Fata Morgana Land | |
---|---|
Reported location of Fata Morgana Land | |
Created by | First reported by J.P. Koch and Aage Bertelsen |
In-universe information | |
Type | Phantom island |
Locations | Greenland Sea |
Fata Morgana Land (Danish : Fata Morgana Landet) is a phantom island first sighted in the Arctic, off the north-eastern coast of Greenland in 1907 by J.P. Koch and Aage Bertelsen. It has been reported between Greenland and Svalbard, at the northern end of the Greenland Sea. It is a reflection of the nearby Tobias Island and does not actually exist. Its status as a mirage or phantom island was confirmed in 1993. [1]
J.P. Koch and Aage Bertelsen were the first to report sighting land at approximately 80°00′N10°00′W / 80.000°N 10.000°W . This sighting occurred in 1907, during the 1906–08 Danmark Expedition led by Ludvig Mylius-Erichsen. Fata Morgana Land was also allegedly sighted near this location by Lauge Koch in 1933, from the air, as well as by Peter Freuchen in 1935 and by Ivan Papanin in 1937. [2] Following Papanin's sighting, Koch undertook a seaplane expedition from Svalbard in 1938 to search for the supposed island. He used a Dornier Wal, 297 'Samum', purchased by the Danish government from Germany. With Flight Captain Rudolf Mayer and wireless operator Franz Preuschoff (lent from Deutsche Luft Hansa) and a Danish naval officer, Koch flew from Copenhagen to Kings Bay in Spitsbergen. [3] They approached Greenland from different directions but were unable to find any trace of land. [4]
The non-existent island was named Fata Morgana Land after a type of mirage common in polar regions, Fata Morgana (mirage). The assumption is, the mirage sighted at its location was actually Fata Morganas of Tobias Island (Greenlandic : Tuppiap Qeqertaa). [5] The position of Tobias Island, roughly 70 kilometres (43 mi) from the north-eastern coast of Greenland, was determined with accuracy only in 1993. [6]
In the 1820s and 30s in Great Britain, mirages were a widely studied phenomenon. [7] Scientists theorized about the causes and conditions for mirages as well as their symbolic meaning and religious role. This investigation was tied into scientific curiosities about the human eye and the natural world. [7]
Fata Morganas are a type of mirage called a superior mirage. A superior mirage is created by a downward refraction of light as it passes through a temperature gradient, warm to cold. [7] This type of mirage is most common in polar regions where the temperature change is vast enough to create a large refraction. [7] The downward curvature of the refracted light must be equal to or greater than the curvature of the Earth. [7] Fata Morganas are a distinct type of superior mirage because they are complex and clear images that appear in sets of three or more. [7] They are not always linked to real objects on the horizon. [7]
Tuppiap Qeqertaa (Tobias island) is located 70 km off the coast of Greenland and is 2 km long and 35 m tall. [8] The small island is covered in ice, this caused its true size to remain hidden until satellite interferometry and airborne laser scanning was used to map the area. [8] This area was particularly hard to map traditionally and prone to Fata Morganas because of the often foggy and cloudy weather and being covered in sea ice. [8]
The confirmation that this island was a Fata Morganas, not a true island did not come until 1993, with the use of satellite mapping. [9] [8] This is caused by the conditions of the area, the icy rocky waters make it very hard to reach the island by ship, and the foggy and cloudy weather makes it very hard to observe from the aerial view of a sea plane. [9]
A mirage is a naturally-occurring optical phenomenon in which light rays bend via refraction to produce a displaced image of distant objects or the sky. The word comes to English via the French (se) mirer, from the Latin mirari, meaning "to look at, to wonder at".
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A Fata Morgana is a complex form of superior mirage visible in a narrow band right above the horizon. The term Fata Morgana is the Italian translation of "Morgan the Fairy". These mirages are often seen in the Italian Strait of Messina, and were described as fairy castles in the air or false land conjured by her magic.
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Ejnar Mikkelsen was a Danish polar explorer and writer. He is most known for his expeditions to Greenland.
Johan Peter Koch was a Danish captain and explorer of the Arctic dependencies of Denmark, born at Vestenskov. He was the uncle of the geologist Lauge Koch
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Aage Bertelsen was a Danish painter. He was a member of the Denmark Expedition to North-East Greenland. He has also worked for Kähler Keramik in Næstved.
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The Denmark expedition, also known as the Denmark Expedition to Greenland's Northeast Coast and the Danmark Expedition after the ship's name, was an expedition to northeastern Greenland in 1906–1908.
The Roosevelt Range or Roosevelt Mountains is a mountain range in Northern Greenland. Administratively this range is part of the Northeast Greenland National Park. Its highest peak is the highest point in Peary Land.
The Peary Channel was a hypothetical sound or marine channel running from east to west separating Peary Land in northernmost Greenland from the mainland further south.
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