Tracy Glacier ( da, Tracy 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 Benjamin F. Tracy (1830 – 1915),

United States Secretary of the Navy The secretary of the Navy (or SECNAV) is a statutory officer () and the head (chief executive officer) of the United States Department of the Navy, Department of the Navy, a military department (component organization) within the United States D ...

, who granted him three years' leave in order to engage in Arctic explorations.PEARY MAY SEEK THE POLE.; SECRETARY TRACY DECIDES TO GRANT THE REQUEST OF THE SCIENTISTS. - NY Times, 1892
/ref>

Geography

The Tracy 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

Josephine Peary Island Josephine may refer to: People * Josephine (given name), a given name (including a list of people with the name) * Josephine (singer), a Greek pop singer Places *Josephine, Texas, United States *Mount Josephine (disambiguation) * Josephine Count ...

. Its terminus lies between two

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. ...

Mount Lee Mount Lee is a peak in the Santa Monica Mountains, located in Griffith Park in Los Angeles, California, USA. The Hollywood Sign is located on its southern slope. History The original unnamed peak was one of the "three sisters" along with C ...

, the northern one, separates it from the Farquhar Glacier to the northwest and a larger nunatak, the Smithson Range, separates it from the Heilprin Glacier to the south. Although the Tracy Glacier is contiguous to the Heilprin 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

Identifying 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-glacier-stub

Geography

See also

References

External links