These Researchers Might Just Have Found The Planet's Northernmost Island
Enlarge this image toggle caption Morten Rasch via AP Morten Rasch via AP
HELSINKI An international team of Arctic researchers from Denmark claims to have accidentally found what they believe to be the world's most northern island, located just off Greenland's coastline.
In the beginning, scientists from the University of Copenhagen believed they had reached Oodaaq (an island discovered by a Danish team in 1978), to collect samples in an expedition that took place in July.
Instead, they ended up on an unknown island further north.
Morten Rasch, the university's director of geosciences & natural resource management, stated that he was convinced that the island he was standing on was Oodaaq.
He said, in a Friday statement that "But when I posted photos on social media of the island with its coordinates, a lot of American island hunters went insane and said it couldn't possibly be true."
"Island hunters", also known as adventurers, are those who seek out unknown islands.
It's possible that the island will not last for very long
The unnamed island lies 780m (about 850yds) north of Oodaaq. It is an island off Cape Morris Jesup. This island is the northernmost point in Greenland, and one of the most northerly places on Earth.
According to the university, the tiny island was discovered by shifting pack ice and measures 30 by 60 meters (about 100 x 200 feet) in area. It rises to three to four metres (10 to 13 feet) above sea-level. According to reports, the research team doesn't believe the discovery is due to climate change. They have proposed the name Qeqertaq Avannarleq for the island, which would mean "the northernmost Island" in Greenlandic.
Rasch says that the island is mainly composed of small mounds made of gravel and silt. Rasch said that the island may have been formed by a major storm, which, with the help from the sea, pushed material from beneath the seabed together until it became an island. According to Danish researchers, the island won't be around for very long.
"No one knows how much longer it will last." Rasch stated that it could vanish in principle as soon as a new powerful storm strikes.
