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30-598: Located above the Arctic Circle , the camp was set up in the early 20th century by Ernest Mansfield , a prospector staking claims on behalf of a British investment company set up to mine for resources on the island. A major backer of the Spitzbergen Mining and Exploration Syndicate (SMES) was Sholto Douglas, 19th Earl of Morton , and the camp was named for him. The company in 1910 was renamed as Northern Exploration Company Ltd (NEC). The coal mine operated from 1906 into

60-611: A counterclockwise pattern. Hurricanes and tropical storms (massive low-pressure systems) spin counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere. The shadow of a sundial moves clockwise on latitudes north of the subsolar point and anticlockwise to the south. During the day at these latitudes, the Sun tends to rise to its maximum at a southerly position. Between the Tropic of Cancer and the Equator,

90-613: Is often no direct view of the true horizon. The largest communities north of the Arctic Circle are situated in Russia, Norway, and Sweden: Murmansk (population 295,374) and Norilsk (178,018) in Russia; Tromsø (75,638) in Norway, Vorkuta (58,133) in Russia, Bodø (52,357) and Harstad (24,703) in Norway; and Kiruna , Sweden (22,841). Rovaniemi (62,667) in Finland is the largest settlement in

120-548: Is taken as the period from the June solstice through to the September equinox (typically on 23 September UTC). The dates vary each year due to the difference between the calendar year and the astronomical year . Within the Northern Hemisphere, oceanic currents can change the weather patterns that affect many factors within the north coast. Such events include El Niño–Southern Oscillation . Trade winds blow from east to west just above

150-622: Is the largest settlement north of the Arctic Circle with about 5,000 inhabitants. The largest such community in Canada is Inuvik in the Northwest Territories , with 3,137 inhabitants. Download coordinates as: The Arctic Circle is roughly 16,000 km (9,900 mi) in circumference. The area north of the Circle is about 20,000,000 km (7,700,000 sq mi) and covers roughly 4% of Earth's surface. The Arctic Circle passes through

180-585: The Arctic Ocean , the Scandinavian Peninsula , North Asia , Northern America , and Greenland. The land within the Arctic Circle is divided among eight countries: Norway, Sweden, Finland, Russia, the United States ( Alaska ), Canada ( Yukon , Northwest Territories , and Nunavut ), Denmark (Greenland), and Iceland (where it passes through the small offshore island of Grímsey ). The climate north of

210-530: The Northern Exploration Company Ltd. Some were named after investors and their family members, such as Camp Mansfield and Camp Zoe (after Mansfield’s daughter). Camp Morton was named after Sholto Douglas, the Earl of Morton. The coal mining was never as profitable as investors had hoped, and operations had ended by the mid-1920s. Mining of other resources was also difficult. In 1932 the investors sold

240-460: The Northern temperate zone . The changes in these regions between summer and winter are generally mild, rather than extreme hot or cold. However, a temperate climate can have very unpredictable weather. Tropical regions (between the Tropic of Cancer and the Equator, 0° latitude) are generally hot all year round and tend to experience a rainy season during the summer months, and a dry season during

270-566: The last glacial period ended about 10,000 years ago. Earth is currently in an interglacial period of the Quaternary , called the Holocene . The glaciations that occurred during the glacial period covered many areas of the Northern Hemisphere. The Arctic is a region around the North Pole (90° latitude ). Its climate is characterized by cold winters and cool summers. Precipitation mostly comes in

300-603: The orbit of the Moon . Consequently, the Arctic Circle is currently drifting northwards at a speed of about 14.5 m (48 ft) per year. The word arctic comes from the Greek word ἀρκτικός ( arktikos : "near the Bear , northern") and that from the word ἄρκτος ( arktos : " bear "). The Arctic Circle is the southernmost latitude in the Northern Hemisphere at which the centre of

330-515: The Arctic Circle is generally cold, but the coastal areas of Norway have a generally mild climate as a result of the Gulf Stream , which makes the ports of northern Norway and northwest Russia ice-free all year long. In the interior, summers can be quite warm, while winters are extremely cold. For example, summer temperatures in Norilsk , Russia will sometimes reach as high as 30 °C (86 °F), while

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360-678: The Dutch, Danish and British. Investors set up companies to develop the resources there, always with the hopes of a rich strike of gold, as had occurred with the Klondike Gold Rush in Yukon , Canada in the late 1890s. One of the British companies was Spitzbergen Coal and Mineral Ltd of London, one of whose major investors was Sholto Douglas, 19th Earl of Morton . It evolved into the Spitzbergen Mining and Exploration Syndicate (SMES) in 1905. The company in 1910

390-598: The Northern Exploration Company to the Norwegian government; its total property included 58 huts. Twenty-seven have survived, and the largest is Michelsenhuset, now known as Camp Morton. It has been restored by the government and is the largest structure at the site. A nearby hut, known as Clara Ville, is available for use by the Longyearbyen snowmobile club. The site also has some remains of mining equipment and

420-620: The Northern Hemisphere, together with about two-thirds of Africa and a small part of South America . During the 2.5 million years of the Pleistocene , numerous cold phases called glacials ( Quaternary ice age ), or significant advances of continental ice sheets, in Europe and North America , occurred at intervals of approximately 40,000 to 100,000 years. The long glacial periods were separated by more temperate and shorter interglacials which lasted about 10,000–15,000 years. The last cold episode of

450-574: The Russian port city of Murmansk , three degrees above the Arctic Circle, the Sun does not rise above the horizon for 40 successive days in midwinter. The position of the Arctic Circle is not fixed and currently runs 66°33′50.2″ north of the Equator . Its latitude depends on the Earth's axial tilt , which fluctuates within a margin of more than 2° over a 41,000-year period, owing to tidal forces resulting from

480-598: The Solar System as Earth's North Pole . Due to Earth's axial tilt of 23.439281°, there is a seasonal variation in the lengths of the day and night. There is also a seasonal variation in temperatures, which lags the variation in day and night. Conventionally, winter in the Northern Hemisphere is taken as the period from the December solstice (typically December 21 UTC ) to the March equinox (typically March 20 UTC), while summer

510-704: The Sun can be seen to the north, directly overhead, or to the south at noon, depending on the time of year. In the Southern Hemisphere, the midday Sun is predominantly in the north. When viewed from the Northern Hemisphere, the Moon appears inverted compared to a view from the Southern Hemisphere. The North Pole faces away from the Galactic Center of the Milky Way . This results in the Milky Way being sparser and dimmer in

540-497: The Sun can remain continuously above or below the horizon for twenty-four hours; as a result, at least once each year at any location within the Arctic Circle the centre of the Sun is visible at local midnight , and at least once the centre is not visible at local noon . Directly on the Arctic Circle these events occur, in principle, exactly once per year: at the June and December solstices , respectively. However, because of atmospheric refraction and mirages , and also because

570-655: The equator. The winds pull surface water with them, creating currents, which flow westward due to the Coriolis effect . The currents then bend to the right, heading north. At about 30 degrees north latitude, a different set of winds, the westerlies , push the currents back to the east, producing a closed clockwise loop. Its surface is 60.7% water, compared with 80.9% water in the case of the Southern Hemisphere , and it contains 67.3% of Earth's land. The continents of North America and mainland Eurasia are located entirely in

600-519: The form of snow. Areas inside the Arctic Circle (66°34′ latitude) experience some days in summer when the Sun never sets, and some days during the winter when it never rises. The duration of these phases varies from one day for locations right on the Arctic Circle to several months near the Pole, which is the middle of the Northern Hemisphere. Between the Arctic Circle and the Tropic of Cancer (23°26′ latitude) lies

630-404: The immediate vicinity of the Arctic Circle, lying 6 km (4 mi) south of the line. Salekhard (51,186) in Russia is the only city in the world located directly on the Arctic Circle. In contrast, the largest North American community north of the Arctic Circle, Sisimiut ( Greenland ), has approximately 5,600 inhabitants. In the United States, Utqiagvik, Alaska (formerly known as Barrow)

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660-481: The mid-1920s. About half of the huts owned by NEC remain; the major building, now called Camp Morton, has been restored by the Norwegian government . In the early 20th century, Spitsbergen, in the archipelago now known as Svalbard, became a site for resource extraction and development north of the coast of Norway, then under Danish rule. Several nations had staked opposing claims there in the late 19th century, including

690-499: The southernmost latitude at which, on the winter solstice (which is the shortest day of the year) in the Northern Hemisphere , the Sun will not rise all day, and on the Northern Hemisphere's summer solstice (which is the longest day of the year), the Sun will not set. These phenomena are referred to as polar night and midnight sun respectively, and the further north one progresses, the more pronounced these effects become. For example, in

720-480: The sun appears as a disk and not a point, part of the midnight sun is visible, on the night of the northern summer solstice , at a latitude of about 50 minutes of arc (′) (90 km (56 mi)) south of the Arctic Circle. Similarly, on the day of the northern winter solstice , part of the Sun may be seen up to about 50′ north of the Arctic Circle. That is true at sea level ; those limits increase with elevation above sea level , although in mountainous regions there

750-459: The tracks of the mine railway. ( 77°29′N 14°35′E  /  77.48°N 14.58°E  / 77.48; 14.58 ) Arctic Circle The Arctic Circle is one of the two polar circles , and the most northerly of the five major circles of latitude as shown on maps of Earth at about 66° 34' N. Its southern equivalent is the Antarctic Circle . The Arctic Circle marks

780-448: The weather patterns that affect many factors within the north coast. For the same reason, flows of air down toward the northern surface of the Earth tend to spread across the surface in a clockwise pattern. Thus, clockwise air circulation is characteristic of high pressure weather cells in the Northern Hemisphere. Conversely, air rising from the northern surface of the Earth (creating a region of low pressure) tends to draw air toward it in

810-459: The winter months. In 1901 Ivar Stenehjem, a merchant, got funding for a couple of expeditions to Spitsbergen with the help of ship-owner Christian Michelsen from Bergen . In 1905 Michelsen became Norway’s first prime minister . Stenehjem built a large timber building at Camp Morton called Michelsenhuset in his honor. The NEC coal mine at Camp Morton opened in 1906 and operated until 1920. Numerous camp buildings were constructed with funding from

840-482: The winter months. In the Northern Hemisphere, objects moving across or above the surface of the Earth tend to turn to the right because of the Coriolis effect . As a result, large-scale horizontal flows of air or water tend to form clockwise-turning gyres . These are best seen in ocean circulation patterns in the North Atlantic and North Pacific oceans. Within the Northern Hemisphere, oceanic currents can change

870-472: The winter temperatures frequently fall below −50 °C (−58 °F). Starting at the prime meridian and heading eastwards, the Arctic Circle passes through: Northern Hemisphere The Northern Hemisphere is the half of Earth that is north of the Equator . For other planets in the Solar System , north is defined as being in the same celestial hemisphere relative to the invariable plane of

900-603: Was renamed as Northern Exploration Company Ltd (NEC). Ernest Mansfield , a British prospector and entrepreneur who was a "pioneer of the 'Klondike period' in Svalbard," was active on behalf of the British NEC in Spitsbergen, laying claim to land especially on the west coast of the island. (The claims are in the names of major investors.) He built camps to try to mark and protect the land claims, hiring trappers to look after them during

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