Nunatak
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A nunatak (from Inuit nunataq) is the summit or ridge of a mountain that protrudes from an ice field or glacier that otherwise covers most of the mountain or ridge. They are also called glacial islands.[2] Examples are natural pyramidal peaks. When rounded by glacial action, smaller rock promontories may be referred to as rognons.[3][4]
The word is of Greenlandic origin[5] and has been used in English since the 1870s.
Description
The term is typically used in areas where a permanent ice sheet is present and the nunataks protrude above the sheet.[6] Nunataks present readily identifiable landmark reference points in glaciers or ice caps and are often named. While some nunataks are isolated, sometimes they form dense clusters, such as Queen Louise Land in Greenland.[7]
Nunataks are generally angular and jagged, which hampers the formation of glacial ice on their tops, although snow can accumulate on them. They usually contrast strongly with the softer contours of the glacially eroded land after a glacier retreats.
Typically nunataks are the only places where plant life can survive on ice sheets or ice caps. Lifeforms on nunataks are frequently isolated by the surrounding ice or glacier, providing unique habitats.[8]
List
- Aitken Nunatak
- Åkerlundh Nunatak
- Altsek Nunatak
- Anoritooq
- Appalachia Nunataks
- Arena Corner
- Arkhangel'skiy Nunataks
- Arrowhead Nunatak
- Atanasoff Nunatak
- Aviator Nunatak
- Belknap Nunatak
- Berg Mountains
- Bering Nunatak
- Bon Docteur Nunatak
- Bradley Nunatak
- Branson Nunatak
- Brusilov Nunataks
- Cameron Nunataks
- Canisp, formed as a Nunatak
- Cassandra Nunatak
- Castillo Nunatak
- Cat Nunatak
- Cathedral Peak
- C. H. Ostenfeld Nunatak
- Cheeks Nunatak
- Copper Nunataks
- Crosby Nunataks
- Daniels Hill
- Dean Nunataks
- Dodd Nunatak
- Dotten Nunatak
- Downs Nunatak
- Drury Nunatak
- Du Toit Nunataks
- Dziura Nunatak
- Eaton Nunatak
- Else Nunataks
- Erehwon Nunatak
- Exile Nunatak
- Exiles Nunataks
- Fallone Nunataks
- Faraway How
- Ferguson Nunataks
- Fiebelman Nunatak
- Fin Nunatak
- Foltz Nunatak
- Fomalhaut Nunatak
- Fraser Nunatak
- Friedmann Nunataks
- Galkin Nunatak
- Gardner Nunatak
- Gillett Nunataks
- Gomez Nunatak
- Goodwin Nunataks
- Gora Severny Nunatak
- Gould Nunataks
- Gratton Nunatak
- Gromov Nunataks
- Gronau Nunataks
- Grossman Nunataks
- Guardian Nunatak
- Hamner Nunatak
- Harvey Nunataks
- Henry Nunataks
- Kjuklingen Nunatak
- Klawatti Peak
- Lacroix Nunatak
- Lands End Nunataks
- Lang Nunatak
- Laputa Nunataks
- Lawson Nunatak
- Lawson Nunataks
- Lee Nunatak
- Lilliput Nunataks
- Lodalskåpa
- Longs Nunatak
- López Nunatak
- Luck Nunatak
- MacDonald Nunataks
- Marujupu Peak
- Meade Nunatak
- Meyers Nunatak
- Mulgrew Nunatak
- Newman Nunataks
- Nødtvedt Nunataks
- Nunatakassak
- Nunatarsuaq
- Nunatarsuaq (Tasiusaq Bay)
- Olander Nunatak
- Olson Nunatak
- Orsugissap Qaqqarsua
- Packsaddle Island
- Price Nunatak
- Queen Louise Land
- Quest Nunatak
- Quilty Nunataks
- Ringed Nunatak
- Robertson Nunatak
- Schloredt Nunatak
- See Nunatak
- Shelton Nunataks
- Ship Nunatak
- Shoemake Nunatak
- Stac Pollaidh, formed as a Nunatak
- Starr Nunatak
- Stinear Nunataks
- Suilven, formed as a Nunatak
- Svarthamaren Mountain
- Swartz Nunataks
- Symes Nunatak
- Syningen Nunatak
- Tommeliten Rock
- Trioen Nunataks
- Tuttulikassak
- Utsteinen Nunatak
- Velchev Rock
- Vesleskarvet
- Wandel Land
- Watkins Range
- Whichaway Nunataks
- White Nunataks
- Willan Nunatak
- Windscoop Nunataks
- Yingling Nunatak
- Young Nunataks
- Zohn Nunataks
See also
- Fell – High and barren landscape feature
- Glacial landform – Landform created by the action of glaciers
References
- ^ Vieira, G.T.; Ferreira, A.B. (1998). "General characteristics of the glacial geomorphology of the Serra da Estrela" (PDF). In G.T. Vieira (ed.). 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 October 16, 2011.
- ^ Physical Geography: Hydrosphere, 2006, ISBN 8183561675, p. 114
- ^ Neuendorf, Klaus K. E.; Institute, American Geological (2005). Glossary of Geology. Springer Science & Business Media. ISBN 9780922152766.
- ^ "Rognon definition and meaning | Collins English Dictionary". www.collinsdictionary.com. Retrieved 2019-02-06.
- ^ "Merriam-Webster: nunatak". Retrieved October 16, 2011.
- ^ J. J. Zeeberg, Climate and Glacial History of the Novaya Zemlya Archipelago, Russian Arctic. pp. 82-84
- ^ "Dronning Louise Land". Mapcarta. Retrieved 2 July 2016.
- ^ ice cap - National Geographic Society
External links
Media related to Nunataks at Wikimedia Commons
- Nunatak survival of the high Alpine plant Eritrichium nanum