By Andrii Gladii – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, Link
Grimsey Island is a tiny spit of land about 40KM off the north coast of Iceland. It’s one claim to fame is that it (currently) staddles the Arctic Circle. Part of the Municipality of Akureyri, it is a relatively popular day trip by boat or air from that city in the same way that the 4 corners area of the southwest USA is a relatively popular day trip — the novelty of human boundaries.
In 2017, the Akureyri city government decided to place a monument on the island, an 8-tonne stone sphere called “Orbis et Globus”, along the line where the Arctic Circle crosses the island. Of course, with the tilt of the earth shifting ever so slightly, the location of the circle also shifts. To compensate for that, the city sends out engineers once a year to move the sphere to the circle’s new location (about 14.5 M north per year).
As mentioned previously, the island is pretty small, meaning that there are only so many 14.5 M increments available. In 2047, the Arctic Circle will move north off the island completely. When that happens, the plan is to roll the sphere in to the ocean for one last move.
Those who found this before the hint:
- Garfield
- Phil Ower
- Lighthouse
- Paul Voestermans
- hhgygy
- Martin de Bock
And after the hint:
- Zorro the Fox