Salisbury Glacier | |
---|---|
Pinguarsuit Sermiat | |
Type | Tidal outlet glacier |
Location | Greenland |
Coordinates | 76°41′N68°44′W / 76.683°N 68.733°W |
Width | 0.45 km (0.28 mi) |
Terminus | Wolstenholme Fjord Baffin Bay |
The Salisbury Glacier (Greenlandic : Pinguarsuit Sermiat) is a glacier in Greenland. [1]
This glacier is located in the far northwest of Greenland, to the north of the Thule Air Base. It is one of four large glaciers which feeds the Wolstenholme Fjord (sometimes referred to as "the world's largest ice machine"). The other glaciers are the Chamberlin Glacier, the Knud Rasmussen Glacier, and the Harald Moltke Glacier. The Salisbury Glacier is over 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) in length and is approximately 450 metres (1,480 ft) in width.
Greenland is located between the Arctic Ocean and the North Atlantic Ocean, northeast of Canada and northwest of Iceland. The territory comprises the island of Greenland—the largest island in the world—and more than a hundred other smaller islands. Greenland has a 1.2-kilometer-long (0.75 mi) border with Canada on Hans Island. A sparse population is confined to small settlements along certain sectors of the coast. Greenland possesses the world's second-largest ice sheet.
In glaciology, an ice sheet, also known as a continental glacier, is a mass of glacial ice that covers surrounding terrain and is greater than 50,000 km2 (19,000 sq mi). The only current ice sheets are the Antarctic ice sheet and the Greenland ice sheet. Ice sheets are bigger than ice shelves or alpine glaciers. Masses of ice covering less than 50,000 km2 are termed an ice cap. An ice cap will typically feed a series of glaciers around its periphery.
The Greenland ice sheet is an ice sheet which forms the second largest body of ice in the world. It is an average of 1.67 km (1.0 mi) thick, and over 3 km (1.9 mi) thick at its maximum. It is almost 2,900 kilometres (1,800 mi) long in a north–south direction, with a maximum width of 1,100 kilometres (680 mi) at a latitude of 77°N, near its northern edge. The ice sheet covers 1,710,000 square kilometres (660,000 sq mi), around 80% of the surface of Greenland, or about 12% of the area of the Antarctic ice sheet. The term 'Greenland ice sheet' is often shortened to GIS or GrIS in scientific literature.
Glacial motion is the motion of glaciers, which can be likened to rivers of ice. It has played an important role in sculpting many landscapes. Most lakes in the world occupy basins scoured out by glaciers. Glacial motion can be fast or slow, but is typically around 25 centimetres per day (9.8 in/d).
An ice stream is a region of fast-moving ice within an ice sheet. It is a type of glacier, a body of ice that moves under its own weight. They can move upwards of 1,000 metres (3,300 ft) a year, and can be up to 50 kilometres (31 mi) in width, and hundreds of kilometers in length. They tend to be about 2 km (1.2 mi) deep at the thickest, and constitute the majority of the ice that leaves the sheet. In Antarctica, the ice streams account for approximately 90% of the sheet's mass loss per year, and approximately 50% of the mass loss in Greenland.
A moulin is a roughly circular, vertical well-like shaft formed where a surface meltstream exploits a weakness in the ice. The term is derived from the French word for mill.
Wolstenholme Fjord is a fjord in Avannaata municipality, Northwest Greenland. It is located to the north of the Thule Air Base and adjacent to the abandoned Inuit settlement of Narsaarsuk.
The Chamberlin Glacier is located in the far northwest of Greenland, to the north of the Thule Air Base. It is one of four large glaciers which feeds the Wolstenholme Fjord. The other glaciers are the Salisbury Glacier, the Knud Rasmussen Glacier, and the Harald Moltke Glacier. The Chamberlin Glacier is the longest of the four glaciers and is approximately 800 metres (2,600 ft) in width.
The Knud Rasmussen Glacier is located in the far northwest of Greenland, to the north of the Thule Air Base. It is one of four large glaciers which feeds the Wolstenholme Fjord. The other glaciers are the Salisbury Glacier, the Chamberlin Glacier, and the Harald Moltke Glacier. The Knud Rasmussen Glacier is over 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) in length and is approximately 900 metres (3,000 ft) in width.
The Harald Moltke Glacier is a glacier in Greenland.
Jakobshavn Glacier, also known as Ilulissat Glacier, is a large outlet glacier in West Greenland. It is located near the Greenlandic town of Ilulissat and ends at the sea in the Ilulissat Icefjord.
Glacier ice accumulation occurs through accumulation of snow and other frozen precipitation, as well as through other means including rime ice, avalanching from hanging glaciers on cliffs and mountainsides above, and re-freezing of glacier meltwater as superimposed ice. Accumulation is one element in the glacier mass balance formula, with ablation counteracting. With successive years in which accumulation exceeds ablation, then a glacier will experience positive mass balance, and its terminus will advance.
Glacier morphology, or the form a glacier takes, is influenced by temperature, precipitation, topography, and other factors. The goal of glacial morphology is to gain a better understanding of glaciated landscapes and the way they are shaped. Types of glaciers can range from massive ice sheets, such as the Greenland ice sheet, to small cirque glaciers found perched on mountain tops. Glaciers can be grouped into two main categories:
Tasiusaq Bay is a bay in the Upernavik Archipelago in the Avannaata municipality in northwestern Greenland. It is an indentation of northeastern Baffin Bay. The name of the bay derives from the name of the settlement of the same name in the bay.
Hayes Glacier is a tidewater glacier in the Avannaata municipality, located on the northwestern shore of Greenland.
Aukarnersuaq Island is an uninhabited island in Avannaata municipality in northwestern Greenland.
Kjer Glacier is a tidewater glacier in the northwestern shore of Greenland. Administratively it belongs to Avannaata municipality.
Niviarsiat is a mountain in the Kujalleq municipality, southern Greenland.
Henson may refer to: