The St. Louis Republic., 1900-11-18
COAL IN ARCTIC REGIONS.
Recent Discovery of Valuable Fuel
in the Far North.

To obtain fuel from the Arctic regions
seems almost d paradox, but our Berlin cor
respondent informs us this morning that
good seams of coal have Deen found on the
western side Of SpitzbcrSen. and are 10 be
worked on the most approved business prin-
ciples. says the Lonaon Standard lhat
carbonifcrous rocks existed in the island
has been known for some time. but during
the last summer experts were dispatched
from Norway to ascertain whether the min
eral was sufficiently abundant and acceSSi-
BILE to be worth working. Their reports are
most favorable. Good furnace coal has
been found In Green Harbor. on the south
side OF the entrance of Ice Ford, which
pierces deeply into the western flank
of the principal Island that the latter is
almost cut up into three parts by the meet
Ing OF inlets from opposite coasts.
AT another place in the same ford three
of the seams are from six to nine feet
thick. and as they are above sea level must
crop out at the surface. The larger and
eastern part of SpitZbergen is more or less
a plateau. and the strata are horizontal,
rarging from the period anterior to the car
bonifarous to that in which our chalk was
deposited. The western part is mountain
Gus. and consists of older crystalline rocks.
but uplifted parts of these sedimentary
the case where these seams have been dis
covered In such circumstances the fields
are likely to be limited in extent and the
seams may be tilted at high angles, or
broken up by faults. Still. as the coal can
be worked by adits it's accessibility and the
consequent economy in labor will be a COM
ly probable that larger, and perhaps richer,
fields exist In the eastern part of the island.
which. however, Will be less easily reached.
The effect. direct or Indirect. of the Gulf
Stream opens the west coast of Spitzber-
gen in summer. but the other is more diff.
ficult of approach. 1t is stated that even in
the sheltered Ice Fjord the coal cannot be
shipped directly from the land. and the
piers must be removed before winter. during
parts of which work will have to be sus-
pended. But when the coal has been fol-
lowed for some little distance from the sur
face, there will be nothing to prevent the
miners from going on even in December.
The ground. no doubt. Is permanently
frozen for considerable depth, but the
temperature will rise steadily as the dis
tance from the surface increases, and will
be uniform. After a while the mine will be
more comfortable than any house. As it
is, the party will winter in the issnd from
the first. and the longer they can work the
more healthy they will be. But SpitZbergen
may not be the only Arctic island in when
coal occurs. though, perhaps, 1t is the mos;
favorable for commercial purposes The
fuel may be found in Franz josef Lani:
beds full of fossil plants occur near Ezra
Harbor-of later date. indeed. but in rocks
which elsewhere occasionally produce coal.
From Nova Iemblt Colonel Feilden brought
back specimens of limestones which experys
assigned to an age very near that of our
English coal beds. and other localities could
readily be named. But these masses of
fossil vegetable matter indicate curious
changes in the climate. Nowadays nothing
bigger than the stunted Polar willow grows
In Spitzbergen. Even in the extreme north
of Norway the hardy birch Is dwarfcd Yet
these ancient plants formerly almost rivaled
forest trees. and the change was late in
coming. y temperate climate existed as far
north as the sevcntieth parallel and In
Greenland beds of brown coal were found
even in the Tertiary era. At that time the
plane, the magnolia and the vine flourished
in the latitude of Disco Bay.