Newtontoppen (Newton Peak) is the largest and highest mountain in
Svalbard, at 1,713 m. Its peak is the highest point on
Svalbard.
It is located at the north east corner on the island of
Spitsbergen in the
Chydeniusfjella range. The nearest settlement is the formerly
Soviet
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...
coal mining settlement,
Pyramiden
Pyramiden (; rus, Пирами́да, r=Piramída, p=pʲɪrɐˈmʲidə; literally 'The Pyramid') is an abandoned Soviet coal mining settlement on the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard which has become a tourist destination. Founded by Sweden in ...
.The mountain is mostly made of
Silurian granite
Granite () is a coarse-grained ( phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies under ...
. The mountain was first ascended by
Helge Backlund on 4 August 1900.
Etymology
The mountain was named after
Isaac Newton
Sir Isaac Newton (25 December 1642 – 20 March 1726/27) was an English mathematician, physicist, astronomer, alchemist, theologian, and author (described in his time as a " natural philosopher"), widely recognised as one of the grea ...
in 1898. The surrounding mountains were named after other famous
astronomer
An astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who focuses their studies on a specific question or field outside the scope of Earth. They observe astronomical objects such as stars, planets, moons, comets and galaxies – in either ...
s and
mathematician
A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems.
Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, structure, space, models, and change.
History
On ...
s the same year.
See also
*
List of European ultra prominent peaks
References
Mountains of Spitsbergen
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