A new future for mine 7?

Just last week, the clo­sure of mine 7, Norway’s last coal mine on Spits­ber­gen, which was ori­gi­nal­ly plan­ned for next sum­mer, was the sub­ject of dis­cus­sion not only in Lon­gye­ar­by­en, but also in poli­ti­cal cir­cles in Oslo.

After geo­lo­gists recent­ly dis­co­ver­ed the foot­prints of a pan­t­o­don in the mine, the aut­ho­ri­ties reac­ted quick­ly to the sen­sa­ti­on: they plan to app­ly for mine 7 to be lis­ted as a UNESCO World Heri­ta­ge Site and to turn the mine into a muse­um so that the sen­sa­tio­nal find can be per­ma­nent­ly dis­play­ed to the public.

Incon­spi­cuous at first glan­ce, but a sen­sa­ti­on for geo­lo­gists:
Traces of a Pan­t­o­don in mine 7.

The pan­t­o­don, a mammal from the Palaeo­ge­ne (ear­ly Ter­tia­ry), the coal age of cen­tral Spits­ber­gen, is the oldest evi­dence of a mammal in this part of the Arc­tic. Remains of tree trunks, roots and bran­ches can also be seen in the area.

Wea­ve of bran­ches and roots in mine 7.

So mine 7 has a future bey­ond this sum­mer that ever­yo­ne, inclu­ding oppon­ents of coal mining, can look for­ward to.

Fos­si­li­sed tree trunk from the Palaeo­ge­ne era.

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