Eggøya ("Egg Island") is a peninsula of
Jan Mayen
Jan Mayen () is a Norway, Norwegian volcanic island in the Arctic Ocean with no permanent population. It is long (southwest-northeast) and in area, partly covered by glaciers (an area of around the Beerenberg volcano). It has two parts: la ...
island of the Arctic Ocean. It is located on the southern side, in the central part of the island, east of
Sørlaguna
Sørlaguna is a lagoon on the island of Jan Mayen
Jan Mayen () is a Norway, Norwegian volcanic island in the Arctic Ocean with no permanent population. It is long (southwest-northeast) and in area, partly covered by glaciers (an area of ...
, and defines the northeastern extension of the bay
Rekvedbukta. To the west of the peninsula is the bay
Eggøybukta
Eggøybukta is a bay located on the island of Jan Mayen. It is located west of Eggøya
Eggøya ("Egg Island") is a peninsula of Jan Mayen island of the Arctic Ocean. It is located on the southern side, in the central part of the island, east o ...
, and to the east is the bay
Jamesonbukta
Jamesonbukta is a bay in the island of Jan Mayen. It is located east of Eggøya
Eggøya ("Egg Island") is a peninsula of Jan Mayen island of the Arctic Ocean. It is located on the southern side, in the central part of the island, east of Sà ...
. The highest peak at the peninsula has a height of 217
m.a.s.l. Eggøya consists of the northern part of an old
volcanic crater
A volcanic crater is an approximately circular depression in the ground caused by volcanic activity. It is typically a bowl-shaped feature containing one or more vents. During volcanic eruptions, molten magma and volcanic gases rise from an ...
, and small
hydrothermal vent
Hydrothermal vents are fissures on the seabed from which geothermally heated water discharges. They are commonly found near volcanically active places, areas where tectonic plates are moving apart at mid-ocean ridges, ocean basins, and hot ...
s are still present.
The outer part of the peninsula forms the semicircular bay of
Kraterbukta, facing south-southeast with steep slopes. To the south of the peninsula is a small islet,
Eggøykalven
Eggøykalven ("Egg Island Calf") is an islet south of the peninsula of Eggøya at the southern part of Jan Mayen
Jan Mayen () is a Norway, Norwegian volcanic island in the Arctic Ocean with no permanent population. It is long (southwest- ...
.
[
]
Name history
The name "Eggøya" indicates that the peninsula used to be an island. The oldest reference given by Orvin is Joan Blaeu
Joan Blaeu (; 23 September 1596 – 21 December 1673), also called Johannes Blaeu, was a Dutch cartographer and the official cartographer of the Dutch East India Company. Blaeu is most notable for his map published in 1648, which was the fir ...
's '' Atlas Major sive Cosmographia Blaviana'' from 1662, with the . In the 1801 publication ''Histoire des peches, des decouvertes et des etablissements des hollandais dans les mers du nord'' by Bernhard de Reste, the peninsula was called ''Terre aux æufs''. In his Jan Mayen description from 1820, William Scoresby
William Scoresby (5 October 178921 March 1857) was an English whaler, Arctic explorer, scientist and clergyman.
Early years
Scoresby was born in the village of Cropton near Pickering south-west of Whitby in Yorkshire. His father, Willia ...
used the name ''Egg Island''. Carl Vogt
August Christoph Carl Vogt (; ; 5 July 1817 – 5 May 1895) was a German scientist, philosopher, popularizer of science, and politician who emigrated to Switzerland. Vogt published a number of notable works on zoology, geology and physiology. A ...
's map ''Karte der Insel Jan Mayen'' from 1863 used the name ''Eierinsel''. In his 1878 report from an expedition to Jan Mayen, Henrik Mohn used the name forms ''Ægoen'', ''Eg-Øen'' and ''Æg-Øen''. In his article "Jan Mayen Island" from 1922, James Wordie
Sir James Mann Wordie CBE FRS FRSGS LLD (26 April 1889 – 16 January 1962) was a Scottish polar explorer and geologist. Friends knew him as Jock Wordie.
He was President of the Royal Geographical Society from 1951 to 1954. Early life an ...
used the name ''Egg Bluff Crater''.[
]
Incidents
In November 1940, during World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, the ship HNoMS ''Fridtjof Nansen'' wrecked off Eggøya, when it hit an uncharted subsea rock, which was later named Nansenflua
Nansenflua is an undersea rock in the northern part of Rekvedbukta off the southeastern coast of Jan Mayen in the Arctic Ocean. The shoal is named after the ship HNoMS ''Fridtjof Nansen'', which sank after striking the previously uncharted roc ...
.[ The crew of 66 entered the lifeboats and reached the shore during darkness, two boats to the west of Eggøya, and two to the east. The ship had been on a mission to interrupt German plans to establish a weather station on Jan Mayen. Later, when a small garrison of Norwegian troops was established with headquarters near ]Nordlaguna
Nordlaguna is a lagoon on the island of Jan Mayen. It is the second largest lake of Jan Mayen, after Sørlaguna, and is located in the central part of the island, near the bay of Stasjonsbukta. It was possibly formed by an eruption of Beerenber ...
, a guard's cottage was built on the northern slope of Eggøya.
Historical maps
Joan_Blaeu-Insula_Qvæ_Ioanne_Mayen_nomen_sortita_est.JPG, Insel ''Eyer Eylandt of Vogel klippen'' (Old Dutch
In linguistics, Old Dutch ( Modern Dutch: ') or Old Low Franconian (Modern Dutch: ') is the set of dialects that evolved from Frankish spoken in the Low Countries during the Early Middle Ages, from around the 6th Page 55: "''Uit de zesde eeu ...
) on Joan Blaeu
Joan Blaeu (; 23 September 1596 – 21 December 1673), also called Johannes Blaeu, was a Dutch cartographer and the official cartographer of the Dutch East India Company. Blaeu is most notable for his map published in 1648, which was the fir ...
's map of 1662
Jan Mayen map 1820 by William Scoresby.jpg, Scoresby's map of 1820 with ''Egg Island''
Jan_Mayen_map_by_Carl_Vogt_1863.jpg, Carl Vogt
August Christoph Carl Vogt (; ; 5 July 1817 – 5 May 1895) was a German scientist, philosopher, popularizer of science, and politician who emigrated to Switzerland. Vogt published a number of notable works on zoology, geology and physiology. A ...
1863: Island turning peninsula
Jan-mayen-1878.jpg, ''Eier Insel'' on German-language map drawn by Henrik Mohn is already a peninsula.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Eggoya
Landforms of Jan Mayen
Peninsulas of Norway