THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN

AND

JOURNAL OF THE COAL AND IRON TRADES

Vol. CIX.	FRIDAY, MAY 14, 1915.	'No. 2837.

The Coalfields

One of the minor results of the war now being waged
in Europe has been to direct renewed attention to the
coalfields under development in Spitzbergen. Already
considerably shipments of Spitzbergen coal have been
made to Scandinavia and Denmark, and the collieries
are well adapted geographically to supply the needs of the
important fishing industries in the Northern seas. From
a geological standpoint these coalfields are especially
interesting, since they provide the only instance of
actual mining operations within the Arctic zone, being
situated at a considerably greater distance even from
the Equator than the deposits discovered by Dr. Mawson
in the Antarctic regions. For the following particulars
we are indebted mainly to a comprehensive memoir by
M. R. Berr, which appeared recently in the Annales des
Mines (vol. v., 3, p. 125).

The existence of coal deposits in Spitzbergen has
been known for quite a long time, but the inherent
difficulties attending their exploitation have, until,
comparatively recently, prevented them from being
developed on any considerable scale.

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Fig. 1.—General Map of Spitzbergen,
showing its Relation to the Continent
of Europe.

Political and Geographical Situation.

The archipelago of Spitzbergen occupies an isolated
position in the middle of the Arctic seas, the island,
together with Francis Joseph Land, marking the northern
limit of a huge plateau embracing the whole of Northern
Europe and extending on the eastern side as far as
Nova Zembla (fig. 1). Within these borders are enor-
mously deep depressions, the coasts of Spitzbergen, as
do those of Norway, Iceland and Greenland, rising sheer
from the inlets that indent them. The discovery in
Spitzbergen of cretaceous basalts supports the theory
that the existence of these isolated patches of high
ground has been due to volcanic action following upon
huge vertical movements of the earth’s crust. Thanks

to the Gulf Stream, which washes its western shore, the
climate of Spitzbergen is the most temperate of all the
Polar regions; the thermometer in the depth of winter
rarely falls to the mercury freezing point, and frequently,
in summer, a temperature may be obtained in the frozen
sea in 80 degs. lat. higher than 5 degs.

The archipelago lies between 76*5 degs. and 80'5 degs.
N., and comprises three, large islands—West Spitz-
/bergen, States Land or Edge Island, and North-East
Land (see fig. 2). The first of these is the largest and
best known, the Ice Fjord, which has frequently been
visited by scientific missions, offering good harbours,
free from ice during more than two months in the year.
Until 1905 this island was nothing more than a happy
hunting ground for the geologist, but in that year an
Anglo-Norwegian expedition conducted operations
preliminary to the active working of the coal. Shortly
afterwards a similar undertaking was started on behalf
of American and Norwegian interests.	z

These expeditions raised questions of proprietorship,
which have not as yet been entirely solved. Sweden,

of Spitzbergen.

Norway, and Russia can each advance solid claims to
the possession of Spitzbergen. The earliest investiga-
tions were conducted, by Swedes, but the development
of the island was first carried out by Norwegians, and a
wireless station was established on Green Harbour by
Norway in 1911. On the other hand, considerable
colonies of Russians have established themselves.
Conflicts between the workmen of the various nationali-
ties led to a convention being signed in 1912, and,
theoretically, the island is now administered by a tri-
partite commission representing the three nations.

Geology.

The chief authority on the geology of Spitzbergen is
Dr. Nathorst, of Upsala, who published a memoir in
1910 summarising all the knowledge acquired by various

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Tertiary

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tats

Trias

Devonian

Archean

irtileilhau

Faults

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Hekla-Hook
formation

Diabase
(Spitzbergen)
Basalt (King
Charles Land)

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Chafes.

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Fig. 2.—Geological Map of Spitzbergen.

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After Nathorst, 1910.

investigators up to that date. Since then M. de Geer,
of Stockholm, has prepared several geological charts of
Central and Northern Spitzbergen. The map (fig. 2)
shows that the island is a region of strong contrasts.
The great mountain chain which extends the length of
the western coast belongs to the Hekla-Hook forma-
tion, which is to-day regarded as being of Silurian
origin. In contrast to this range are the Archean
mountains which occupy the north-western promontory
of the island; these, instead of being rygged and seamed
by glaciers, are low and smooth, bearing the evidence
in their desolation of glacial denudation. , Another
Archean range borders the western shore of Wijde Bay,
one of/the peaks attaining a height of 1,730 m. Between
these great mountain chains are two separate areas, in
which the measures are regular and horizontal. There
are, in the first place, the devonian and carboniferous
areas situated to the north of the Ice Fjord, and, in the
second place, the district verging upon the great, fjord^

and extending from the western mountain range
to the coast. This zone is that which possesses chief
interest, and has been more closely investigated, being
more easily accessible and containing the chief coal
deposits. It comprises flat mesozoic and tertiary beds,
consisting of loose sandstones and shales, and is like a
plateau, divided into a number of bastions by rivers.

Vegetation in the interior is extraordinarily abundant,
considering the latitude. At the opening of the tertiary
.age, the climate must have been temperate, almost warm,
and the ancient forests wdiich covered the low and
humid earth have given birth to large deposits of coal,
the seams being extremely rich in plant fossils. The
margin of these beds on the coast is composed of vast-
columns of basalt.

The formations in Spitzbergen have been distinguished
by Nathorst as follow:—1, archean; 2, Hekla Hook;
3, devonian ; 4, carboniferous; 5, permian; 6, trias.; 7,



(Scale 1/3,300,000 approx.)

jurassic and neocomian; .6, diabase; 9, tertiary ; 10,
quaternary. Of these, the devonian* has been studied
by Nathorst in the fossil-bearing beds of Klaas Billen
Bay and Dickson Bay, and his observations have been
confirmed by the researches of the Isachsen mission.
These measures are generally flat, being folded only in
the neighbourhood of the great faults. Their relation
to the carboniferous deposits which overlie them is of
particular interest on the western side of Klaas Billen
Bay. The Mount Pyramid region is now the scene
of active development (fig. 3), and a section through
the mountains between Skans Bay and Mimer Bay
shows that the culm and upper carboniferous deposits
lie directly upon the primitive or archean rocks, and
that the devonian sediment was removed before the
deposition of these horizons. .

The first seams are encountered ‘in the culm deposits,
which, on the west of Klaas Billen Bay, are surrounded
by cyathophyllum limestone, but going further west