Langesundsfjord (), also known as the Breviksfjord (), is a stretch of
fjord
In physical geography, a fjord (also spelled fiord in New Zealand English; ) is a long, narrow sea inlet with steep sides or cliffs, created by a glacier. Fjords exist on the coasts of Antarctica, the Arctic, and surrounding landmasses of the n ...
in
Telemark
Telemark () is a Counties of Norway, county and a current electoral district in Norway. Telemark borders the counties of Vestfold, Buskerud, Vestland, Rogaland and Agder. In 2020, Telemark merged with the county of Vestfold to form the county o ...
county,
Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...
. The long fjord flows from the
Skagerrak
The Skagerrak (; , , ) is a strait running between the North Jutlandic Island of Denmark, the east coast of Norway and the west coast of Sweden, connecting the North Sea and the Kattegat sea.
The Skagerrak contains some of the busiest shipping ...
, between the islands of
Sandøya,
Bjørkøya, and
Siktesøya in
Porsgrunn Municipality
is a municipality in Telemark county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Grenland. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Porsgrunn. Some other notable settlements in Porsgrunn include the town of Brev ...
and the mainland of
Bamble Municipality
Bamble is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Telemark county, Norway. It is located in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional district of Grenland. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Langesund ...
.
Location
The fjord stretches from the Langesund
strait
A strait is a water body connecting two seas or water basins. The surface water is, for the most part, at the same elevation on both sides and flows through the strait in both directions, even though the topography generally constricts the ...
near the town of
Brevik, where it separates into the
Frierfjord and the
Eidangerfjord
Eidangerfjord or Eidangerfjorden is a fjord in Porsgrunn Municipality in Telemark county, Norway. The long fjord stretches from the village area of Eidanger south to the Breviksfjord, Langesundsfjord. The mouth of the Eidangerfjord is located be ...
. In the
medieval period
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...
, the fjord was named ''Grenmar'', after the ''grener'' people who lived here and ''mar'' which was
Old Norse
Old Norse, also referred to as Old Nordic or Old Scandinavian, was a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants ...
for sea. Later, well into the 1700s, the entire stretch from Langesund gap and up to
Skien
Skien () is a municipality in Telemark county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Grenland, although historically it belonged to Grenmar/Skiensfjorden, while Grenland referred the Norsjø area and Bø. The administrative ...
was referred to as Langesundsfjord.
The
Brevik Bridge
Brevik Bridge () is one of two bridges that span the mouth of the Frierfjord. It connects the municipalities of Bamble and Porsgrunn in Telemark county. On the west side, in Bamble, lies the town of Stathelle, while on the east side lies the town ...
is a bridge over the mouth of the Frierfjord that connects the municipalities of Bamble and Porsgrunn. On the west side of Bamble lies the town of
Stathelle
is a town in Bamble Municipality in Telemark county, Norway. The town is located at the confluence of the Frierfjorden, Eidangerfjord, and Langesundsfjorden. The town of Brevik lies about across the fjord and the town of Langesund lies about ...
. On the east side lies the town of
Brevik in Porsgrunn. The Brevik tunnel (''Brevikstunnelen'') on Highway 354 (old E18) goes through the hill in Brevik and connects the Brevik bridge with the rest of the way north.
Geology
The Langesundsfjord is especially noted for the discovery of
fluorescent
Fluorescence is one of two kinds of photoluminescence, the emission of light by a substance that has absorbed light or other electromagnetic radiation. When exposed to ultraviolet radiation, many substances will glow (fluoresce) with color ...
minerals
In geology and mineralogy, a mineral or mineral species is, broadly speaking, a solid substance with a fairly well-defined chemical composition and a specific crystal structure that occurs naturally in pure form.John P. Rafferty, ed. (2011): M ...
. Many of the minerals found here are relatively rare. Commercial quarrying for decorative stone started in the late 1880s. In 1881,
Diderik Cappelen
Diderik or Didrik is a Norwegian male given name. In North Germanic languages
The North Germanic languages make up one of the three branches of the Germanic languages—a sub-family of the Indo-European languages—along with the West Germani ...
(1856-1935), first found
Cappelenite in Langesundsfjorden. Cappelenite, which he discovered in small veins within
Nepheline syenite
Nepheline syenite is a holocrystalline Intrusion, plutonic rock that consists largely of nepheline and alkali feldspar. The rocks are mostly pale colored, grey or pink, and in general appearance they are not unlike granites, but dark green varie ...
pegmatite
A pegmatite is an igneous rock showing a very coarse texture, with large interlocking crystals usually greater in size than and sometimes greater than . Most pegmatites are composed of quartz, feldspar, and mica, having a similar silicic c ...
, is a rare
yttrium
Yttrium is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Y and atomic number 39. It is a silvery-metallic transition metal chemically similar to the lanthanides and has often been classified as a "rare-earth element". Yttrium is almost a ...
-
barium
Barium is a chemical element; it has symbol Ba and atomic number 56. It is the fifth element in group 2 and is a soft, silvery alkaline earth metal. Because of its high chemical reactivity, barium is never found in nature as a free element.
Th ...
borosilicate
Borosilicate glass is a type of glass with silicon dioxide, silica and boron trioxide as the main glass-forming constituents. Borosilicate glasses are known for having very low coefficient of thermal expansion, coefficients of thermal expansion ( ...
. It is found in the form of greenish-brown hexagonal crystals.
Media gallery
Ved Breviksbrua.jpg
Brevik.JPG
Breviksfjorden.JPG
See also
*
Grenland
Grenland is a traditional district in Telemark county, in the south-east of Norway. "Grenland" has referred to varying locations throughout history. In modern times, Grenland refers to the areas of the municipalities of Skien, Porsgrunn, Bamble, ...
*
List of Norwegian fjords
This list of Norwegian fjords shows many of the fjords in Norway. In total, there are about 1,190 fjords in Norway and the Svalbard islands. The sortable list includes the lengths and locations of those fjords.
Fjords
See also
* List of gla ...
References
External links
Langesundsfjord
Bamble
Porsgrunn
Fjords of Telemark
{{Telemark-geo-stub