Disko Island
Encyclopedia
Disko Island is a large island in Baffin Bay
, off the west coast of Greenland
. It has an area of 8578 square kilometre, making it the second largest island of Greenland (after the main island of Greenland) and one of the 100 largest islands in the world. The name Qeqertarsuaq means The Large Island (from qeqertaq = island).
(named after the island, and also known as Godhavn) lies on its southern coast.
The island is separated from Nuussuaq Peninsula
in the northeast by the Sullorsuaq Strait
. To the south of the island lies Disko Bay
, an inlet bay of Baffin Island.
and 985
and it may have been used as a base for summer hunting and fishing by Viking colonists.
and iron carbide has been found. There are only few places on earth where native iron can be found which is not of meteoric
origin. There are numerous hot spring
s on the island. The microscopic animal Limnognathia
, the only known member of its phylum, was discovered in these springs.
Baffin Bay
Baffin Bay , located between Baffin Island and the southwest coast of Greenland, is a marginal sea of the North Atlantic Ocean. It is connected to the Atlantic via Davis Strait and the Labrador Sea...
, off the west coast of Greenland
Greenland
Greenland is an autonomous country within the Kingdom of Denmark, located between the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Though physiographically a part of the continent of North America, Greenland has been politically and culturally associated with Europe for...
. It has an area of 8578 square kilometre, making it the second largest island of Greenland (after the main island of Greenland) and one of the 100 largest islands in the world. The name Qeqertarsuaq means The Large Island (from qeqertaq = island).
Geography
The island has a length of about 160 km (99.4 mi), rising to an average height of 975 m (3,198.8 ft), peaking at 1919 m (6,295.9 ft). The port of QeqertarsuaqQeqertarsuaq
Qeqertarsuaq is a port and a town in Qaasuitsup municipality, located on the south coast of Qeqertarsuaq Island, an island on the west coast of Greenland. Founded in 1773, it is home to a campus of the University of Copenhagen...
(named after the island, and also known as Godhavn) lies on its southern coast.
The island is separated from Nuussuaq Peninsula
Nuussuaq Peninsula
Nuussuaq Peninsula is a large peninsula in western Greenland.- Geography :The waters around the peninsula are that of Baffin Bay. To the south and southwest the peninsula is bounded by Disko Bay, an inlet of Baffin Bay. It is separated from Qeqertarsuaq Island by Sullorsuaq Strait which...
in the northeast by the Sullorsuaq Strait
Sullorsuaq Strait
Sullorsuaq Strait is a strait on the western coast of Greenland.- Geography :It separates Nuussuaq Peninsula in the northeast from Qeqertarsuaq Island in the southwest. The strait waterway connects inner Disko Bay in the southeast with Baffin Bay in the northwest...
. To the south of the island lies Disko Bay
Disko Bay
Disko Bay is a bay on the western coast of Greenland. The bay constitutes a wide southeastern inlet of Baffin Bay.- Geography :To the south the coastline is complicated with multiple waterways of skerries and small islands in the Aasiaat archipelago...
, an inlet bay of Baffin Island.
History
Eric the Red paid the first recorded visit to Disko Island at some time between 982982
Year 982 was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar.- Americas :* Greenland is discovered by Erik the Red .- Asia :...
and 985
985
Year 985 was a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar.- Europe :* Barcelona is sacked by Al-Mansur....
and it may have been used as a base for summer hunting and fishing by Viking colonists.
Geology
Mineral deposits, fossil finds and geological formations have added to the interest in the area. One of the interesting geological features is the native iron found at the island. A 22t lump of a mixture of ironIron
Iron is a chemical element with the symbol Fe and atomic number 26. It is a metal in the first transition series. It is the most common element forming the planet Earth as a whole, forming much of Earth's outer and inner core. It is the fourth most common element in the Earth's crust...
and iron carbide has been found. There are only few places on earth where native iron can be found which is not of meteoric
Iron meteorite
Iron meteorites are meteorites that consist overwhelmingly of nickel-iron alloys. The metal taken from these meteorites is known as meteoric iron and was one of the earliest sources of usable iron available to humans.-Occurrence:...
origin. There are numerous hot spring
Hot spring
A hot spring is a spring that is produced by the emergence of geothermally heated groundwater from the Earth's crust. There are geothermal hot springs in many locations all over the crust of the earth.-Definitions:...
s on the island. The microscopic animal Limnognathia
Limnognathia
Limnognathia maerski is a microscopic animal, discovered living in homothermic springs on Disko Island, Greenland in 1994, that has variously been assigned as a class or subphylum in the phylum Gnathifera or as a phylum in a Gnathifera superphylum, named Micrognathozoa. It is related to the...
, the only known member of its phylum, was discovered in these springs.