Top 10 Glaciers in East Greenland
East Greenland is one of the most sparsely populated and least visited coastlines on Earth. The eastern fjords and ice cap margins between Scoresby Sund and the Blosseville Coast present a landscape of extraordinary scale — tidewater glacier fronts calving into fjords that stretch inland for hundreds of kilometres, outlet ice streams moving at speeds that would have seemed implausible to glaciologists a generation ago, and alpine glacier systems in the ranges between the ice sheet edge and the coast that rival anything in the Himalayas or Alaska for scale and remoteness. The entire permanent population of East Greenland is concentrated in the town of Tasiilaq and the nearby settlement of Ittoqqortoormiit, with perhaps 3,000 people between them on a coastline the size of Western Europe. Use the glacier map to orient yourself within the vast glaciated terrain of Greenland's eastern margin.
1. Kangerdlugssuaq Glacier, Southeast Greenland
Kangerdlugssuaq is one of the three fastest and most productive outlet glaciers of the Greenland Ice Sheet, along with Jakobshavn and Helheim. Its terminus calves into the inner reaches of Kangerdlugssuaq Fjord and has been among the most closely studied glacier systems in Greenland since observations of rapid acceleration began in the early 2000s. The glacier flows through a major trough in the bedrock geology of Southeast Greenland and its speed at the terminus has at times exceeded 40 metres per day. Its mass flux contribution to sea level rise is among the largest of any single glacier in the world.
2. Helheim Glacier, Southeast Greenland
Helheim drains a substantial sector of the southeast ice sheet and terminates in Sermilik Fjord, one of the longer fjords in Southeast Greenland. Between 2001 and 2005, Helheim retreated more than 7 kilometres and accelerated dramatically, becoming one of the defining examples of rapid tidewater glacier change in the scientific literature. It has since partially recovered, demonstrating the importance of fjord oceanographic conditions — specifically the temperature of Atlantic Water intruding into the fjord — in modulating terminus position. Sermilik Fjord near Tasiilaq is one of the most accessible fjords in East Greenland and is visited by small expedition cruise vessels.
3. Daugaard-Jensen Glacier, Scoresby Sund
Daugaard-Jensen Glacier drains into the western arm of Scoresby Sund — the world's largest fjord system — and is one of the major outlet glaciers of the central East Greenland ice sheet. Its terminus is tidal and the glacier calves large icebergs into the fjord, which drift east with the current through the complex fjord system toward the Greenland Sea. The Scoresby Sund region attracts polar expedition ships, and views of Daugaard-Jensen are accessible by cruise vessel for visitors willing to make the passage from Iceland or continental Europe.
4. Nioghalvfjerdsbrae (79N Glacier), Northeast Greenland
Nioghalvfjerdsbrae — informally known as the 79N Glacier because it sits near 79 degrees north latitude — is the largest floating glacier tongue in the Northern Hemisphere. Unlike most Greenland outlet glaciers, whose fronts are either grounded or calve directly as icebergs, the 79N Glacier has a long floating ice shelf extending into Nioghalvfjerdsfjorden. Recent research has shown that the glacier's ice shelf has been thinning rapidly from below due to ocean warming, threatening the stability of the floating tongue and potentially the grounded ice upstream.
5. Zachariae Isstrom, Northeast Greenland
Adjacent to 79N Glacier, Zachariae Isstrom lost its large floating ice shelf entirely between 2012 and 2015, transitioning abruptly to iceberg calving at the grounded terminus. The loss of the ice shelf removed the buttressing that had slowed the outflow of inland ice, and Zachariae's flow speed increased substantially following the ice shelf breakup. The two glaciers — 79N and Zachariae — together drain a major sector of Northeast Greenland and represent a significant concern for sea level projections.
6. Storstrommen Glacier, Northeast Greenland
Storstrommen is a surge-type glacier in Northeast Greenland that experienced a major surge in 1978 and has been in its quiescent phase since. During the surge, the terminus advanced approximately 12 kilometres into Dove Bugt (Dove Bay), and a complex network of medial moraines and ice ridges was created. The post-surge stagnant ice in the lower glacier has been thinning steadily. Storstrommen is located within Northeast Greenland National Park, the world's largest national park, which prohibits all human activity except scientific research and traditional hunting.
7. Midgaard Glacier, Southeast Greenland
Midgaard Glacier terminates in Midgaard Fjord in the Scoresby Sund system and is one of the tidewater glaciers accessible to visitors arriving by ship via the Scoresby Sund complex. Its terminus presents a series of active calving faces that generate icebergs regularly, and the fjord in front of the glacier is often filled with bergy bits and ice fragments. The surrounding mountains of the Staunings Alps — some of the most dramatic alpine terrain in Greenland — provide the backdrop to the glacier's lower reach.
8. Christian IV Glacier (Sermilik), Southeast Greenland
Christian IV Glacier is one of a series of outlet glaciers along the Blosseville Coast south of Scoresby Sund. This section of coast is among the most inaccessible in Greenland, subject to year-round sea ice and extremely challenging ship navigation. Most knowledge of the Christian IV glacier system comes from aerial surveys and satellite imagery rather than field observation. The coast was named for the Danish king under whose reign early cartographic expeditions documented the region.
9. Adolf Jensen Glacier, Northeast Greenland
Located in northeastern Greenland within the national park, Adolf Jensen Glacier is a large valley glacier draining from the interior plateau toward the coast. Its scientific interest relates partly to its location in the sector of Greenland that has historically been among the coldest and most stable — a zone that recent research suggests may be warming faster than any other part of the island. Monitoring of glaciers in this sector is important for understanding the full circumpolar distribution of ice loss.
10. Stauning Alper Glaciers, East Greenland
The Staunings Alps in the Liverpool Land peninsula and Werner Mountains region of East Greenland host a concentration of spectacular alpine glaciers descending from granite and gneiss peaks that rival the Chamonix Massif in visual drama. Several of these peaks were first climbed only in the mid-20th century by European mountaineering expeditions. The region attracts a small number of expeditions each year, typically arriving by ship or ski plane. The glaciers in the Staunings Alper are significant in their own right and collectively form one of the most spectacular glaciated mountain landscapes accessible — albeit with difficulty — to mountaineers.