 NASA image of far Northern Greenland. | |
  Melville Land | |
| Geography | |
|---|---|
| Location | Peary Land, Greenland |
| Coordinates | 82°20′N27°10′W / 82.333°N 27.167°W |
| Adjacent to | Independence Fjord Brønlund Fjord |
| Length | 80 km (50 mi) |
| Width | 40 km (25 mi) |
| Highest elevation | 1,157 m (3796 ft) |
| Highest point | Unnamed |
| Administration | |
Greenland (Denmark) | |
| Demographics | |
| Population | Uninhabited |
Melville Land is an area in Peary Land, North Greenland. Administratively it is part of the Northeast Greenland National Park. [1] [2]
Robert Peary named the territory, together with Heilprin Land, in 1892 during his North Greenland Expedition sponsored by the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia. He named it after Chief Engineer George W. Melville (1841–1912), chief of the Bureau of Steam Engineering of the United States Navy. Peary sighted the coast of Melville Land shore from afar to the northeast. He drew a rough map based on the panorama that he saw from Navy Cliff, at the head of Independence Fjord, but did not explore the area. [3] [4]
In 1912 Knud Rasmussen, during his First Thule Expedition, compared favorably Melville Land with the barren and desolate land that he had crossed south of Independence Fjord. He marveled at the abundance of game, including muskoxen, hares and ptarmigan. Birdlife was plentiful, and many seals lay out on the ice of the fjord, basking in the sun. He mentioned that
It was a real delight to see not clay, nor rocks, nor gravel, but earth; mould, dotted everywhere with red-blossoming saxifrage. [5]
The territory was finally mapped with accuracy by Lauge Koch from a height of 2,438 metres (7,999 ft) during his cartographic air expedition of 1938. Koch noted in his exploration that the land was ice-free. [6] [7] [5]
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Melville Land is located in southern Peary Land, on the northern side of the middle section of the Independence Fjord. To the west it is limited by the Bronlund Fjord, and to the east by Kjovesletten, a small coastal area beyond which lies Herlufsholm Strand. Cape Harald Moltke marks the southwestern end and Cape Caroline Marie the southeastern. The Børglum River flows from the Nordkrone southwards at the western end. [8] [1]
Remarkably for the high latitude the terrain is unglaciated. The part along the shore of Independence Fjord has high sandstone cliffs with elevations averaging 460 metres (1,509 ft), including the Pyramide Plateau in the western sector. The banks near the shore are dissected by small river valleys and ravines. The inner part to the north is mountainous and not clearly delimited, with the highest point reaching 1,157 metres (3,796 ft). [9]
Ludvig Mylius-Erichsen was a Danish author, ethnologist, and explorer, from Ringkøbing. He was most notably an explorer of Greenland.
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.
Independence Fjord or Independence Sound is a large fjord or sound in the eastern part of northern Greenland. It is about 200 km (120 mi) long and up to 30 km (19 mi) wide. Its mouth, opening to the Wandel Sea of the Arctic Ocean is located at 82°15′N21°54′W.
King Frederick VIII Land is a major geographic division of northeastern Greenland. It extends above the Arctic Circle from 76°N to 81°N in a North-South direction along the coast of the Greenland Sea.
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The Denmark expedition, also known as the Denmark Expedition to Greenland's Northeast Coast and the Danmark Expedition after the ship's name, was an expedition to northeastern Greenland in 1906–1908.
Wulff Land is a peninsula in far northwestern Greenland. Administratively it is a part of the Northeast Greenland National Park.
Henson Glacier, is one of the major glaciers in northern Greenland.
Bessel Fjord is a fjord in northwestern Greenland. Administratively it belongs to the Avannaata municipality.
Nordkrone is a mountainous area in Peary Land, Northern Greenland. Administratively it is part of the Northeast Greenland National Park.
The Roosevelt Range or Roosevelt Mountains is a mountain range in Northern Greenland. Administratively this range is part of the Northeast Greenland National Park. Its highest peak is the highest point in Peary Land.
The Peary Channel was a hypothetical sound or marine channel running from east to west separating Peary Land in northernmost Greenland from the mainland further south.
Navarana Fjord is a fjord in Peary Land, far northern Greenland. It is named after an Inuit woman.
Nansen Land is a peninsula in far northwestern Greenland. It is a part of the Northeast Greenland National Park.
Cape Clarence Wyckoff, also known as Cape Wyckoff, is a broad headland in the Wandel Sea, Arctic Ocean, northernmost Greenland. Administratively it is part of the Northeast Greenland National Park.
Cape Henry Parish is a broad headland in the Wandel Sea, Arctic Ocean, northernmost Greenland. Administratively it is part of the Northeast Greenland National Park.
Roosevelt Land is a peninsula in far northern Greenland. It is a part of the Northeast Greenland National Park.
Gertrud Rask Land is an area in Peary Land, North Greenland. Administratively it is part of the Northeast Greenland National Park.
Herluf Trolle Land is an area in Peary Land, North Greenland. Administratively it is part of the Northeast Greenland National Park.
The Børglum River is a river in Peary Land, Greenland. It is the largest river in Greenland. Administratively it is part of the Northeast Greenland National Park.