After sailing overnight from Port Leopold down Prince Regent Inlet, we arrived at the entrance to Bellot Strait which divides Somerset Island from the Boothia Peninsula, this being the most northerly point of mainland Canada.
FRANKLIN FACT
The Strait was discovered in 1852 by Captain William Kennedy (who was commanding an expedition looking for Franklin) and named after his second in command, Joseph Bellot.
The Strait is 16 miles long and just over a mile wide. The currents run at up to 8kts and the Fram had to be there at slack water for safe passage.
Some nifty geology on show with a large anticline formed as part of a far field product of the Caledonian mountain-building event, reminiscent of the Pyrenean deformation observed along the south coast of the UK.
The Boothia Peninsula was the location of the Magnetic North Pole, first discovered by James Ross in 1831.
On 1903, Amundsen located it further north than the position noted by Ross, leading to the realisation that this thing was on the move, which in turn led to a greater understanding of the geophysics of the Earth and as a spin off, allowed greater accuracy in dating rocks by measuring their residual magnetism.
Peps Log : Hour changes again - we are now 7 hours behind UK time
Hurtigruten Foundation Auction in evening
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