Maniitsoq Ice Cap

"Sukkertoppen (Greenland)" redirects here. For the town, see Maniitsoq.
Maniitsoq Ice Cap
Sukkertoppen iskappe
Aerial view of the ice cap in poor visibility.
Map showing the location of Maniitsoq Ice Cap
Map showing the location of Maniitsoq Ice Cap
TypeIce cap
LocationGreenland
Coordinates66°13′N 52°11′W / 66.217°N 52.183°W / 66.217; -52.183
Area1,600 km2 (620 sq mi)
Length58 kilometres (36 mi)
Thickness400 m (1,300 ft) average
TerminusOutlet glaciers
StatusRetreating

Maniitsoq Ice Cap (old spelling: Manîtsoq, Danish: Sukkertoppen iskappe or Sukkertoppen isflade) is a 58 km × 41 km (36 mi × 25 mi) ice cap[1] in the Qeqqata municipality in western Greenland.

Geography

There are no settlements in the vicinity of the ice cap. In the southeast, Maniitsoq ice cap is separated from the westward tongue of the Greenland ice sheet by the narrow Kangerlussuatsiaup Qingua valley. The summit of the ice cap reaches between 1,300 metres (4,265 ft) and 1,800 metres (5,906 ft).[2] The maximum height is marked as an 8,000 feet (2,438 m) high summit in the Defense Mapping Agency Greenland Navigation charts,[3] although it does not rise above 1,850 metres (6,070 ft).[2]

In the south, several mountain glaciers drain it towards the upper reaches of the Kangerlussuatsiaq Fjord. To the west, the ice cap is drained by the long Sermitsiaq Glacier. To the northwest, numerous mountain glaciers drain it towards Kangerlussuaq Fjord.[4] To the northeast of the ice sheet lies the wide highland of Angujaartorfiup Nunaa, home to herds of muskoxen,[5] originally reintroduced in its northern part from the populations of the Northeast Greenland National Park.[6]

Defense Mapping Agency map of Greenland section

See also

References

  1. ^ Sugden, D. (1972). "Deglaciation and Isostasy in the Sukkertoppen Ice Cap Area, West Greenland". Arctic and Alpine Research. 4 (2): 97–117. doi:10.1029/2008JF001173. JSTOR 1550394.
  2. ^ a b Google Earth
  3. ^ 1:1,000,000 scale Operational Navigation Chart, Sheet B-9
  4. ^ Maniitsoq, Saga Map, Tage Schjøtt, 1992
  5. ^ "Moskusokser ved Kangerlussuaq tælles". Kalaallit Nunaata Radioa (in Danish). 12 February 2010. Archived from the original on 21 July 2011. Retrieved 18 May 2010.
  6. ^ O'Carroll, Etain (2005). Greenland and the Arctic. Lonely Planet. p. 166. ISBN 978-1-74059-095-2.