Queen Louise Land (Danish: Dronning Louise Land;[2] Greenlandic: Nuna Dronning Louise)[3] is a vast mountainous region located west of Dove Bay, King Frederik VIII Land, northeastern Greenland. Administratively it is part of the Northeast Greenland National Park zone.

Queen Louise Land
Nuna Dronning Louise
Dronning Louise Land
Queen Louise Land ONC map section.
Highest point
PeakGefiontinde
Elevation2,364 m (7,756 ft)
Dimensions
Length185 km (115 mi) N/S
Width73 km (45 mi) E/W
Area12,000 km2 (4,600 sq mi)
Geography
Queen Louise Land is located in Greenland
Queen Louise Land
Queen Louise Land
Location
CountryGreenland
Range coordinates76°40′N 24°30′W / 76.667°N 24.500°W / 76.667; -24.500
Geology
OrogenyCaledonian orogeny[1]

The highest point of Queen Louise Land is Gefiontinde,[4] with a height of 2,364.3 m (7,757 ft), the highest of the Gefiontinder group of peaks located at 76°28′8″N 25°38′31″W / 76.46889°N 25.64194°W / 76.46889; -25.64194.[5][6]

Geologically Queen Louise Land is made up of orthogneiss overlain by sedimentary rocks.[7]

History

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This remote area was named Dronning Louises Land after Queen Louise of Denmark (1851–1926), wife of King Frederik VIII of Denmark,[8] by the ill-fated 1906–08 Denmark Expedition —the expedition that aimed to map one of the last unknown parts of Greenland.[9] Danish Arctic explorer Alf Trolle claimed that this area had been originally named as Den Store Nanuták —The Big Nunatak.[10]

Queen Louise Land was subsequently visited by the 1912–13 Danish Expedition to Queen Louise Land led by J.P. Koch,[8] as well as the 1952–54 British North Greenland Expedition led by Commander James Simpson.[11]

Geography

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Surrounded by ice masses, Queen Louise Land is clearly delimited. It is an extensive area made up of several very large and numerous small nunataks (summits or ridges of mountains that protrude from the ice). Its western boundary is the Greenland ice sheet and its eastern limits are the massive Storstrommen and L. Bistrup Brae glaciers. Kap Aage Bertelsen is a small headland at the confluence of the large Storstrømmen and L. Bistrup Bræ glaciers in the east. Dryasdal is a valley seasonally covered with Dryas octopetala flowers. The area of Queen Louise Land is uninhabited.[5]

The main geographic divisions or parts of Queen Louise Land from north to south are:

  • Ymer Nunatak, a large nunatak located at the northern end of Queen Louise Land, south of the Alabama Nunatak. The Suzanne Glacier flows to the south and from it flows the Britannia Glacier southwards into main Queen Louise Land.[4]
  • Central Queen Louise Land, the main part or Queen Louise Land proper.
  • Carlsbergfondet Land, the southwestern part of Queen Louise Land, between Budolfi Isstrom and A.B. Drachmann Glacier.[4]
  • Eventyrfjelde, the southernmost part of Queen Louise Land, south of A.B. Drachmann Glacier.[4]
 
Queen Louise Land and neighbouring areas NASA picture.

Glaciers, ice caps, lakes and rivers

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Mountains, nunataks and cliffs

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Many of the mountains and massifs are little glaciated. Mountains are generally rounded and rarely craggy, but there are numerous cliffs. The average elevation is around 1,500 m.[8]

Bibliography

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ Regional Caledonian structure within an oblique convergence zone, Dronning Louise Land, NE Greenland, Journal of the Geological Society
  2. ^ "Dronning Louise Land". Mapcarta. Retrieved 2 July 2016.
  3. ^ Den grønlandske Lods - Geodatastyrelsen
  4. ^ a b c d GEUS Map - Northern East Greenland; Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland Bulletin 21 Map 4 - 1:1 000 000
  5. ^ a b Google Earth
  6. ^ Greenland Expedition - Dronning Louise Land
  7. ^ Harold Williams, Geology of the Appalachian—Caledonian Orogen in Canada and Greenland, p. 896]
  8. ^ a b c "Catalogue of place names in northern East Greenland". Geological Survey of Denmark. Retrieved 2 July 2016.
  9. ^ The Wegener Diaries: Scientific Expeditions into the Eternal Ice
  10. ^ Trolle, A. 1909: The Danish North-East Greenland Expedition. Journal of the Royal Geographical Society 25, 57–70.
  11. ^ British North Greenland Expedition, 1952–54 - Cambridge Journals
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