Zackenberg (or ZERO - Zackenberg Ecological Research Operations), or Zackenberg Research Station, is an ecosystem research station and monitoring facility situated in the

Northeast Greenland National Park Northeast Greenland National Park ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaanni nuna eqqissisimatitaq, da, Grønlands Nationalpark) is the world's largest national park and the 10th List of largest protected areas in the world, largest protected area (the only large ...

in northeastern

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 ...

. The station is owned by the Greenland Self-Government and was run by the Danish Polar Center (Dansk Polarcenter)
Danish Polar Center
East Greenland until 2008. In 2009 the running of the Station was transferred to th
Dept of Arctic Environment
at th
Danish National Environmental Research Institute

NERI

Geography

Zackenberg Ecological Research Operations is named after the Zackenberg, Zackenberg Mountain and lies in the eastern part of

King Christian X Land King Christian X Land ( da, Kong Christian X Land) is an area of northeastern Greenland. History This area was named after King Christian X of Denmark and Iceland (1870 – 1947), who rose to the throne in 1912. At the time of the Three-year E ...

about 2 km inland on the south coast of

Wollaston Foreland Wollaston Foreland ( da, Wollaston Forland) is a peninsula in King Christian X Land, East Greenland. Administratively it belongs to the NE Greenland National Park area. History This peninsula was named by William Scoresby in 1822 as a testimony ...

peninsula at

Young Sound Young Sound ( da, Young Sund) is a marine channel with a fjord structure in King Christian X Land, East Greenland. Administratively it is part of the Northeast Greenland National Park zone. History The fjord was given the name "Young’s Bay" by ...

in the

Greenland Sea The Greenland Sea is a body of water that borders Greenland to the west, the Svalbard archipelago to the east, Fram Strait and the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Norwegian Sea and Iceland to the south. The Greenland Sea is often defined as p ...

, roughly northwest of

Ittoqqortoormiit Ittoqqortoormiit (East Greenlandic: ; West Greenlandic: ''Illoqqortoormiut'' ), formerly known as Scoresbysund, is a settlement in the Sermersooq municipality in eastern Greenland. Its population was 345 as of 2020 and has been described as one of ...

. About southwest of the station lies the high ''Mount Zackenberg''.

Daneborg station Daneborg (or Daneborg Station) is a station on the south coast of Wollaston Foreland peninsula of northeast Greenland, at the mouth of Young Sund emptying into Greenland Sea. Daneborg serves as the headquarters for the SIRIUS Patrol, the dog sle ...

is about southeast of Zackenberg. Near the Zackenberg Station is the Zackenberg River, part of a

fjord In physical geography, a fjord or fiord () is a long, narrow inlet with steep sides or cliffs, created by a glacier. Fjords exist on the coasts of Alaska, Antarctica, British Columbia, Chile, Denmark, Germany, Greenland, the Faroe Islands, Ice ...

with outflow

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 ...

s. The

Freya Glacier In Norse paganism, Freyja (Old Norse "(the) Lady") is a goddess associated with love, beauty, fertility, sex, war, gold, and seiðr (magic for seeing and influencing the future). Freyja is the owner of the necklace Brísingamen, rides a chario ...

is located on

Clavering Island Clavering Island ( da, Clavering Ø) is a large island in eastern Greenland off Gael Hamke Bay, to the south of Wollaston Foreland. The Eskimonaes ''(Eskimonæs)'' radio and weather station was on this island. It was staffed by Danish scientists ...

10km southeast of the Zackenberg Research Station.

Climate

Zackenberg Station is situated in a

tundra In physical geography, tundra () is a type of biome where tree growth is hindered by frigid temperatures and short growing seasons. The term ''tundra'' comes through Russian (') from the Kildin Sámi word (') meaning "uplands", "treeless moun ...

climate Climate is the long-term weather pattern in an area, typically averaged over 30 years. More rigorously, it is the mean and variability of meteorological variables over a time spanning from months to millions of years. Some of the meteorologic ...

( ET), with long, cold winters and short, cool summers. Despite its high humidity, precipitation is relatively low.

Facilities

Zackenberg has 10 buildings holding scientific equipment and laboratories, living accommodations and a communication room.
Zackenberg Station The station can host up to 20 persons at the same time with additional 10 persons at the branch facility at Daneborg. Zackenberg Station has normally been open for scientists from June to August but since 2007 the season has been extended from approximately May to October. Research takes place within the framework ZERO (Zackenberg Ecological Research Operations) dealing with issues concerning

ecosystem An ecosystem (or ecological system) consists of all the organisms and the physical environment with which they interact. These biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and energy flows. Energy enters the syste ...

science.

History

A group of experienced scientists investigated various potential locations for a new research facility in Northeast Greenland in 1991 and concluded that the position near the Zackenberg Elv delta was optimal. The construction of the station was started in 1995 and the station was officially opened in August 1997.

References

External links