Nunatak
A nunatak (or, more properly spelt: nunataq) is the exposed summit of a ridge, mountain, or peak not covered with ice or snow within an ice field or glacier. The term is typically used in areas where a permanent ice sheet is present. Nunataks present readily identifiable landmark reference points in glaciers or ice caps and are often named.
Lifeforms on nunataks are frequently isolated by the surrounding ice or glacier creating unique habitats. Nunataks are generally angular and jagged because of freeze-thaw weathering, and can be seen to contrast strongly with the softer contours of the glacially eroded land below if the glacier retreats.
The word is of Greenlandic origin (quote: Nunataq — a hill or mountain completely surrounded by glacial ice )[1] and has been used in western European languages since the 1870s.
It is also the name of a band composed of scientists working out of a research station located on Adelaide Island in Antarctica.
References in Literature
- South: The Endurance Expedition. Sir Ernest Shackleton Penguin, London, 2002, (First edition, William Heinimann, 1909).
- The Worst Journey in the World. Apsley Cherry- Garrard. Pimlico, London, 2003.
References