Scientists in Greenland discover the world’s northernmost island by accident

Researchers discovered a new island off the coast of Greenland by accident. It is to be named Qeqertaq Avannarleq. Read to know everything about the northernmost place on Earth.

The island was discovered by accident

A group of researchers found an uninhabited, small but previously unknown island off Greenland. It measures 60×30 meters and has a peak three meters above sea level. It is now the northernmost place on the planet. Previously, the title was held by Oodaq. However, it is located 780 meters northwest of Oodaq. “It was not our intention to discover an island,” said Morten Rasch, a polar explorer. Rasch is also the head of Greenland’s Arctic Station research facility. The team of researchers was traveling to Oodaaq in a helicopter to collect samples.

“We were happy to have found what we thought was Oodaaq island. But, like explorers of the past who thought they’d landed in a certain place, we found a totally different place,” said Christiane Leister from the Leister Foundation. Leister’s foundation financed the expedition. Over the past few decades, several explorers have been searching for the world’s northernmost island. It is made up of moraine and seabed mud. Moraine is made up of rock, soil, and other materials left behind by moving glaciers. However, the island does not have any vegetation.

More on the northernmost place

The group suggests the newly discovered land be named ‘Qeqertaq Avannarleq‘, which means ‘the northernmost island’ Greenlandic. “It meets the criteria of an island,” said Rene Forsberg. He is a professor and the head of the geodynamics department at the National Space Institute in Denmark. Additionally, Forsberg is also an advisor to the Danish government.

He believes that this will still not change Denmark’s claim over the northern waters and sea routes. After all, climate change and global warming affect ice sheets. These ice sheets shift and reveal new islands such as this one. But, its claim as the ‘northernmost piece of land may not be permanent.

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