Upernavik Glacier
Encyclopedia
Upernavik Glacier is a large tidewater glacier
in the Qaasuitsup
municipality on the northwestern shore of Greenland
. It drains a large portion of the Greenland ice sheet
westwards into Upernavik Icefjord
.
Glacier
A glacier is a large persistent body of ice that forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. At least 0.1 km² in area and 50 m thick, but often much larger, a glacier slowly deforms and flows due to stresses induced by its weight...
in the Qaasuitsup
Qaasuitsup
Qaasuitsup is a new municipality in Greenland, operational from 1 January 2009. As of January 2010 its population is 17,749. The administrative center of the municipality is in Ilulissat...
municipality on the northwestern shore of Greenland
Greenland
Greenland is an autonomous country within the Kingdom of Denmark, located between the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Though physiographically a part of the continent of North America, Greenland has been politically and culturally associated with Europe for...
. It drains a large portion of the Greenland ice sheet
Greenland ice sheet
The Greenland ice sheet is a vast body of ice covering , roughly 80% of the surface of Greenland. It is the second largest ice body in the world, after the Antarctic Ice Sheet. The ice sheet is almost long in a north-south direction, and its greatest width is at a latitude of 77°N, near its...
westwards into Upernavik Icefjord
Upernavik Icefjord
Upernavik Icefjord is a fjord in the Qaasuitsup municipality in northwestern Greenland.- Geography :The long fjord flows to the northwest between two chains of islands, emptying into Baffin Bay...
.