Heilprin Glacier ( da, Heilprin Gletscher), is a

glacier A glacier (; ) is a persistent body of dense ice that is constantly moving under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its Ablation#Glaciology, ablation over many years, often Century, centuries. It acquires dis ...

in northwestern

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 ...

. Administratively it belongs to the

Avannaata Avannaata (, da, Det Nordlige, lit=The Northern) is a municipality of Greenland created on 1 January 2018 from the bulk of the former Qaasuitsup municipality. It encompasses an area of 522,700 km2 and has 10,726 inhabitants. Geography In ...

municipality. This glacier was named by

Robert Peary Robert Edwin Peary Sr. (; May 6, 1856 – February 20, 1920) was an American explorer and officer in the United States Navy who made several expeditions to the Arctic in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He is best known for, in Apri ...

after geologist, paleontologist and naturalist

Angelo Heilprin Angelo Heilprin (March 31, 1853 – July 17, 1907) was an American geologist, paleontologist, naturalist, and explorer. He is mostly known for the part he took into the Peary expedition to Greenland of 1891–1892 and for his observations and ...

(1853 – 1907), curator of the

Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences The Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, formerly the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, is the oldest natural science research institution and museum in the Americas. It was founded in 1812, by many of the leading natura ...

, who took part in the

Peary expedition to Greenland of 1891–92 Peary may refer to: People Last name * Danny Peary (born 1949), American film critic and sports writer * Gerald Peary (born 1944), American film critic * Harold Peary (1908–1985), American actor, comedian and singer * Josephine Diebitsch Peary ( ...

.Robert Neff Keely, Gwilym George Davis, ''In Arctic Seas: the Voyage of the Kite with the Peary Expedition,'' 2011 p. 373

Geography

The Heilprin Glacier discharges from 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 ...

into the head of the

Inglefield Fjord Inglefield Gulf or Inglefield Fjord ( da, Inglefield Bredning; kl, Kangerlussuaq) is a fjord in northwestern Greenland. To the west, the fjord opens into the Baffin Bay. Administratively it belongs to the Avannaata municipality. Inglefield Gulf ...

just east of the

Harvard Islands The Harvard Islands ( da, Harward Øer) are an island group east of Qaanaaq in the Avannaata Municipality, northwestern Greenland. They are located near the head of the Inglefield Fjord, north of the mouth of the Academy Fjord and just east of th ...

and northeast of Quajaqqisaarsuaq. Its terminus lies between the Smithson Range

nunatak 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. Examples are natural pyramidal peaks. ...

that separates it from the Tracy Glacier to the north, and

Nunatarsuaq Nunatarsuaq (old spelling: ''Nunatarssuaq'', da, Hovgård Kystland) is a nunatak ( kl, nunataq) in Avannaata municipality in northwestern Greenland. Geography Nunatarsuaq is one of several nunataks in the Melville Bay region of Greenland, w ...

, a plateau dotted with lakes to the south. Both neighboring glaciers drain roughly of the Greenland Ice Sheet. Although the Heilprin Glacier is contiguous to the Tracy Glacier, both glaciers have a different nature, a fact which has been a source of puzzlement for scientists for over a century.

References

External links

NASA - Decline of Two Glaciers in Northwest GreenlandIdentifying Spatial Variability in Greenland's Outlet Glacier Response to Ocean HeatThe recent regimen of the ice cap margin in North Greenland
Glaciers of Greenland {{Greenland-geo-stub

Geography

See also

References

External links