Andréetangen is situated on the eastern side of

on the southwest coast of

(Edge Island) in southeastern Svalbard. There is a narrow sound between the headland and its nearest island which is shallow and has strong currents. Edgeøya and Andréetangen are part of the Caledonian nappe system formed during the

Caledonian orogeny The Caledonian orogeny was a mountain-building cycle recorded in the northern parts of the British Isles, the Scandinavian Caledonides, Svalbard, eastern Greenland and parts of north-central Europe. The Caledonian orogeny encompasses events tha ...

(c. 490–390 Ma), involving thrust stacking of older terrains over a

Precambrian The Precambrian ( ; or pre-Cambrian, sometimes abbreviated pC, or Cryptozoic) is the earliest part of Earth's history, set before the current Phanerozoic Eon. The Precambrian is so named because it preceded the Cambrian, the first period of t ...

basement.

Biodiversity

Andréetangen lies within the

, and its low-lying tundra coastline is rich in biodiversity. The habitat is known for large walrus haul-outs, and they can often be seen basking on the beach. Ringed seal ('' Phoca hispida'') are found in the area and are intimidated by the walrus population.

and

breed in the area, and to the north is a breeding ground for

king eider The king eider (pronounced ) (''Somateria spectabilis'') is a large Merginae, sea duck that breeds along Northern Hemisphere Arctic coasts of northeast Europe, North America and Palearctic, Asia. The birds spend most of the year in coastal marine ...

red-throated diver The red-throated loon (North America) or red-throated diver (Britain and Ireland) (''Gavia stellata'') is a migratory aquatic bird found in the northern hemisphere. The most widely distributed member of the loon or diver family, it breeds prim ...

, grey phalarope and

long-tailed duck The long-tailed duck (''Clangula hyemalis'') or coween, is a medium-sized sea duck that breeds in the tundra and taiga regions of the arctic and winters along the northern coastlines of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. It is the only member of ...

. Plant species such as turf saxifrage, common scurvy weed and wood rush are found here.

Hut

The old trainer's hut was built in 1946 by the polar bear trapper Henry Rudi, and Thor Larsen later added a small laboratory at the hut, which has since been removed. Larsen named the site "Permafrost City". The entrance roof was notably damaged in August 2014.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Andreetangen Headlands of Svalbard Edgeøya