Meteorite Island
  Meteorite Island | |
| Geography | |
|---|---|
| Location | Baffin Bay, Greenland |
| Coordinates | 76°01′11″N 65°06′54″W / 76.0197°N 65.1149°W |
| Administration | |
Greenland | |
| Demographics | |
| Population | uninhabited |
Meteorite Island (Danish: Meteorit Ø) is an island in Baffin Bay, in the Qaasuitsup municipality, off NW Greenland.[1]
The Cape York Meteorite fell thousands of years ago on the southern shore of this island.[2]
Geography
Meteorite Island is quite barren and desolate. It lies off the shore of Meteor Bay and is part of a small chain of coastal islands formed by Meteorite Island, Salve Island, George Island, Bushnan Island and a small islet, and is the largest of the group. This chain of islands is located between Cape York and Cape Melville.[3]
The now abandoned Inuit village of Savissivik is located at the southwestern end of Meteorite Island.[4] The settlement had a heliport, Savissivik Heliport and in 2010 it had 66 inhabitants.[5] In the Greenlandic language, the name of the settlement Savissivik means 'place of meteorite iron' (savik = iron/knife),[6] alluding to the numerous meteorites from 10,000 years ago that have been found in the area.[7] The meteorite is estimated to have weighed 100 tonnes before it exploded.[7] The iron from the meteorite attracted migrating Inuit from Arctic Canada.[7]
_-_a_narrative_of_life_and_work_along_the_shores_and_upon_the_interior_ice-cap_of_northern_Greenland_in_the_years_1886_and_1891-1897_-_with_a_description_of_(20439835549).jpg) |
  Location of Meteorite Island |
See also
References
- ^ Hakluyt Island, Greenland
- ^ The cultural history of the Innaanganeq meteorite
- ^ 1:1,000,000 scale Operational Navigation Chart, Sheet B-8, 3rd edition
- ^ Mapcarta - Savissivik
- ^ Statistics Greenland Template:Da icon
- ^ quarkexpeditions.com
- ^ a b c "Lured by iron meteorite". Suluk. 4. Air Greenland: 6. 2010.
External links
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