Wyckoff Land

(Redirected from Wyckoff Island)

Wyckoff Land is an area or peninsula in Peary Land, Northern Greenland.

Wyckoff Land
Peary's 1900 explorations map showing Wyckoff Island
Wyckoff Land is located in Greenland
Wyckoff Land
Wyckoff Land
Geography
LocationSoutheast Greenland
Coordinates82°50′N 24°30′W / 82.833°N 24.500°W / 82.833; -24.500
Adjacent toHellefisk Fjord
Administration
NE Greenland National Park
Demographics
Population0

This geographic feature was named by Robert Peary after Clarence F. Wyckoff, one of the founding members of the Peary Arctic Club in New York.[1]

History edit

When Robert Peary reached the area the weather was foggy and he assumed that the landform he stood upon was an island which he named "Clarence Wyckoff Island". He waited for two days for the fog to clear and then he returned.[2][3]

Pearys Vardenæs is a cairn built in 1900 by Peary before he returned towards the west. It stands in the outermost part of Wyckoff Land between Skaerbugt and Hellefisk Fjord. Two Independence I archaeological sites have been discovered on the headland.[4]

Geography edit

Wyckoff Land lies in northern Herluf Trolle Land, by the northeastern shore of Peary Land, between G.B. Schley Fjord to the west and Hellefisk Fjord to the east.[5]

To the southwest the peninsula is attached to the mainland and to the northeast lies the Wandel Sea of the Arctic Ocean. Cape Clarence Wyckoff is located 9 kilometres (6 mi) to the southeast of the eastern shore and Mount Clarence Wyckoff rises to the east, on the other side of Hellefisk Fjord.[6]

 
1911 map of NE Greenland by J. P. Koch showing Wyckoff Land.

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ How Did Frederick E. Hyde Fjord Get Its Name?
  2. ^ George Bryce, The Siege and Conquest of the North Pole. p, 223
  3. ^ UWM - Arctic region: Peary Arctic Club, 1898-1902, Wyckoff Island
  4. ^ Eigil Knuth, The northernmost ruins of the globe. p. 210
  5. ^ GoogleEarth
  6. ^ Prostar Sailing Directions 2005 Greenland and Iceland Enroute, p. 129