The Roosevelt Range or Roosevelt Mountains ( da, Roosevelt Fjelde) is a

mountain range A mountain range or hill range is a series of mountains or hills arranged in a line and connected by high ground. A mountain system or mountain belt is a group of mountain ranges with similarity in form, structure, and alignment that have arise ...

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 ...

. Administratively this range is part of the Northeast Greenland National Park. Its highest peak is the highest point in

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 ...

. Located about from the

North Pole The North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is the point in the Northern Hemisphere where the Earth's rotation, Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface. It is called the True North Pole to distingu ...

, the Roosevelt Range is the northernmost mountain range on Earth.2002 American Alpine Journal, p.286

History

The mountain chain was named by Robert Peary after U.S. President

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...

, who would become one of the main backers of Peary's 1905 Arctic expedition. During the first half of the 20th century the range was quite unexplored, except for the mapping from the coast in 1907 of the

Daly Range The Daly Range or Daly Mountains ( da, Daly Bjerge) is a mountain range in Peary Land, Northern Greenland. Administratively this range is part of the Northeast Greenland National Park. It forms the eastern end of the northernmost mountain range ...

by Johan Peter Koch,

Aage Bertelsen Aage Bertelsen (28 September 1873 – 9 September 1945) was a Danish painter. He was a member of the Denmark Expedition to North-East Greenland. He has also worked for Kähler Keramik in Næstved. Biography Early life and career Aage Bertels ...

and Tobias Gabrielsen, the northern team of the ill-fated Denmark expedition, as well as

aerial survey Aerial survey is a method of collecting geomatics or other imagery by using airplanes, helicopters, UAVs, balloons or other aerial methods. Typical types of data collected include aerial photography, Lidar, remote sensing (using various visible ...

s and mapping begun by

Lauge Koch Lauge Koch (5 July 1892 – 5 June 1964) was a Danish geologist and Arctic explorer. Biography Lauge Koch was born in 1892 to Karl and Elisabeth Koch. His development as a scientist was greatly influenced by his father's second cousin Johan P ...

in the 1920s. In 1953 a geological expedition crossed the range through the ''Polkorridoren'' pass from Frigg Fjord to Sands Fjord. The highest peak, Helvetia Tinde was first climbed in 1969 by the members of an expedition of the British Joint Services during a topographic and geological survey of the northern part of Peary Land.2002 American Alpine Journal, p.286 The second ascent of the summit was made in 1996. Later expeditions also went to the northern foothills of the range, not far from

Cape Morris Jesup Cape Morris Jesup ( da, Kap Morris Jesup) is a headland in Peary Land, Greenland. Geography Cape Morris Jesup is the northernmost point of mainland Greenland. It is from the geographic North Pole. It is located in Johannes V. Jensen Land, abo ...

, and sought to identify and climb the "northernmost mountain on earth". North America, Greenland, North Peary Land, North Peary Land, First Ascents, a Traverse of the Peninsula and Confirmation of the World's Most Northerly Peak
/ref>

Geography

The Roosevelt Range is an up to high mountain range in Northern Peary Land, formed by alpine-type mountains. The topography of the mountains is deeply eroded, with sharp, jagged ridges and precipitous cliffs. The area of the range is uninhabited.Crossing North Peary Land in Summer 1953
/ref> Owing to a structural continuum in the mountains between Johannes V. Jensen Land in the east and

Nansen Land Nansen Land is a peninsula in far northwestern Greenland. It is a part of the Northeast Greenland National Park. The Arctic wolf is present in the peninsula. The northern shore facing the Lincoln sea slopes evenly and is fertile for the area, b ...

in the west, American geologist William E. Davies called the wider range the "Nansen-Jensen Alps" in a work he published in 1972. The Roosevelt Range would be thus a subrange of a wider mountain chain with its westernmost foothills in Nansen Land, reaching all the way to Johannes V. Jensen Land in the east.W. E. Davies, ''Landscape of Northern Greenland'' 1972 The Roosevelt Range proper rises in Roosevelt Land in the west and stretches eastward across

Gertrud Rask Land Gertrud Rask Land ( da, Gertrud Rasks Land) is an area in Peary Land, North Greenland. Administratively it is part of the Northeast Greenland National Park.Google Maps The territory was named by Lauge Koch after Gertrud Rask (1673 – 1735), the ...

, north of a valley between the heads of the Harder Fjord in the west and the Frigg Fjord in the east. It extends eastwards in Johannes V. Jensen Land north of the Frederick E. Hyde Fjord beyond the Polkorridoren (Polar Corridor), a mountain pass connecting two glacial valleys running from North to South between the heads of Sands Fjord to the north and Frigg Fjord to the south. Its easternmost subranges almost reach the eastern end of northern Peary Land. The area near the

Lincoln Sea Lincoln Sea (french: Mer de Lincoln; da, Lincolnhavet) is a body of water in the Arctic Ocean, stretching from Cape Columbia, Canada, in the west to Cape Morris Jesup, Greenland, in the east. The northern limit is defined as the great circle lin ...

coast, southwest of

is known as ''Ulvebakkerne'' (Wolf Hills).

Peaks

Apart from its highest point Helvetia Tinde, not many peaks of the Roosevelt Range have been named. Other relevant mountains in the range are Paradisfjeld and Mary Peary Peaks ''(Mary Peary Tinder)'', located east of the Polar Corridor in a roughly central position, as well as Birgit Koch Peaks ''(Birgit Koch Tinder)'' and Rink Mountain ''(Rink Bjerg)'', a little further to the east.

Subranges

The H. H. Benedict Range ''(H. H. Benedict Bjerge)'', highest point

Stjernebannertinde Stjernebannertinde (Starry Banner Peak) is the highest mountain in the H. H. Benedict Range, a subrange of the Roosevelt Range, Northern Greenland. The peak was first climbed in 1996 by the members of the American Top of the World Expedition ( ...

, and the

''(Daly Bjerge)'', both located at the eastern end in Johannes V. Jensen Land, are subranges of the Roosevelt Range.

Glaciers

The valleys between mountains are filled with glaciers or icefields, none of which are very large. In the same manner as other features in this range many glaciers are unnamed. *

Thomas Glacier (Greenland) Thomas Glacier ( da, Thomas Gletscher) is a glacier in northern Greenland. Administratively it belongs to the Northeast Greenland National Park. The glacier was named by Robert Peary after E. B. Thomas, one of the founding members of the Peary ...

* Raven Glacier * A. Harmsworth Glacier * Modvind Glacier * Nord Glacier * Syd Glacier * Malcantone Glacier * Nysne Glacier * Sif Glacier * Borup Glacier * Moore Glacier * Ydun Glacier * Bertelsen Glacier

Geology

The Roosevelt Range forms the northern sub-region of the Innuitian orogeny.H.P. Trettin (ed.), ''Geology of the Innuitian Orogen and Arctic Platform of Canada and Greenland.'' 1991, p. 46 It is part of the belt Caledonian folding that extends eastward from north Ellesmere Island. The ages of rocks in the range area are from Precambrian to Upper Silurian, with low-grade

marble Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite. Marble is typically not foliated (layered), although there are exceptions. In geology, the term ''marble'' refers to metamorphose ...

psammite Psammite ( Greek: ''psammitēs'' "(made) from sand", from ''psammos'' "sand") is a general term for sandstone. It is equivalent to the Latin-derived term areniteU.S. Bureau of Mines Staff (1996) ''Dictionary of Mining, Mineral, & Related Terms.'' ...

s, sandstone, shales, quartzite and mudstones.Alan Nairn (ed.), ''The Arctic Ocean'', p. 246

Bibliography

*H.P. Trettin (ed.), ''Geology of the Innuitian Orogen and Arctic Platform of Canada and Greenland.'' 1991

References

{{Reflist, 2

External links

North America, Greenland, Roosevelt Range, J.V. Jensen Land, Avanarsuasua, ExplorationNordpasset; Peakbagger