Christian IV Glacier
Christian IV Gletscher
The southward bend in the Christian IV Glacier with the Gronau Nunataks in the background and the NW part of the Watkins Range on the right.
Map showing the location of Christian IV Glacier
Map showing the location of Christian IV Glacier
Location within Greenland
TypeValley glacier
LocationGreenland
Coordinates68°55′N 30°30′W / 68.917°N 30.500°W / 68.917; -30.500
Length177 km (110 mi)
TerminusDenmark Strait
North Atlantic Ocean

Christian IV Glacier (Danish: Christian IV Gletscher or Kong Christian den IV's Gletscher) is a large glacier on the east coast of the Greenland ice sheet.[1] It is named after King Christian IV of Denmark (1577 – 1648). Administratively this glacier is part of the Sermersooq Municipality.[2] The area surrounding Christian IV Glacier is uninhabited.

Geography

The Christian IV Glacier is a non-surge type valley glacier that does not drain the ice sheet directly, but flows partly from it across the mountainous areas of the Gronau Nunataks through the Gronau Glacier and the Grønlands Styrelse Glacier tributaries.[3] Further south it separates the Lindbergh Range in the west from the Watkins Range in the east, flowing in a roughly north–south direction[1] until its terminus at the head of the Nansen Fjord in the East Greenland coast.[4]

This fast-flowing glacier is similar in structure to the neighbouring Kronborg Glacier. It is one of the longest glaciers in Greenland, and with a width of up to 24 km (15 mi), it is comparable in approximate length and width to the Beardmore Glacier in Antarctica.[5]

See also

Further reading

  • Spencer Apollonio, Lands That Hold One Spellbound: A Story of East Greenland, 2008

References

  1. 1 2 "Christian IV Gletscher". Mapcarta. Retrieved 29 July 2016.
  2. ↑ Google Earth
  3. ↑ Arctic Summits - Pilotsbjerg
  4. ↑ Prostar Sailing Directions 2005 Greenland and Iceland Enroute, p. 110
  5. ↑ Brooks, C.K. Geomorphological Observations at Kangerdlugssuaq, East Greenland, Greenland Geoscience, Vol 1, 1979 p. 16
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