The Spalte Glacier was a large floating
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 a ...
located in
Crown Prince Christian Land
Crown Prince Christian Land ( da, Kronprins Christian Land) is a large peninsula in northern Greenland. It is a part of King Frederick VIII Land and administratively it belongs to the Northeast Greenland National Park.
It was named after Crown P ...
, northeastern
Greenland
Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland is ...
. The glacier broke up and completely disintegrated in July 2020.
Geography
The glacier was a northern offshoot of the
Nioghalvfjerdsbrae glacier as it split either side of
Hovgaard Island. The main flow of the Nioghalvfjerdsbrae flows eastward out into
Nioghalvfjerd Fjord
Nioghalvfjerdsbrae (), sometimes referred to as " 79 N Glacier", is a large glacier located in King Frederick VIII Land, northeastern Greenland. It drains an area of of the Greenland Ice Sheet with a flux (quantity of ice moved from the land to ...
while a smaller branch, the Spalte Glacier, flowed north into
Dijmphna Sound.
In July 2020, satellite images showed the complete break up of the Spalte Glacier. An area of 125 square km of ice broke away leaving a calving front along the side of the main flow of the Nioghalvfjerdsbrae glacier.
See also
*
List of glaciers in Greenland
This is a list of glaciers in Greenland. Details on the size and flow of some of the major Greenlandic glaciers are listed by Eric Rignot and Pannir Kanagaratnam (2006)
Ice sheets and caps
*Greenland Ice Sheet
* Christian Erichsen Ice Cap
* Fla ...
References
Glaciers of Greenland
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