Ultima Thule 2008
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Location of Ultima Thule 2008 |
Ultima Thule 2008 is an island in the Arctic Ocean .
location and size
The land area "Ultima Thule 2008" is at the coordinates 83 ° 41 '20.7 " N , 31 ° 5' 26.8" W , and thus about 705 kilometers from the North Pole . The island is located about 20.5 kilometers east of Cape Morris Jesup , the northernmost point of Greenland , and about 15.5 kilometers west of Kaffeklubben Island . In July 2008, a strip of land about 100 meters long was exposed. Much of the island is covered in ice.
Discovery and naming
On July 26, 2008, the team of the “Ultima Thule 2008” expedition first set foot on the island named after the expedition. The team included Ken Zerbst (an American geophysicist) and Peter von Sassen (presenter of the NDR program Nordsee-Report). Also included were the American couple Heinz and Lindy Fischer , their compatriot, the mountaineer Brian Beatty , and the NDR camera team with Jörg Teiwes and Friederike Castenow . In order to manifest its discovery on site, the expedition team built a so-called cairn , a kind of stone pyramid , as is customary with researchers : It contains notes on the expedition as well as a German, Swiss and American flag and a flag from “The Explorers Club “With the signatures of all discoverers.
Status of "Ultima Thule 2008"
In order to be recognized as a land area, it is necessary that the area concerned rises permanently out of the water - even at high tide. Since a strip of land only about 100 meters long was exposed in July 2008 from “Ultima Thule 2008” and almost nothing is known about the nature of the surface, it is questionable whether this point can be viewed as a permanent elevation from the sea. Further research is therefore required to confirm that this survey is of a permanent nature and should be recognized as land.
The geophysicist Ken Zerbst is certain to have discovered the northernmost known island in the world here. In 2001, Zerbst was also a co-leader of the Return to the Top of the World (RTOW) expedition, during which the island was confirmed ATOW1996 and RTOW2001 was discovered.
See also
Web links
- Photos from the expedition "Ultima Thule 2008"
- gazetteonline.com 2008 Ultima Thule discovers the northernmost point on Earth (video of the expedition by Brian Beatty, English)
- gazetteonline.com Atkins man succeeds in Greenland expedition quest. (Expedition report by Brian Beatty, English)