Storfjorden
Encyclopedia
Storfjorden is the body of water separating Spitsbergen
in the west from Barentsøya
and Edgeøya
to the east. Its southern limits are Kikutodden in Sørkapp Land
east to Håøya, Tiholmane
, Brækmoholmane
, and Menkeøyane
in Tusenøyane
and northeast to Negerpynten—the southeastern promontory of Edgeøya. Its limits on its eastern side are Sundneset on the northern side of Freemansundet
south to Palibinramten on the northwest coast of Edgeøya. The northern part is called Ginevrabotnen, which lies between Olav V Land
and Barentsøya.
Storfjorden was historically known as Wybe Jans Water, named after the Friesland whaler Wybe Jansz van Stavoren. The fjord was first labelled as such in 1620.
Storfjorden was the epicenter of a great earthquake
20 February 2008 UCT.
Norway had one of its greatest earthquakes in history on the 21st of February 2008. On the Richter scale
it was measured at 6.2.
Spitsbergen
Spitsbergen is the largest and only permanently populated island of the Svalbard archipelago in Norway. Constituting the western-most bulk of the archipelago, it borders the Arctic Ocean, the Norwegian Sea and the Greenland Sea...
in the west from Barentsøya
Barentsøya
Barents Island is one of the smaller islands in the Svalbard archipelago, lying between Edge Island and Spitsbergen. Barents Island has no permanent human inhabitants. Named for the Dutch explorer Willem Barents , it is a part of Norway.An Arctic island, around 43 per cent its area of is glaciated...
and Edgeøya
Edgeøya
Edgeøya, occasionally anglicised as Edge Island, is an uninhabited Norwegian island in southeast of the Svalbard archipelago; it is the third largest island in this archipelago. An Arctic island, it forms part of the South East Svalbard Nature Reserve, home to polar bears and reindeer. Its eastern...
to the east. Its southern limits are Kikutodden in Sørkapp Land
Sørkapp Land
Sørkapp Land is the land area south of the fjord Hornsund, at the southern part of Spitsbergen, Svalbard. The glaciers Hornbreen and Hambergbreen divide Sørkapp Land from the Torell Land.Sørkapp Land is included in the Sør-Spitsbergen National Park....
east to Håøya, Tiholmane
Tiholmane
Tiholmane is a group of ten small islands that form part of Tusenøyane, an archipelago south of Edgeøya. The largest of the islands are Lurøya, Kalvøya, Langåra and Rugla. The group also includes the smaller Sperra, Spunset, Bommen, Proppen, Rullesteinøya and Røysholmen.-References:* Norwegian...
, Brækmoholmane
Brækmoholmane
Brækmoholmane is an island group composed of three islands, Store Brækmoholmen, Trønderen and Alkekongen. They form part of Tusenøyane, an archipelago south of Edgeøya. The islands are named after the Norwegian sailor and fisherman Sivert Brækmo , who visited Svalbard regularly between 1876 and...
, and Menkeøyane
Menkeøyane
Menkeøyane is a small island group south of Halvmåneøya, an island off the southeast coast of Edgeøya. The group includes Havella, Alka, Gassen, Teisten, Islomen and Blåmåken. They comprise part of Tusenøyane. The islands are named after the German cartographer and historical geographer Heinrich...
in Tusenøyane
Tusenøyane
Tusenøyane is a group of small islands south of Edgeøya. They form part of the Svalbard archipelago. The group consists of over forty islands and islets, including Brotskjer, Kulstadholmane, Utsira, Tufsen, Kong Ludvigøyane, Bölscheøya, Hornøya, Tiholmane, Meinickeøyane, Sletteøya, Schareholmane,...
and northeast to Negerpynten—the southeastern promontory of Edgeøya. Its limits on its eastern side are Sundneset on the northern side of Freemansundet
Freemansundet
Freemansundet is the sound separating Barentsøya to the north from Edgeøya. It is named after Alderman Ralph Freeman, who was involved in the English whaling trade in the early 17th century...
south to Palibinramten on the northwest coast of Edgeøya. The northern part is called Ginevrabotnen, which lies between Olav V Land
Olav V Land
Olav V Land is the largest glacier of Spitsbergen Island, Svalbard. It covers about 4150 km².The only larger ice cap in the Svalbard Archipelago is Austfonna in Nordaustlandet with 8492 km².-References:* http://www.ssb.no/aarbok/kart/i.html...
and Barentsøya.
Storfjorden was historically known as Wybe Jans Water, named after the Friesland whaler Wybe Jansz van Stavoren. The fjord was first labelled as such in 1620.
Storfjorden was the epicenter of a great earthquake
Earthquake
An earthquake is the result of a sudden release of energy in the Earth's crust that creates seismic waves. The seismicity, seismism or seismic activity of an area refers to the frequency, type and size of earthquakes experienced over a period of time...
20 February 2008 UCT.
Norway had one of its greatest earthquakes in history on the 21st of February 2008. On the Richter scale
Richter magnitude scale
The expression Richter magnitude scale refers to a number of ways to assign a single number to quantify the energy contained in an earthquake....
it was measured at 6.2.