Hans Tausen Ice Cap | |
---|---|
Hans Tausens Iskappe | |
Type | Ice cap |
Location | Greenland |
Coordinates | 82°30′N37°30′W / 82.500°N 37.500°W Coordinates: 82°30′N37°30′W / 82.500°N 37.500°W |
Area | ca 4,000 km2 (1,500 sq mi) |
Length | 100 km (62 mi) |
Width | 80 km (50 mi) |
Thickness | max 600 m (2,000 ft) |
Status | The future development of the ice cap is highly dependent upon summer temperatures. [1] |
Hans Tausen Ice Cap (Danish : Hans Tausens Iskappe) is an ice cap in Peary Land, northern Greenland. Administratively it is part of the Northeast Greenland National Park. [2]
Ice cores show it is around 3500–4000 years old. It formed since the Holocene climatic optimum of 6000-8000 BP. [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] It is a well studied ice cap, and is important to understanding the Holocene climatic optimum. [8]
The ice cap is located south of Amundsen Land and the Nordpasset, at the western end of the De Long Fjord area, east of Freuchen Land across the inner J.P. Koch Fjord, and west of Odin Fjord. [9] It is about 100 km (62 mi) from north to south and 80 km (50 mi) from east to west and sits on a 1,300 m (4,300 ft) high plateau.
The Hans Tausen Ice Cap is the source of many glaciers, including the Ymer Glacier to the east, the Aajaku Glacier, Inukitsaq Glacier and Persuaq Glacier to the west, and the Lur Glacier and Tjalfe Glacier to the north. [10] [2]
The Pleistocene is the geological epoch that lasted from about 2,580,000 to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was finally confirmed in 2009 by the International Union of Geological Sciences, the cutoff of the Pleistocene and the preceding Pliocene was regarded as being 1.806 million years Before Present (BP). Publications from earlier years may use either definition of the period. The end of the Pleistocene corresponds with the end of the last glacial period and also with the end of the Paleolithic age used in archaeology. The name is a combination of Ancient Greek πλεῖστος, pleīstos, 'most' and καινός, kainós, 'new'.
The Last Glacial Period (LGP), also known colloquially as the last ice age or simply ice age, occurred from the end of the Eemian to the end of the Younger Dryas, encompassing the period c. 115,000 – c. 11,700 years ago. The LGP is part of a larger sequence of glacial and interglacial periods known as the Quaternary glaciation which started around 2,588,000 years ago and is ongoing. The definition of the Quaternary as beginning 2.58 million years ago (Mya) is based on the formation of the Arctic ice cap. The Antarctic ice sheet began to form earlier, at about 34 Mya, in the mid-Cenozoic. The term Late Cenozoic Ice Age is used to include this early phase. The previous ice age, the Saalian glaciation, which ended about 128,000 years ago, was more severe than the Last Glacial Period in some areas such as Britain, but less severe in others.
The Holocene Climate Optimum (HCO) was a warm period that occurred in the interval roughly 9,000 to 5,000 years ago BP, with a thermal maximum around 8000 years BP. It has also been known by many other names, such as Altithermal, Climatic Optimum, Holocene Megathermal, Holocene Optimum, Holocene Thermal Maximum, Hypsithermal, and Mid-Holocene Warm Period.
The Greenland Ice Core Project (GRIP) was a multinational Europe research project, organised through the European Science Foundation (ESF). The project ran from 1989 to 1995, with drilling seasons from 1990 to 1992. In 1988, the project was first accepted as an ESF associated program, and in the summer of 1989, the fieldwork was started in Greenland. GRIP aimed to collect and investigate 3000-metre-long ice cores drilled at the apex of the Greenland ice sheet, also known as Summit Camp. The Greenland ice sheet occupies more than 90% of the total ice sheet and glacier ice on the Earth, excluding the Antarctic ice sheet. The project was managed by the Steering Committee called Physikalisches Institut der Universität Bern, Switzerland, chaired by Professor Bernhard Stauffer. Funding came from 8 nations, and from the European Union. The Commission of the European Community has offered a part of the funding through the European Research Network of Excellence in Open Cultural Heritage (EPOCH) program.
Peary Land is a peninsula in northern Greenland, extending into the Arctic Ocean. It reaches from Victoria Fjord in the west to Independence Fjord in the south and southeast, and to the Arctic Ocean in the north, with Cape Morris Jesup, the northernmost point of Greenland's mainland, and Cape Bridgman in the northeast.
The Quaternary glaciation, also known as the Pleistocene glaciation, is an alternating series of glacial and interglacial periods during the Quaternary period that began 2.58 Ma and is ongoing. Although geologists describe this entire period up to the present as an "ice age", in popular culture this term usually refers to the most recent glacial period, or to the Pleistocene epoch in general. Since Earth still has polar ice sheets, geologists consider the Quaternary glaciation to be ongoing, though currently in an interglacial period.
Dye 3 is an ice core site and previously part of the DYE section of the Distant Early Warning (DEW) line, located at in Greenland. As a DEW line base, it was disbanded in years 1990/1991.
Frederick E. Hyde Fjord is a fjord in Peary Land, far northern Greenland.
J.P. Koch Fjord is a fjord in Peary Land, northern Greenland. To the west, the fjord opens into the Lincoln Sea of the Arctic Ocean.
Odin Fjord is a fjord in Peary Land, far northern Greenland.
De Long Fjord is a fjord system in Peary Land, northern Greenland. To the northwest, the fjord opens into the Lincoln Sea of the Arctic Ocean. It is part of the Northeast Greenland National Park.
Henson Glacier, is one of the major glaciers in northern Greenland.
Melville Glacier, is a glacier in northwestern Greenland. Administratively it belongs to the Avannaata municipality.
Hart Glacier, is a glacier in northwestern Greenland. Administratively it belongs to the Avannaata municipality.
Sharp Glacier, is a glacier in northwestern Greenland. Administratively it belongs to the Avannaata municipality.
Hubbard Glacier, is a glacier in northwestern Greenland. Administratively it belongs to the Avannaata municipality.
Bliss Bay is a bay in the Wandel Sea, Northern Greenland. The area of the bay is uninhabited. Administratively Bliss Bay and its surroundings belong to the Northeast Greenland National Park.
Sif Glacier, is a glacier in northern Greenland. Administratively it belongs to the Northeast Greenland National Park.
Nansen Land is a peninsula in far northwestern Greenland. It is a part of the Northeast Greenland National Park.
The Nordpasset, meaning "North Pass" in Danish, is a glacial valley in Peary Land, Greenland. Administratively it is part of the Northeast Greenland National Park.