The Spalte Glacier was a large floating glacier located in Crown Prince Christian Land, northeastern Greenland. The glacier broke up and completely disintegrated in July 2020.

Spalte Glacier
Map showing the location of Spalte Glacier
Map showing the location of Spalte Glacier
LocationCrown Prince Christian Land, in Northeast Greenland
Coordinates79°43′N 20°16′W / 79.717°N 20.267°W / 79.717; -20.267
Area110 square km
Length15km
Width10km
Lowest elevation0m
TerminusDijmphna Sound
StatusDisintegrated

Geography edit

The glacier was a northern offshoot of the Nioghalvfjerdsbrae glacier as it split either side of Hovgaard Island.[1] The main flow of the Nioghalvfjerdsbrae flows eastward out into Nioghalvfjerd Fjord while a smaller branch, the Spalte Glacier, flowed north into Dijmphna Sound.[2]

In July 2020, satellite images showed the complete break up of the Spalte Glacier.[3] An area of 125 square km of ice broke away leaving a calving front along the side of the main flow of the Nioghalvfjerdsbrae glacier.[4]

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ Turton, Jenny V.; Mölg, Thomas; Collier, Emily (2020-05-28). "High-resolution (1 km) Polar WRF output for 79° N Glacier and the northeast of Greenland from 2014 to 2018". Earth System Science Data. 12 (2): 1191–1202. doi:10.5194/essd-12-1191-2020. ISSN 1866-3508.
  2. ^ Amos, Jonathan (2020-09-14). "Warmth shatters section of Greenland ice shelf". BBC News. Retrieved 2020-09-18.
  3. ^ "Image: Spalte Glacier breaks up". phys.org. Retrieved 2020-09-18.
  4. ^ Agency, European Space (2020-09-16). "Spalte Glacier Has Disintegrated: A Segment of the Largest Arctic Ice Shelf Shattered Into a Flotilla of Small Icebergs". SciTechDaily. Retrieved 2020-09-18.