Moskstraumen
Encyclopedia
Tide
Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the moon and the sun and the rotation of the Earth....
eddies
Eddy (fluid dynamics)
In fluid dynamics, an eddy is the swirling of a fluid and the reverse current created when the fluid flows past an obstacle. The moving fluid creates a space devoid of downstream-flowing fluid on the downstream side of the object...
and whirlpool
Whirlpool
A whirlpool is a swirling body of water usually produced by ocean tides. The vast majority of whirlpools are not very powerful. More powerful ones are more properly termed maelstroms. Vortex is the proper term for any whirlpool that has a downdraft...
s, one of the strongest in the world, that forms at the Lofoten
Lofoten
Lofoten is an archipelago and a traditional district in the county of Nordland, Norway. Though lying within the Arctic Circle, the archipelago experiences one of the world's largest elevated temperature anomalies relative to its high latitude.-Etymology:...
archipelago
Archipelago
An archipelago , sometimes called an island group, is a chain or cluster of islands. The word archipelago is derived from the Greek ἄρχι- – arkhi- and πέλαγος – pélagos through the Italian arcipelago...
, Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
, in the Norwegian Sea
Norwegian Sea
The Norwegian Sea is a marginal sea in the North Atlantic Ocean, northwest of Norway. It is located between the North Sea and the Greenland Sea and adjoins the North Atlantic Ocean to the west and the Barents Sea to the northeast. In the southwest, it is separated from the Atlantic Ocean by a...
. It is located between the
Lofoten Point of Moskenesøya
Moskenesøya
Moskenesøya is an island in Lofoten in Nordland county of Norway. The island consists of an agglomeration of glaciated hills with the highest peak at . It is elongated from south-west to north east, is about 40 km long and 10 km wide, and has a very uneven shoreline...
island (Moskenes
Moskenes
Moskenes is a municipality in Nordland county, Norway. The area of the municipality comprises the southern part of Moskenesøya. It is part of the Lofoten traditional region...
municipality) and Værøy
Værøy
Værøy is an island and municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is part of the Lofoten traditional region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Sørland. Værøy was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838...
island, at the small island of Mosken
Mosken
Mosken is a small uninhabited rocky island in Lofoten archipelago in the Nordland county of Norway. It is located between the Værøy island to the south and Moskenesøy island to the north. The Moskenstraumen maelstrom – one of the most powerful in the world – is located at Mosken.-See also:* List of...
. Moskenstraumen is unusual in that it occurs in the open sea whereas most other whirlpools
Maelstrom
A maelstrom is a very powerful whirlpool; a large, swirling body of water. A free vortex, it has considerable downdraft. The power of tidal whirlpools tends to be exaggerated by laymen. There are virtually no stories of large ships ever being sucked into a maelstrom, although smaller craft are in...
are observed in confined straits or rivers. It originates from a combination of several factors, the dominant being the strong semi-diurnal tides and peculiar shape of the seabed, with a shallow ridge between the Moskenesøya and Værøy islands which amplifies and whirls the tidal currents.
The Moskenstraumen has been featured in many historical accounts, generally exaggerated. It is also popularly known as maelstrom
Maelstrom
A maelstrom is a very powerful whirlpool; a large, swirling body of water. A free vortex, it has considerable downdraft. The power of tidal whirlpools tends to be exaggerated by laymen. There are virtually no stories of large ships ever being sucked into a maelstrom, although smaller craft are in...
– a Nordic word for a strong whirlpool which originates from the Dutch combination of malen (to grind) and stroom (stream). This term was introduced into the English language by Edgar Allan Poe
Edgar Allan Poe
Edgar Allan Poe was an American author, poet, editor and literary critic, considered part of the American Romantic Movement. Best known for his tales of mystery and the macabre, Poe was one of the earliest American practitioners of the short story and is considered the inventor of the detective...
in 1841, through his short story
Short story
A short story is a work of fiction that is usually written in prose, often in narrative format. This format tends to be more pointed than longer works of fiction, such as novellas and novels. Short story definitions based on length differ somewhat, even among professional writers, in part because...
"A Descent into the Maelström
A Descent into the Maelstrom
"A Descent into the Maelström" is a short story by Edgar Allan Poe. In the tale, a man recounts how he survived a shipwreck and a whirlpool. It has been grouped with Poe's tales of ratiocination and also labeled an early form of science fiction.-Plot:...
". Poe provides an alternate name for the whirlpool with the line: “We Norwegians
call it the Moskoestrom, from the island of Moskoe in the midway.”
Description and mechanism
The Moskenstraumen is located between the Lofoten Point of MoskenesøyaMoskenesøya
Moskenesøya is an island in Lofoten in Nordland county of Norway. The island consists of an agglomeration of glaciated hills with the highest peak at . It is elongated from south-west to north east, is about 40 km long and 10 km wide, and has a very uneven shoreline...
island (Moskenes
Moskenes
Moskenes is a municipality in Nordland county, Norway. The area of the municipality comprises the southern part of Moskenesøya. It is part of the Lofoten traditional region...
municipality) and Værøy
Værøy
Værøy is an island and municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is part of the Lofoten traditional region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Sørland. Værøy was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838...
island, at the small island of Mosken
Mosken
Mosken is a small uninhabited rocky island in Lofoten archipelago in the Nordland county of Norway. It is located between the Værøy island to the south and Moskenesøy island to the north. The Moskenstraumen maelstrom – one of the most powerful in the world – is located at Mosken.-See also:* List of...
. It involves strong currents flowing between these islands and creating eddies
Eddy (fluid dynamics)
In fluid dynamics, an eddy is the swirling of a fluid and the reverse current created when the fluid flows past an obstacle. The moving fluid creates a space devoid of downstream-flowing fluid on the downstream side of the object...
and whirlpool
Whirlpool
A whirlpool is a swirling body of water usually produced by ocean tides. The vast majority of whirlpools are not very powerful. More powerful ones are more properly termed maelstroms. Vortex is the proper term for any whirlpool that has a downdraft...
s, the largest one having a diameter of some 40–50 meters (130–160 ft) and inducing surface water ripples up to 1 metres (3.3 ft) in amplitude. The currents are about 8 kilometers (5 mi) wide and suck in various small microorganisms, thereby attracting fish and fishing boats, which could be in danger even in modern times. The flow currents are strongest around July–August. They can be clearly seen from a plane or the nearby Lofotodden Hill (601 m above sea level) on Moskenesøya. There are regular tourist boat trips between Moskenesøya and Værøy.
The Moskenstraumen is created as a result of a combination of several factors, including tides, strong local winds, position of the Lofoten and the underwater topography; unlike most other major maelstroms, such as Saltstraumen
Saltstraumen
Saltstraumen is a sound with a strong tidal current located in Nordland 30 km east of the city of Bodø, Norway. The narrow channel connects the outer Saltfjord with its extension, the large Skjerstadfjord. It is the strongest tidal current in the world...
, Gulf of Corryvreckan
Gulf of Corryvreckan
The Gulf of Corryvreckan , also called the Strait of Corryvreckan, is a narrow strait between the islands of Jura and Scarba, in Argyll and Bute, off the west coast of Scotland.It is possible for tourists to visit the site by way of boats trips from local harbours.- Topography...
, Naruto whirlpools, Old Sow whirlpool and Skookumchuck Narrows
Skookumchuck Narrows
Skookumchuck Narrows forms the entrance of Sechelt Inlet on British Columbia's Sunshine Coast in Canada. Before broadening into Sechelt Inlet, all of its tidal flow together with that of Salmon Inlet and Narrows Inlet must pass through Sechelt Rapids. At peak flows, whitecaps and whirlpools form at...
, it is located in the open sea rather than in a strait or channel. Tides have an amplitude of about 4 metres (13.1 ft) and are semi-diurnal at Lofoten, that is they rise twice a day; they are the major contribution to the Moskenstraumen. Tides are combined with the northerly Norwegian Sea currents and with storm-induced flow to result in a significant stream, with a reported speed varying between the sources from about 11 km/h (6.8 mi/h) to 20 km/h (12.4 mi/h) and above. This flow occurs at the significant depths of about 500 metres (1,640.4 ft). It then meets a ridge of only about 20 metres (65.6 ft) deep (40–60 m by other sources) at the chain of Moskenesøya, Mosken and Værøy islands that causes an upward movement and eddies around the island edges.
In literature
Old Norse
Old Norse is a North Germanic language that was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and inhabitants of their overseas settlements during the Viking Age, until about 1300....
poems Edda
Edda
The term Edda applies to the Old Norse Poetic Edda and Prose Edda, both of which were written down in Iceland during the 13th century in Icelandic, although they contain material from earlier traditional sources, reaching into the Viking Age...
and remained an attractive subject for painters and writers, including Edgar Allan Poe
Edgar Allan Poe
Edgar Allan Poe was an American author, poet, editor and literary critic, considered part of the American Romantic Movement. Best known for his tales of mystery and the macabre, Poe was one of the earliest American practitioners of the short story and is considered the inventor of the detective...
, Walter Moers
Walter Moers
Walter Moers is one of the best-known and commercially most successful German comic creators and authors.-Life and work:...
and Jules Verne
Jules Verne
Jules Gabriel Verne was a French author who pioneered the science fiction genre. He is best known for his novels Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea , A Journey to the Center of the Earth , and Around the World in Eighty Days...
. The Swedish bishop Olaus Magnus
Olaus Magnus
Olaus Magnus was a Swedish ecclesiastic and writer, who did pioneering work for the interest of Nordic people. He was reported as born in October 1490 in Östergötland, and died on August 1, 1557. Magnus, Latin for the Swedish Stor “great”, is a Latin family name taken personally, and not a...
included the Moskenstraumen into his detailed report on the Nordic countries and their map, Carta Marina
Carta marina
The Carta marina , created by Olaus Magnus in the 16th century, is the earliest map of the Nordic countries that gives details and placenames...
(1539). He attributed the whirlpool to divine forces and mentioned that it was much stronger than the previously known Sicilian whirlpool Charybdis
Charybdis
Charybdis or Kharybdis was a sea monster, later rationalised as a whirlpool and considered a shipping hazard in the Strait of Messina.-The mythological background:...
. Most other writers of the time believed that the Moskenstraumen played important role in the ocean circulation, but, given a large amount of tales and lack of scientific observations, grossly overestimated the size and power of the phenomenon. The Moskenstraum, referred to simply as the Maelstrom, was the inspiration for Edgar Allan Poe
Edgar Allan Poe
Edgar Allan Poe was an American author, poet, editor and literary critic, considered part of the American Romantic Movement. Best known for his tales of mystery and the macabre, Poe was one of the earliest American practitioners of the short story and is considered the inventor of the detective...
's short story "A Descent into the Maelström
A Descent into the Maelstrom
"A Descent into the Maelström" is a short story by Edgar Allan Poe. In the tale, a man recounts how he survived a shipwreck and a whirlpool. It has been grouped with Poe's tales of ratiocination and also labeled an early form of science fiction.-Plot:...
" (1841), which brought the term maelstrom
Maelstrom
A maelstrom is a very powerful whirlpool; a large, swirling body of water. A free vortex, it has considerable downdraft. The power of tidal whirlpools tends to be exaggerated by laymen. There are virtually no stories of large ships ever being sucked into a maelstrom, although smaller craft are in...
, meaning strong whirlpool
Whirlpool
A whirlpool is a swirling body of water usually produced by ocean tides. The vast majority of whirlpools are not very powerful. More powerful ones are more properly termed maelstroms. Vortex is the proper term for any whirlpool that has a downdraft...
into the English language. The term originates from the combination of Dutch words malen (to grind) and strom (stream). The Moskenstraumen also features in the climax of Jules Verne
Jules Verne
Jules Gabriel Verne was a French author who pioneered the science fiction genre. He is best known for his novels Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea , A Journey to the Center of the Earth , and Around the World in Eighty Days...
's Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea
Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea
Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea is a classic science fiction novel by French writer Jules Verne published in 1870. It tells the story of Captain Nemo and his submarine Nautilus as seen from the perspective of Professor Pierre Aronnax...
and is mentioned by Captain Ahab
Captain Ahab
Captain Ahab may refer to:* Ahab , the captain of the Pequod in Herman Melville's 1851 novel Moby-Dick* Captain Ahab , a Los Angeles based pop/electronic band...
in Herman Melville
Herman Melville
Herman Melville was an American novelist, short story writer, essayist, and poet. He is best known for his novel Moby-Dick and the posthumous novella Billy Budd....
's Moby-Dick
Moby-Dick
Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, was written by American author Herman Melville and first published in 1851. It is considered by some to be a Great American Novel and a treasure of world literature. The story tells the adventures of wandering sailor Ishmael, and his voyage on the whaleship Pequod,...
. A likely source of information on Moskenstraumen for those writers was a fictional description of the Moskenstraumen by Jonas Danilssønn Ramus
Jonas Danilssønn Ramus
Jonas Danilssønn Ramus was a Norwegian priest and historian. He was principally an author of religious and historical writings. -Background:...
from 1715 which was translated into English and partly included into the 1823 edition of Encyclopædia Britannica
Encyclopædia Britannica
The Encyclopædia Britannica , published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia that is available in print, as a DVD, and on the Internet. It is written and continuously updated by about 100 full-time editors and more than 4,000 expert...
.
One of the first scientific descriptions of the Moskenstraumen was presented by the Norwegian priest and poet Petter Dass
Petter Dass
Petter Dass was a Lutheran clergyman and the foremost Norwegian poet of his generation, writing both baroque hymns and topographical poetry. -Biography:He was born at Northern Herøy , Nordland, Norway...
in his poem "The Trumpet of Nordland" which included a versified topographical description of northern Norway. There he clearly related the whirlpool with tides by noting that it was the strongest at full and new Moon and the weakest at half-Moon. He also noted that since the large fjords of the Moskenesøya had to be filled and emptied within 6 hours, the related water flow should create strong currents. Dass' novel was however not translated into English and remained unknown in Europe. The relation of the Moskenstraumen with the tides was further mentioned by A. Schelderup in an article which was likely written in the 1750s and published in 1824.
External links
- Edgar Allan Poe: A Descent Into the Maelstrom (1841) – complete text