Another report from the GeoArctic Expedition 2025
On Tuesday, 5 August, in the afternoon, after spending 1.5 days in Ny-Alesund, the northernmost human settlement, the STS Generał Zaruski with the UWr crew on board set sail. This time, the first goal was to break the ship’s record from 1975.
You may ask, what record is that? Well, exactly 50 years ago, STS General Zaruski, commanded by Captain Andrzej Rościszewski, was the first Polish yacht to reach 80° 34′ north latitude.
On 6 August 2025, the sailing ship entered the Arctic Ocean and at 12:56 p.m. reached a latitude of 80° 35′ N and 10° 50′ E!
This moment was commemorated by Captain Marcin Dobrowolski reading an excerpt from Captain Rościszewski’s memoirs, making an entry in the logbook and taking a group photo of the crew. The ship then turned south.
On the night of 6th to 7th August, the crew reached Bjornfjord. The research team collected water samples flowing from under the Scheibreen glacier, gathered information for a model of the glacier’s front and investigated the presence of zinc mineralisation in the local granites and migmatites. It is worth mentioning that this part of the island is one of the most mysterious areas in terms of geology.
On the same day, the sailing ship entered Magdalenafjord to document the young glacial landscape of Spitsbergen’s most beautiful fjord. This area is particularly interesting for geologists and geomorphologists due to the opportunity to observe active landform processes occurring at the interface between marine and glacial environments.
The sailing ship is currently heading south towards Petuniabukta and the Adam Mickiewicz University Research Station in Poznań, as well as the Pyramiden settlement.
We are keeping our fingers crossed for successful research and look forward to further reports!
Date of publication: 08.08.2025
Added by: EJK
