Bouvetøya: the most remote island on earth

Bouvet Island (Bouvetøya ), an uninhabited and small Norwegian island in the South Atlantic Ocean, is the most remote spot on earth. The nearest land is over 1600 km away to the south, which itself has no fixed population, and is inhabited only with a small Nordic crew to run the all-year research station.

Bouvetøya lies some 1600 km south west of the Cape of Good Hope, on the southern extremity of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, at 54°26'S 3°24'E. Bouvet island is volcanic, the center of the island containing the ice-filled crater of an inactive volcano. Most of Bouvetøya is blanketed in a thick ice cap of at least 100 m in thickness , and 93% of its 49 km² area are covered by glaciers which block the south and east coasts.

It has no ports or harbours, only offshore anchorages, and is therefore difficult to approach. Wave action has created a very steep coast. Cliffs as high as 500 m surround the island. Small beaches composed of black volcanic sand or shingle are found on the eastern side of the island. The easiest way to access it is with a helicopter from a ship. So you see, the ideal hiding place ...

A temporary five-man station was established in 1978, but was destroyed by strong winds. Only an automatic weather station continues to operate, now and then visited by a maintenance crew.

Penguins and seals have breeding colonies on Bouvet beaches. Large seabird colonies also frequent the island.

NASA astronaut Charles "Chuck" Brady visited the island in 2000. The best photos of the expedition are here.

Other links:

http://www.infoplease.com/spot/desertisland11.html

• Bouvet is the setting of the 2004 movie Alien vs. Predator, in which it is referred to using its Norwegian name "Bouvetøya".
• Movie facts : http://time.absoluteavp.com/time0.html

The Global Seed Vault : well worth its cost

Situated on a remote island in Norway's Svalbard archipelago, the Global Seed Vault sits at the end of a 120-meter tunnel cut into rock with a natural temperature of -6°C, into Arctic permafrost.

The Svalbard Global Seed Vault will protect unique varieties of food staples such as eggplant, lettuce, barley, potato, maize, rice, wheat, cowpea and sorghum.

It is able to withstand wars, pestilence and attack by missiles, not to mention rising tides and other by-products of global warming.

Every nation has been invited by the Norwegian government (who financed the project) to place its seeds in this vault. It's the last line of defence against extinction for all the crops we have, and the most long-lasting, most futuristic and most positive contribution to humanity being made by the international community today.

Each country's seeds will be stored inside heat-sealed, four-ply aluminium envelopes originally designed for use by the military, placed inside sealed boxes, stored on metal shelving and secured inside an air-locked chamber. Each packet will hold one representative crop sample, and about 500 seeds depending on their size. They will remain the property of the country that donated them.

1 - Entrance

2 - steel reinforced tunnel

3 - offices

4 - grain vaults

Steel-reinforced doors, multiple-locked chambers and a video-monitoring system supervised from Sweden – plus, presumably, the polar bears – will further protect the vault. Even in the event of equipment failure, the mountain’s permafrost will ensure temperatures inside the vault never rise above -3.5C – perfectly adequate for seed conservation for some years.

Other crops are on the danger list as being susceptible to disease. 'The ones that have the biggest challenges are bananas, wheat and potatoes. Potatoes are perennially on the list.'

An arctic volcano in a remote island: - The Beerenberg, in Jan Mayen

An active volcano, Beerenberg (2277 m), dominates the volcanic island of Jan Mayen. It is the northernmost active volcano on land in the world.

Jan Mayen is a small (380 Km2) barren island with some moss and grass situated at 71°N , 8°30'W, in the north atlantic ocean, 950km west of Norway, 600 km north of Iceland. It is the most remote place of the northern hemisphere, well north of the Arctic Circle. The upper part of mount Beerenberg is covered by an ice cap, which sends glacial tongues in all directions. The lower landscape is dominated by black lava stone and green moss. The island is a part of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge.

Glacier falling from the crater into the sea.

Jan Mayen became Norwegian in 1922. Only since 1921 has it become inhabitated - a total crew of 18 runs the navigation station, the meteorological station and maintains the infrastructure - buildings, airstrip, power station. The island and the stations are under the rule of Norway.

The main crater - you can see the start of the falling glacier.

Beerenberg has erupted six times between 1732 and 1985. All of these eruptions produced lava flows and scoria cones. The most recent eruptions were in 1970 (the strongest), 1973 and 1985.

The 1970 eruption was the only one witnessed in modern times. It was large, erupting at least 0.5 km³ of basalt from a 6 km long fissure that ran from sea-level to an elevation of 1000 m. There were at least five active craters.

Total evacuation in the event of future eruptions is a real problem, because the island is commonly ice-bound, preventing easy evacuation by ship, and frequent storms and fog obviate evacuation by aircraft at any given time. There are no ports or harbors, only offshore anchorages and a 1.5 km landing strip of gravel for crew transport planes, usually one of the Royal Norwegian Air force's C130 Hercules planes. The planes also bring supply and mail, but there are only 8 flights each year.

Olonkinbyen (Olonkin City ) is the permanent settlement that houses the staff that operates the weather and radio stations. Besides full-equiped offices and labs, it has an unexpected comfort, with several relaxing rooms - library, bar, media room, gym and sauna, large living and dining rooms, decorated corridors, a museum and a swimming pool !

Though unhabitated until the XXth century, and than no candidate to Ultima Thule in classic terms, it's a quest-destination and a place of mistery and isolation; could have been Thule...

Maps:

The arctic Tern - the ultimate Thulean bird

"An animal to represent the planet", an excellent candidate as symbolic animal of the world, the arctic tern (Sterna paradisaea) really travels and lives a lot.

Arctic terns migrate from the Arctic to the Antarctic and back every year, in a 19 000 Km journey each way! This is the longest regular migration by any known animal.

As they enjoy two summers per year, they are believed to spend more time in the sunshine than any other animal. Their feeding and nesting grounds as well as their migratory paths keep them far enough away from people. Arctic Terns usually migrate far offshore. Consequently, they are rarely seen from land outside the breeding season.

It wouldn’t be difficult to create a global myth around such a rarely seen animal.

Arctic terns are long-lived birds, with many reaching twenty years of age; some may reach thirty !

Arctic Terns are medium-sized birds. They are mainly grey and white plumaged, with a dark red beak, legs and feet, white forehead, a black nape and crown (streaked white), and white cheeks.

The arctic stern has a bad temper: it is one of the most aggressive birds, fiercely defensive of its nest and young. It will attack even humans and large predators, usually striking the top or back of the head.

One example of this bird's remarkable long-distance flying abilities involves an arctic tern ringed on the Farne Islands, Northumberland, UK in summer 1982, which reached Melbourne, Australia in October 1982, a sea journey of over 22 000 km in just three months from fledging.

Migration route of the arctic stern

Thanks Carl Skou

for following "Ultima Thule".

Here you have where I live, in Porto :

And a tipcal view of my town:

One of my favourite spots: