Rekvedbukta ( English: ''Driftwood Bay'') is an open bay on the central southern coast of 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 around the Beerenberg volcano). It has two parts: la ...

, about eight nautical miles long. Jan Mayen topography-fr

Geography

The bay extends from the point Kapp Traill to the south and northeastwards to the peninsula of Eggøya. It has a length of about eight nautical miles. The only inhabited site on Jan Mayen,

Olonkinbyen Olonkinbyen (literally ''The Olonkin Town'') is the only settlement on the Norwegian island of Jan Mayen in Svalbard and Jan Mayen (aside from isolated cottage huts such as Puppebu). It was named after Russian-Norwegian explorer Gennady Olon ...

, is located at the plain Trollsletta at the southern part of the bay. South of the settlement is the harbour

Båtvika Båtvika is a cove at the southern part of the island of Jan Mayen. It is located at the southeastern side of the island, in the southwestern part of Rekvedbukta, northeast of Kapp Traill. The settlement Olonkinbyen Olonkinbyen (literally ...

. The aerodrome

Jan Mayensfield Jan Mayensfield is an aerodrome serving Olonkinbyen in Jan Mayen, Norway. Operated by the Norwegian Armed Forces, it serves the island's only population at the combined military and meteorological station. It has a dirt runway numbered 04–2 ...

is located northeast of

, along Rekvedbukta. Further northeast is the shallow elongated lake

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 ...

, which can extend up to eight kilometers in the spring, separated from the bay by the sandy bar Lagunevollen. Eggøybukta at the northeastern part of the bay is a suitable harbour under favourable weather conditions. The bay contains the islet of Losbåten and the shoal Losbåtrevet to the southwest. In the northeastern part of the bay is the shoal Nansenflua, named after the ship HNoMS ''Fridtjof Nansen'', which was wrecked and sank after striking the rock in November 1940.

Name history

The oldest reference given by Orvin in his 1960 paper ''The place-names of Jan Mayen'', is a description from 1614 by Dutch cartographer Joris Carolus. Carolus introduces the name ''Gouwenaers Bay'' after captain Jacob de Gouwenaer. In

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 the bay is called ''Groote Hout Bay'', while in a publication from 1720 Zorgdrager uses the form ''Groote Hout baay''. Other names used over the time are ''Grand Baye au Bois'', ''Great Wood Bay'', ''La baie du Grand-Bois'', ''Treibholz Bucht'', ''Rækved Bugt'', ''Baie du Bois-flotté'', ''Dirvtræbugt'', ''Drivtømmerbugt'', ''Driftwood Bay'' and ''Drivvedsbugten''. The first part of the name ''Rekvedbukta'' means "driftwood", while ''bukt(a)'' means "bay", "bight" or "cove".

References

Bays of Jan Mayen {{JanMayen-geo-stub