Gunnbjørn Fjeld
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Gunnbjørn Fjeld is the highest mountain in Greenland, north of the Arctic Circle, and the highest point in North America not on the mainland. It is a nunatak, a rocky peak protruding through glacial ice. Gunnbjørn Fjeld is ranked 9th by topographic isolation.
Geography
Gunnbjørn Fjeld is located in the Watkins Range, an area of nunataks on the east coast, which contains several other summits above 3,500 metres.<ref name="mapcartaGunn">Template:Cite web</ref> Its height is often given as Template:Convert, although figures vary slightly.
This is higher than Snæfellsjökull, 530.2 kilometers away on the west coast of Snæfellsnes on Iceland.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Normal straight light rays do not allow one to simultaneously see Gunnbjørn Fjeld and Snæfellsjökull. However, arctic mirages allow seeing long distances by refracting (bending) the light. This effect is caused by a thermal density gradient in the atmosphere. It has been suggested that mutual visibility may exist under hillingar effect or Arctic mirage conditions.<ref>https://home.cc.umanitoba.ca/~lehn/_Papers_for_Download/lehn-PF79.pdf Template:Bare URL PDF</ref>
History
Gunnbjørn Fjeld was first climbed on 16 August 1935 by Augustine Courtauld, Jack Longland, Ebbe Munck and Lawrence Wager. It is named after Gunnbjörn Ulfsson, the first European to have sighted Greenland.
The peak rises in an uninhabited part of the eastern coast of Greenland. The mountain is climbed infrequently due to its remote location. Access is often done with helicopter or ski-equipped plane (normally from Iceland).
See also
- Mont Forel, formerly assumed to be the highest point of Greenland
- List of mountain peaks of Greenland
- List of mountains in Greenland
References
External links
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