Paleontological Aspects of Austrian Arctic Endeavors

Abstract

We present a journey through the history of the Austrian Arctic collections stored in Geological-Paleontological Department of the Natural History Museum Vienna (NHMW). The NHMW-material was mainly acquired during four expeditions. The first was an Isbjørn expedition designed as a test cruise by Julius Payer and Carl Weyprecht in 1871. One year later, there was a second Isbjørn expedition under the command of Count Johann Wilczek. In 1873, Richard von Drasche, an industrial magnate with geological expertise, organized a private trip to eastern Spitzbergen (Svalbard). The fourth one was from 1872 to 1874, when Payer and Weyprecht led the Austro-Hungarian North Pole Expedition on the ship Admiral Tegetthoff. The latter, which almost ended in a catastrophe, discovered Franz-Josef-Land. After these expeditions, Austria took part in the First International Polar Year (1882–1883), with its own research station at Jan Mayen. There are numerous types provided by these expeditions that make this collection and its archival material an important source for the geological history of the Arctic region.