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Tuppiap Qeqertaa (Tobias Island): a newly discovered island off northeast Greenland

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 October 2006

Ole Bennike
Affiliation:
Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland, Øster Voldgade 10, DK-1350 Copenhagen K, Denmark
Naja Mikkelsen
Affiliation:
Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland, Øster Voldgade 10, DK-1350 Copenhagen K, Denmark
Rene Forsberg
Affiliation:
Danish National Space Centre, Juliane Maries Vej 30, DK-2100 Copenhagen, Denmark
Lars Hedenäs
Affiliation:
Swedish Museum of Natural History, Box 50007, S-104 05 Stockholm, Sweden

Abstract

The small island of Tuppiap Qeqertaa, formerly known as Tobias Ø or Tobias Island, is situated 80 km off the northeast Greenland coast. The island was discovered in 1993 and is approximately 2 km long and 1.5 km wide. Most of the island is covered by an ice cap that rises to 35 m above sea level, as determined by airborne laser scanning. High-quality geodetic GPS measurements determine the position of a small cairn erected on the island to 79°20′34.48′′ N, 15°46′31.23′′ W. Minor parts of the island are ice free, with small hills of gravel. Late Holocene shells of marine bivalves have been found and were presumably brought up by ice floe push. Shell fragments of southern extralimital marine invertebrates point to the presence of pre-Holocene deposits. Three species of moss are the only land plants that have been found on the island.

Type
Articles
Copyright
© 2006 Cambridge University Press

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