A group of explorers and scientists from the University of Copenhagen (Denmark), who were on an expedition to the far north of Greenland in July, accidentally discovered a tiny island that may be the most located piece of land. north of planet earth.
First, the discovery expands the boundaries of the territory of Greenland, an autonomous region of the Kingdom of Denmark.
Newly discovered island in the Arctic(Credit: Morton Rash)
“It was not our goal to discover a new island,” he admitted to the agency. Reuters Morton Rash, director of the Arctic Research Station. The polar explorer explained that the purpose of the expedition was only to collect samples from what he thought was the northernmost island in the world: Oodaaq. However, changes in ice cover showed that they were not only 780 meters north of the surveyed island, but were stepping on autonomous land.
The new, as-yet-unknown island is only 30 by 60 meters in area and was originally composed of small piles of gravel and silt, which may have been pushed out of sea level by a major storm. be. . With a relief whose elevation varies between three and four meters above sea level, the island formation is regarded by Rash as a “short-lived island”.
far north
In a press release issued by the University of Copenhagen, Morten Rasch, who is also a professor in the Department of Geology and Natural Resource Management, explains that everyone had the right to live on Odak Island, which is by far the northernmost island in the world. But as soon as he posted pictures and coordinates of the island on social media, “a lot of American island hunters panicked, saying it couldn’t be true.”
Landscape at Umanak Bay in the Arctic(Credit: Tetyana Dotsenko/Shutterstock)
These “island hunters” are mostly looking for amateur adventurers. Still Unknown Island Structures, began to react so passionately on social media that Rash and his team decided to turn to an expert from the Technical University of Denmark (DTU). While waiting for DTU, they noticed that the GPS was wrong, and they were already far away from Odak. “We’ve expanded the scope a little bit,” Rasch joked.
Now, researchers are pressuring officials to call the island they discovered, “Quertak Avnarlek,” which means “North Island” in the Greenlandic language. At least until she disappears in the next storm.
