Hornsund

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Hornsund (labelled a) is in the south of Spitsbergen's west coast

Hornsund is a fjord on the western side of the southernmost tip of Spitsbergen island.

The fjord's mouth faces west to the Greenland Sea, and is 12 km wide. The length is 30 kilometres, the mean depth is 90 metres, and the maximal depth is 260 metres. Hornsund cuts different geological formations, from the Precambrian to the west to the upper Mesozoic to the east, and it is perpendicular to the main regional fractures of Spitsbergen.

Polish research vessel at Hornsund

The coastline of Hornsund is diversified, with a number of embayments constituting mouth parts of valleys filled up with glaciers of mountain type protruding into the sea. Some of these embayments have appeared as late as the beginning of the last century due to recession of glaciers.

A Polish research station has been operating there since 1957.