Henson Glacier ( da, Henson Gletscher), is one of the major
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 over many years, often centuries. It acquires distinguishing features, such as ...
s in northern
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 i ...
.
[Contribution to the glaciology of northern Greenland - UCI ESS](_blank)
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It was named in 1917 for African-American Arctic explorer Matthew Henson
Matthew Alexander Henson (August 8, 1866March 9, 1955) was an African American explorer who accompanied Robert Peary on seven voyages to the Arctic over a period of nearly 23 years. They spent a total of 18 years on expeditions together. by Knud Rasmussen
Knud Johan Victor Rasmussen (; 7 June 1879 – 21 December 1933) was a Greenlandic–Danish polar explorer and anthropologist. He has been called the "father of Eskimology" (now often known as Inuit Studies or Greenlandic and Arctic Studie ...
during the Second Thule Expedition to north Greenland. The Henson Gletscher Formation, which preserves trilobites
Trilobites (; meaning "three lobes") are extinct marine arthropods that form the class Trilobita. Trilobites form one of the earliest-known groups of arthropods. The first appearance of trilobites in the fossil record defines the base of the At ...
and echinoderm
An echinoderm () is any member of the phylum Echinodermata (). The adults are recognisable by their (usually five-point) radial symmetry, and include starfish, brittle stars, sea urchins, sand dollars, and sea cucumbers, as well as the s ...
fossils, among others, is named after this glacier.
Geography
The Henson Glacier originates in the Greenland Ice Cap
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 equiv ...
. It is roughly north–south oriented and has its terminus at the head of the J.P. Koch Fjord. The Expedition Glacier discharges from the west north of the terminus of the Henson Glacier, between the head of the fjord and Navarana Fjord on the Freuchen Land side. The Hans Tausen Ice Cap is located to the east, close to the glacier tongue.Kap Gletscher
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Bibliography
*H.P. Trettin (ed.), ''Geology of the Innuitian Orogen and Arctic Platform of Canada and Greenland''. Geological Survey of Canada (1991)
See also
* Henson Gletscher Formation
*List of glaciers in Greenland
This is a list of glaciers in Greenland. Details on the size and flow of some of the major Greenlandic glaciers are listed by Eric Rignot and Pannir Kanagaratnam (2006)
Ice sheets and caps
*Greenland Ice Sheet
* Christian Erichsen Ice Cap
*Flad ...
*Peary Land
Peary Land is a peninsula in northern Greenland, extending into the Arctic Ocean. It reaches from Victoria Fjord in the west to Independence Fjord in the south and southeast, and to the Arctic Ocean in the north, with Cape Morris Jesup, the nort ...
References
External links
Middle Cambrian echinoderm remains from the Henson Gletscher Formation of North Greenland
Glaciers of Greenland
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