Løvøya, Telemark

Løvøya is an island in Porsgrunn Municipality in Telemark county, Norway. The island is located in the Ormerfjorden, just east of the island of Sandøya, and about east of the town of Brevik.

Geology

In 1828, Morten Thrane Esmark found a black mineral on the island. He sent it to Swedish chemist Jöns Jakob Berzelius for examination for further analysis. Berzelius determined that it contained a new element, which he named thorium after Thor, the Norse god of thunder.