Kaffeklubben Island
Kaffeklubben Island or Coffee Club Island (Danish: Kaffeklubben Ø; Greenlandic: Inuit Qeqertaat) is an uninhabited island lying off the northern tip of Greenland. It contains the northernmost undisputed point of land on Earth.
Native name: Oodaap Qeqertaa | |
|---|---|
 Aerial photograph of Kaffeklubben Island taken on September, 29, 2008 | |
  Kaffeklubben Island | |
| Geography | |
| Location | Greenland |
| Coordinates | 83°39′45″N 30°36′50″W |
| Administration | |
| Northeast Greenland National Park | |
| Demographics | |
| Population | Uninhabited |
| Languages | Greenlandic and Danish |
| Ethnic groups | Greenlandic and Danish |
| Additional information | |
| Time zone |
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Discovery
The first recorded sighting of Kaffeklubben Island was made by American explorer Robert Peary in 1900, however, the island was not visited until 1921. When the Danish explorer Lauge Koch set foot on the island, it received its name: after the coffee club in the University of Copenhagen Geological Museum.
In 1969, a Canadian team calculated that its northernmost tip is 750 metres (2,460 ft) farther north than Cape Morris Jesup, the northernmost point of mainland Greenland, thus claiming its record as the most northerly point on land.
Since its record as the northernmost point of land was established, several gravel banks have been discovered in the sea to the north of the island, such as Oodaaq, 83-42, and ATOW1996, however, there is debate as to whether such gravel banks should be considered for the record since they rarely are permanent, being swallowed regularly by the moving ice sheets, being shifted in tides, or becoming submerged in the ocean.
Geography
Kaffeklubben Island is 713.5 kilometres (443.3 mi) from the geographic North Pole. The island lies off Cape James Hill, 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) northwest of Bliss Bay,[1] approximately 37 kilometres (23 mi) east of Cape Morris Jesup, a little east of a central point along the northern coast of Greenland. Its most northerly point is 4.4 km north of that of Cape Morris Jesup. It is approximately 700 metres (2,300 ft) long,[2] and approximately 300 metres (980 ft) across at its widest point. The highest point is approximately 30 metres (98 ft) above sea level.[2]
Vegetation
Despite the harsh environment, vegetation grows on Kaffeklubben island, including various mosses, liverworts, lichens, and the flowering plants: Saxifraga oppositifolia (purple saxifrage) and Papaver radicatum (arctic poppy).[3][4][5][6]
See also
- List of islands of Greenland
- ATOW1996, a gravel bank with a disputed claim as the most northerly land area
- 83-42, a gravel bank with a disputed claim as northernmost point of land
- List of northernmost items
References
- "Oodaap Qeqertaa". Mapcarta. Retrieved 13 June 2019.
- Funder, S. V. E. N. D.; Larsen, O. (Nov 15, 1982). "Implications of volcanic erratics in Quaternary deposits of North Greenland". Bulletin of the Geological Society of Denmark. 31: 57–61. ISSN 0011-6297. Retrieved August 23, 2014.
- Arctic Thule. "Kaffeklubben – Top of the World?". Retrieved 25 October 2013.
- "The Flowers of Kaffeklubben Island".
- "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2014-08-26. Retrieved 2014-08-23.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2013-10-29. Retrieved 2014-08-23.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)