Odinland ( da, Odin Land), also ''Odinsland'' in the
Defense Mapping Agency
The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) is a combat support agency within the United States Department of Defense whose primary mission is collecting, analyzing, and distributing geospatial intelligence (GEOINT) in support of nationa ...
Greenland Navigation charts, is a
peninsula in the
King Frederick VI Coast
King Frederick VI Coast ( da, Kong Frederik VI Kyst) is a major geographic division of Greenland. It comprises the coastal area of Southeastern Greenland in Sermersooq and Kujalleq municipalities fronting the Irminger Sea of the North Atlantic ...
, southeastern
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 ...
. It is a part of the
Sermersooq
Sermersooq (, da, sted med meget is, lit=place of much ice) is a municipality in Greenland, formed on 1 January 2009 from five earlier, smaller municipalities. Its administrative seat is the city of Nuuk (formerly called Godthåb), the capital ...
municipality
A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate.
The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...
.
The peninsula is fully exposed to the influence of the
Greenland Ice Sheet. In spite of the proximity of the coast and despite being located south of the
Arctic Circle, an
ice cap climate
An ice cap climate is a polar climate where no mean monthly temperature exceeds . The climate covers areas in or near the high latitudes (65° latitude) to polar regions (70–90° north and south latitude), such as Antarctica, some of the northe ...
prevails in Odinland.
History
Arctic explorer Wilhelm August Graah
Wilhelm August Graah (1793–1863) was a Danish naval officer and Arctic explorer. Graah had mapped areas of West Greenland when he, in 1828–30, was sent by King Frederick VI of Denmark on an expedition to the unmapped eastern coast with t ...
of the
Danish Navy
The Royal Danish Navy ( da, Søværnet) is the sea-based branch of the Danish Defence force. The RDN is mainly responsible for maritime defence and maintaining the sovereignty of Danish territorial waters (incl. Faroe Islands and Greenland). Oth ...
explored this area in 1828–30, during an expedition in search of the legendary
Eastern Norse Settlement
The Eastern Settlement ( non, Eystribygð ) was the first and by far the larger of the two main areas of Norse Greenland, settled by Norsemen from Iceland. At its peak, it contained approximately 4,000 inhabitants. The last written record from t ...
and named this lonely peninsula after
Odin.
A large icy coastal stretch was named "Colberger Heide" by Graah, owing to its shore being lined with active glaciers and ice cliffs. This was one of the most dangerous stretches of the shore for the
Southeast-Greenland Inuit that used to live hunting and fishing along the coast.
[Spencer Apollonio, ''Lands that Hold One Spellbound: A Story of East Greenland'', p. 39]
Geography
Odinland is surrounded to the southeast by the
Bernstorff Fjord
Bernstorff Fjord ( da, Bernstorff Isfjord; kl, Kangertittivaq) is a fjord in King Frederick VI Coast, eastern Greenland.
Administratively it is part of the Sermersooq municipality. The fjord was named after Danish statesman Andreas Peter Bernst ...
(Kangertittivaq) —across which lies the
Thorland
Thorland ( da, Thors Land) is a peninsula in the King Frederick VI Coast, southeastern Greenland. It is a part of the Sermersooq municipality. History
One of the coastal islands, Igdluluarssuk (Sattiaatteq) at the entrance of the fjord on its s ...
Peninsula, to the east by the
Irminger Sea
The Irminger Sea is a marginal sea of the North Atlantic Ocean. It is bordered to the west by southern Greenland, to the north by Iceland and the Denmark Strait, to the east by the Reykjanes Ridge (a northern part of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge), ...
and to the north by the
Umiiviip Kangertiva (Gyldenløve Fjord). To the west lies the
Fimbul Glacier
Fimbul Glacier ( da, Fimbulgletscher), is a glacier in eastern Greenland.
This glacier was named after an Old Norse word for "giant" or "mighty".
Geography
The Fimbul Glacier originates in western Odinland, a glaciated peninsula. It flows so ...
and to the northwest the peninsula is attached to the mainland.
GoogleEarth
Google Earth is a computer program that renders a 3D computer graphics, 3D representation of Earth based primarily on satellite imagery. The program maps the Earth by superimposition, superimposing satellite images, aerial photography, and geog ...
Cape Møsting
Cape Møsting ( da, Kap Møsting) is a headland in the North Atlantic Ocean, southeast Greenland, Kujalleq municipality.
History
Cape Møsting was named by Lieutenant Wilhelm August Graah in 1829 during his East Coast expedition. Graah took a la ...
''(Kap Møsting)'' is a steep and prominent headland at the southeastern end near the mouth of the Bernstorff Fjord, at . To the north of this point, the shore is bold and precipitous with glaciers protruding into the sea at every coastal cleft or ravine until the mouth of
Quseertaliip Kangertiva (Otte Krumpen Fjord).
[''Prostar Sailing Directions 2005 Greenland and Iceland Enroute'', p. 102]
At this point the northeastern part of Odinland forms the
Kangerajiip Apusiia (Colberger Heide), a large glacier-covered headland, limited in the southeast by the small Quseertaliip Kangertiva (Otte Krumpen Fjord), to the east by the
Irminger Sea
The Irminger Sea is a marginal sea of the North Atlantic Ocean. It is bordered to the west by southern Greenland, to the north by Iceland and the Denmark Strait, to the east by the Reykjanes Ridge (a northern part of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge), ...
, to the north by the
Umivik Bay and to the northwest by the
Vikingevig.
Unlike the peninsulas further south Odinland is heavily glaciated, with the large
Sleipner Glacier
Sleipner Glacier ( da, Sleipner Gletscher), is a glacier in eastern 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 A ...
flowing westwards from its central part and the
Gjallerbroen flowing eastwards. The
Ydun Glacier,
Gerd Glacier and
Gymer Glacier are smaller glaciers flowing into the Bernstorff Fjord from the southern shore. The
Gungner Ice Cap is located in a roughly eastern position in the middle of the peninsula.
Mountains
In Odinland there are several
nunataks protruding above the ice, with
Ensom Majestaet ('Lonely Majesty'),
Ensomme Skraent ('Lonely Slope'),
Eqaluttusoq,
Hammerfaldet,
Hustoppen ('Housetop'),
Pelikanen,
Spidstoppen and the
Tyr Mountains in the central part of the peninsula, and
Alukajik,
Ørnen,
Tommeltotten and
Trillingerne ('Triplets') in the northeast. The
Brages Range is a long nunatak in the western part rising above the Fimbul Glacier, and the
Alfheimbjerg rises on the other side of the glacier, off Odinland.
The highest point in Odinland is high Ensom Majestaet rising in the central part of the peninsula at .
See also
*
List of Nunataks
*
Renland
Renland is a peninsula in eastern Greenland. It is a part of the Sermersooq municipality. Despite its proximity to the coast Renland has an ice cap climate with bitterly cold winters and very low maximum temperatures in the summer.
Renland was na ...
References
External links
Den grønlandske Lods - GeodatastyrelsenNot so green - Odin Land
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