Griffenfeld Island, Griffenfeldt Island, ( da, Griffenfeld Ø) or Umanaq ("the mountain in the shape of a heart"), after the name of the highest peak. is an uninhabited island in the
Sermersooq municipality in southern
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 t ...
.
History
The island was named after Danish Statesman Count
Peder Griffenfeld
Count Peder Griffenfeld (before ennoblement Peder Schumacher) (24 August 1635 – 12 March 1699) was a Danish statesman and royal favourite. He became the principal adviser to King Christian V of Denmark from 1670 and the ''de facto'' ruler of ...
(1635–1699) by
Wilhelm August Graah during his 1829 expedition to the east coast of Greenland. Graah thought that he could see the distant
Niviarsiat peaks, on the western side of the
Greenland ice sheet
The Greenland ice sheet ( da, Grønlands indlandsis, kl, Sermersuaq) is a vast body of ice covering , roughly near 80% of the surface of Greenland. It is sometimes referred to as an ice cap, or under the term ''inland ice'', or its Danish equiva ...
, from the highest point of Griffenfeldt Island
Fridtjof Nansen
Fridtjof Wedel-Jarlsberg Nansen (; 10 October 186113 May 1930) was a Norwegian polymath and Nobel Peace Prize laureate. He gained prominence at various points in his life as an explorer, scientist, diplomat, and humanitarian. He led the team t ...
discovered old
Eskimo
Eskimo () is an exonym used to refer to two closely related Indigenous peoples: the Inuit (including the Alaska Native Iñupiat, the Greenlandic Inuit, and the Canadian Inuit) and the Yupik peoples, Yupik (or Siberian Yupik, Yuit) of eastern Si ...
ruins at the foot of Umanaq mountain in 1882.
Knud Rasmussen visited the island in 1932, in the course of his
Sixth Thule Expedition and described Griffenfeld Island as "barren and exposed to the fogs and winter ice of the sea".
Geography
Griffenfeld Island is a coastal island located off
King Frederick VI Coast in southeastern Greenland, separated from the mainland by a narrow sound. It lies south of the mouth of
Sehested Fjord
Sehested Fjord ( kl, Uummannap Kangertiva)) is a fjord of the King Frederick VI Coast in the Sermersooq municipality, southeastern Greenland.
This fjord was named in 1829 by Lieutenant W. A. Graah after Danish Admiral Christen Thomesen Sehested.
...
and
Kattertooq
Kattertooq, meaning 'where there is much blue ice' in the Greenlandic language,) is a fjord of the King Frederick VI Coast in the Sermersooq municipality, southeastern Greenland.GoogleEarth Geography
Kattertooq is located north of the King Dan P ...
, and north of the mouth of
Timmiarmiut Fjord
Timmiarmiut Fjord (old spelling 'Tingmiarmiut Fjord'; kl, Timmiarmiit Kangertivat)) is a fjord of the King Frederick VI Coast in the Sermersooq municipality, southeastern Greenland.
Geography
Timmiarmiut Fjord is located north of Sikuijivitteq ...
.
GoogleEarth
Google Earth is a computer program that renders a 3D representation of Earth based primarily on satellite imagery. The program maps the Earth by superimposing satellite images, aerial photography, and GIS data onto a 3D globe, allowing users ...
Its length is and its maximum width .
[''Prostar Sailing Directions 2005 Greenland and Iceland Enroute,'' p. 101]
The island's coast is deeply indented and off its shore lie several small islets.
See also
*
List of islands of Greenland
The following is an alphabetical list of the islands of Greenland. Many of these islands have both a Kalaallisut language name and a European language name.
Islands and archipelagoes
* Aaluik
* Aasiaat Archipelago
* Achton Friis Islands
* A ...
References
{{Reflist, 2
External links
New insights on the north-eastern part of the Ketilidian orogen in South-East Greenland
Uninhabited islands of Greenland
Sermersooq