Nunatak
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For the band that played in Antarctica for Live Earth, see Nunatak (band).
A nunatak (from Inuit nunataq) is an exposed, often rocky element of a ridge, mountain, or peak not covered with ice or snow within (or at the edge of) an ice field or glacier. The term is typically used in areas where a permanent ice sheet is present. Nunataks present readily identifiable landmark reference points in glaciers or ice caps and are often named.
Lifeforms on nunataks are frequently isolated by the surrounding ice or glacier creating unique habitats. Nunataks are generally angular and jagged because of freeze-thaw weathering and contrast strongly with the softer contours of the glacially eroded land after a glacier retreats.
The word is of Greenlandic origin[2] and has been used in English since the 1870s.
See also [edit]
- Aitken Nunatak
- Appalachia Nunataks
- Atanasoff Nunatak
- Harvey Nunataks
- Newman Nunataks
- Nodtvedt Nunataks
- Schloredt Nunatak
- Svarthamaren Mountain
- Vesleskarvet
- Young Nunataks
- White Nunataks
- Windscoop Nunataks
- Aviator Nunatak
References [edit]
- ^ Vieira, G.T.; Ferreira, A.B. (1998). "General characteristics of the glacial geomorphology of the Serra da Estrela". In G.T. Vieira. Glacial and Periglacial Geomorphology of the Serra da Estrela. Guidebook for the field-trip IGU Commission on Climate Change and Periglacial Environments, 26-28 August1998. pp. 37–48. Retrieved 2011 October 16.
- ^ "Merriam-Webster: nunatak". Retrieved 2011 October 16.
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