On the map you can see that the main of Svalbard is very gently tilting from N to S, e.g. the wide Triassic in the SE and the Precanbrian in the N. It is then segmented by N-S striking post-Caledonian lineaments, which have been reactivated since, throwing up the basement and down the old red. In the west, the strata are progressively more tilted towards the fold&thrust-belt, created by the early Cenozoic transpression collision with Greenland.
Barentsburg: Current Russian settlement, same coal as in Longyear, but looks like the Soviet Union.
Pyramiden: Defunct Russian mining ghost town, carboniferous coal. The area shows the cyclical deposition of coal, fluvio-eolians and carbonates in the Billefjorden trough graben. There are karst caves in the limestones.
Clinoforms: In van Keulenfjorden, clinoforms are displayed at life scale along the fjord.
Midterhuken: Spectacular overturned mega-fold in the Triassic in the fold and thrust belt.
Akseløya: A hard, cemented Permian limestone, that acts as a barrier island in front of the fjord, due to the tilted rocks in the foreland belt.
Festningen profile: Walk through sediments from upper Permian through lower Cretaceous, which have been tilted steep by the Cenozoic compression. (Cretaceous fluvials in festningen have dinosaur tracks, but they are elusive and vulnerable to erosion. More tracks are found on eastern Spitsbergen). Permission for access from authorities may be needed.
Sassen: The Sassen valley is the discovery area for the (in)famous marine reptiles and Predator X. The localities themselves are high in the mountainside, and the fossils vulnerable, though. I could inquire with my contacts among the “reptile hunters”. The valley, however, has good exposures of reservoirs and source rocks, with a glacier fall at the fjord end. Most of Svalbard is national park and some localities protected, where fossil collecting is reserved for scientific work.
Old red: The big fault block thrown down between the Precambrian in the north, old red sandstone; continental deposits during the post-Caledonian extension.
Hot springs and volcanoes: There are some hot springs and Quaternary volcano plugs in the NW, distance effects from the sea floor spreading in the sea W of Svalbard.
Mediumfjellet: Big duplex structure, rooted in anhydrite decollement zones, repeating both Triassic shale and a Cretaceous sill.
Prins Karls Forland: Precambrian sediments and crystallines.

An Untouched Arctic Archipelago at the Top of the Globe

Imagine visiting a region North of mainland Europe that is midway between the northern coast of Norway and the North Pole. It is here you will find a group of remote islands, between 74° and 81°N, referred to as Svalbard. Although the islands (23,570 mi2) were used by whalers in the 17th and 18th century, and then settled in the 20th century for coal excavation, the territories largely remain uninhabited and today have a reported population under 3,000. Likely, this is due to the rugged glacial landscapes, and the vast frozen tundra, that have persisted since the Pleistocene; to-date, glaciers cover approximately 59% of Svalbard’s total land area. Surrounded by the cold waters of the Barents Sea, the North Atlantic, and the Arctic Ocean, the only practical way to access land in the archipelago is by a ship capable of entering fjords, and then going to land by smaller boats, called zodiacs.

Remarkably, Svalbard has the most complete geologic record in northern Europe and offers extensive variability in rock type, structure, and alteration process. And, thanks to the glaciers, the exposures of rocks in outcrop are unimpeded for vast distances.

Just some of the geologic wonders that are revealed in the landscape include: unparalleled exposures of ancient metamorphic rocks; an abundance of fossil-rich limestones, sandstones and shales that contain world-renowned plant, coral, invertebrate and vertebrate specimens; historically important coal deposits; and text-book examples of glacial landforms (e.g. rock and valley glaciers, moraines, patterned ground, pingos, glacial denudation flats, thermokarst, raised beaches).

Basically, taking a trip to this rarely-visited archipelago is like walking into an outdoor amusement park for those who are entertained by seeing the geologic record being destroyed, altered, remastered and presented as picturesque scenery. Throw in a sailing ship, a polar bear sighting, and a sky in perpetual sunset. What more could you possibly ask for in your Arctic Circle experience??