Raudfjorden (English: Red fjord) is a 20 km long and 5 km wide
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 ...
on the northwestern coast of
Spitsbergen
Spitsbergen (; formerly known as West Spitsbergen; Norwegian language, Norwegian: ''Vest Spitsbergen'' or ''Vestspitsbergen'' , also sometimes spelled Spitzbergen) is the largest and the only permanently populated island of the Svalbard archipel ...
. It has two southern branches,
Klinckowströmfjorden and
Ayerfjorden, split by the peninsula
Buchananhalvøya. The fjord is situated on the divide between
Albert I Land and
Haakon VII Land.
History
Raudfjorden was named ''Red-cliff Sound'' by
Robert Fotherby, an
English explorer
Exploration is the process of exploring, an activity which has some Expectation (epistemic), expectation of Discovery (observation), discovery. Organised exploration is largely a human activity, but exploratory activity is common to most organis ...
and
whaler
A whaler or whaling ship is a specialized vessel, designed or adapted for whaling: the catching or processing of whales.
Terminology
The term ''whaler'' is mostly historic. A handful of nations continue with industrial whaling, and one, Jap ...
, in 1614. The same year the
Dutch named the fjord ''Monier Bay'', after the commissary-general of their
whaling
Whaling is the hunting of whales for their products such as meat and blubber, which can be turned into a type of oil that was important in the Industrial Revolution. Whaling was practiced as an organized industry as early as 875 AD. By the 16t ...
fleet that year,
Anthonie Monier. This latter name was first marked by the Dutch from 1620 onwards. The former name was later corrupted to ''Red Bay'', the name the fjord retains to this day. The cape separating its two southern branches was named ''Point Deceit'' by Fotherby the same year he explored the fjord, which is now known by its
Norwegian equivalent,
Narreneset.
References
* Conway, W. M. 1906. No Man's Land: A History of Spitsbergen from Its Discovery in 1596 to the Beginning of the Scientific Exploration of the Country. Cambridge: At the University Press.
* Norwegian Polar Institut
Place Names of Svalbard Database
Fjords of Spitsbergen
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