Sledgeteam 1 from The Denmark Expedition 1906-08. From left exploration leader Mylius-Erichsen, Niels Peter Høeg Hagen and Jørgen Brønlund. All 3 passed away on the exploration. Credit: wikipedia
The Denmark Expedition set out to check out unidentified Inuit land in 1906. Three members passed away.
Chemical analysis of a black area in a journal sheds brand-new light on the fate and terrible death of famous Inuit polar exploration member Jørgen Brønlund in Northeast Greenland in 1907.
Jørgen Brønlund was among the individuals in the famous Mylius Erichsen’s Denmark Expedition to Greenland 1906-08. In 1907, he passed away in a little cavern of appetite and frostbite, however prior to that, he made one last note in his journal:
“Perished 79 Fjord after trying to return home over the ice sheet, in November Month I come here in waning moonlight and could not continue from Frost in the Feet and the Dark.”
The Danish exploration had actually taken a trip to Northeast Greenland the year before to check out and map the most northern Greenland and likewise to figure out whether the 50,000 square kilometer Peary Land was a peninsula or an island. If an island, it would accumulate to the Americans. If a peninsula, it would become part of Danish area.
Peary Land
Peninsula in northeast Greenland, called after the American polar explorer R.E. Peary, who thought that the location was an island and hence not part of Denmark. This was negated by the Denmark Expedition, and Peary Land stayed Danish. Peary Land is unoccupied.
Three individuals passed away
It wanted an unsuccessful effort to enter the Independence Fjord that Jørgen Brønlund and 2 other individuals on the exploration’s sled group 1 ultimately needed to quit.
A couple of days prior to Brønlund passed away, the 2 others from sled group 1 passed away: Expedition leader Mylius Erichsen and Niels Peter Høegh Hagen. Neither their remains nor journals have actually because been discovered.
Jørgen Brønlund’s body and journal were discovered, and practically since, the journal has actually been kept at the Royal Library in Copenhagen.
The 3×3 mm black area from Brønlund’s journal. Credit Kaare Lund Rasmussen/SDU. Credit: Kaare Lund Rasmussen/SDU
The last page of the journal
Now chemists from the University of Southern Denmark have had the chance to examine an extremely particular part of the journal’s last page; more particularly, a black area listed below Jørgens Brønlund’s last entry and signature.
The evaluates expose that the area includes the following elements: scorched rubber, numerous oils, petroleum, and feces.
This brand-new understanding offers a unique insight into Brønlund’s last hours, states teacher of chemistry, Kaare Lund Rasmussen, Department of Physics, Chemistry and Pharmacy at the University of Southern Denmark.
Brønlund’s petroleum burner was discovered in 1973. Credit: © Jørn Ladegaard
One last effort to light a fire
I see for me, how he, damaged and with filthy, shaking hands, fumbled in an effort to light the burner, however stopped working, he states.
As a last survivor of sled group 1, Brønlund had actually reached a depot on Lambert’s Land and had at his disposal a LUX petroleum burner, matches, and petroleum. But there was no metabolized alcohol to pre-heat the burner.
He needed to discover something else to get the burner going. You can utilize paper or oiled material, however it is tough. We believe he attempted with the oils offered, since the black area includes traces of grease and oils that might originate from fish, animals, or wax candle lights, states Kaare Lund Rasmussen.
Found after 4 months
The area’s material of scorched rubber most likely originates from a gasket in the Lux burner. The gasket might have been burned long in the past Brønlund’s crisis in the cavern, however it might likewise have actually occurred throughout his last vain effort to light a fire.
Brønlund’s remains and journal were discovered 4 months later on, when spring came, by Johan Peter Koch and Tobias Gabrielsen, who had actually left Danmarkshavn to discover the missing out on members of sled group 1.
The journal was discovered at Brønlund’s feet and was reclaimed to Denmark and is now kept at the Royal Library in Copenhagen.
Brønlund’s Lux burner was discovered in 1973 by the Danish Defense Sirius Patrol. After the re-burial of Brønlund in 1978, it was contributed to the Arctic Institute in Copenhagen.
Reference: “In the darkest hour: Analyses of a black spot on the last page of the diary of polar explorer Jørgen Brønlund (d. 1907)” by K. L. Rasmussen, T. Delbey, L. Skytte, J. La Nasa, M. P. Colombini, D. B. Ravnsbæk, B. Jørgensen, F. Kjeldsen, B. Grønnow and S. Larsen, 16 November 2020, Archaometry.
DOI: 10.1111/arcm.12641
