Christian IV Glacier ( da, Christian IV Gletscher or ''Kong Christian den IV's Gletscher'') is a large

glacier A glacier (; ) is a persistent body of dense ice that is constantly moving under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires distinguishing features, such as ...

on the east coast of the Greenland ice sheet. It is named after King

Christian IV of Denmark Christian IV (12 April 1577 – 28 February 1648) was King of Denmark and Norway and Duke of Holstein and Schleswig from 1588 until his death in 1648. His reign of 59 years, 330 days is the longest of Danish monarchs and Scandinavian mon ...

(1577 – 1648). Administratively this glacier is part of the

Sermersooq Sermersooq (, da, sted med meget is, lit=place of much ice) is a municipality in Greenland, formed on 1 January 2009 from five earlier, smaller municipalities. Its administrative seat is the city of Nuuk (formerly called Godthåb), the capital ...

Municipality. Google Earth The area surrounding Christian IV Glacier is uninhabited.

Geography

The Christian IV Glacier is a non-surge type

valley glacier A valley is an elongated low area often running between Hill, hills or Mountain, mountains, which will typically contain a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers ...

that does not drain the ice sheet directly, but flows partly from it across the mountainous areas of the

Gronau Nunataks The Gronau Nunataks ( da, Gronau Nunatakker) is a mountain range in King Christian IX Land, eastern Greenland. Administratively this range is part of the Sermersooq Municipality. History This group of nunataks at the edge of the vast Greenland ...

through the Gronau Glacier and the Grønlands Styrelse Glacier tributaries. Further south it separates the Lindbergh Range in the west from the

Watkins Range The Watkins Range ( da, Watkins Bjerge) is Greenland's highest mountain range. It is located in King Christian IX Land, Sermersooq municipality. The range was named after British Arctic explorer Gino Watkins. History Made up entirely of nunat ...

in the east, flowing in a roughly north–south direction until its terminus at the head of the

Nansen Fjord Nansen Fjord is a fjord in King Christian IX Land, Eastern Greenland. It is part of the Sermersooq municipality. Geography This fjord lies in an indented area of the Blosseville Coast where there is a succession of rocky headlands with active glac ...

in the East Greenland coast.''Prostar Sailing Directions 2005 Greenland and Iceland Enroute'', p. 110 This fast-flowing glacier is similar in structure to the neighbouring

Kronborg Glacier Kronborg Glacier ( da, Kronborg Gletscher) is a glacier on the east coast of the Greenland ice sheet. It is named after Kronborg Castle in Denmark. Administratively this glacier is part of the Sermersooq Municipality. Google Earth The area surrou ...

. It is one of the longest glaciers in Greenland, and with a width of up to , it is comparable in approximate length and width to the Beardmore Glacier in

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest cont ...

.Brooks, C.K. ''Geomorphological Observations at Kangerdlugssuaq, East Greenland'', Greenland Geoscience, Vol 1, 1979 p. 16

References

External links

Forbidden Coast - Aurora Arktika
Glaciers of Greenland {{Greenland-geo-stub

Geography

See also

Further reading

References

External links