The Arctic coastal scenery of Svalbard that we saw from the ship and zodiac was absolutely stunning, consisting of soaring mountains, u-shaped valleys, secret fjords, glistening glaciers, the ice cliffs of mighty polar caps and sculptured icebergs. It's a surreal world of rugged rock and ice that really captures the imagination and allows the soul to soar. The observation deck of The Greg Mortimer was the perfect place to take in the grand vistas while our zodiac expeditions provided a way to see things up close and personal.
Coastal mountains and raised beaches
I discovered when I did my research on glaciers that many of the mountains and raised areas along the Arctic coast are caused by something called "isostatic lift". Ice is heavy, and when ice caps cover a large area as they did in the Arctic during the last ice age, the weight of the ice actually depresses the surface of the earth. The earth, after all, is a molten ball with a relatively thin crust supporting the continents. When the ice melted, the relief of that pressure allowed the crust to rebound upwards to form the mountains and parallel raised beaches that are a common feature along the Arctic coast. Of course, not all mountains in the Arctic are caused this way. Others are caused by tectonic plates colliding and crumpling upwards.
Ice caps
On the 5th day of our expedition, we explored the ice cliffs of Bråsvellbreen which are so impressive, they feature in the opening credits of The Frozen Planet. It is where the massive ice cap of Austfonnameets, the third largest ice cap in the world, meets the sea. An ice cap is a vast dome-shaped glacier mass flowing in all directions (from its centre) that covers a wide area.
We were blessed with a beautiful sunny day to explore the ice cliffs by zodiac. As we peered around the corner of the ice shelf, nature reminded us of its power as thousands of litres of water poured into the ocean from a series of spectacular waterfalls created by the ice melt above. It was an absolutely sublime experience. There is video of it below.
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| Stunning waterfalls cascaded from the cliffs of ice |
Glaciers
We saw so many amazing glaciers that some passengers admitted to feeling a little "glaciered out" by the end of the expedition. The zodiacs allowed us to get really close to the glacial fronts where the glacier meets the sea and we witnessed many impressive ice falls into the water. So hard to capture on camera though!
Icebergs
Icebergs are born when large chunks of ice break off from the fronts of a glacier where the glacier meets the ocean. It is a process called calving which is a term I love. We saw many beautiful, sculptured icebergs - veritable works of art - and were able to get very close to them on the zodiacs.
