Kaffeklubben Island

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Aerial photo of Kaffeklubben, Sep 29, 2008
Location of Kaffeklubben Island

Kaffeklubben Island or Coffee Club Island (Danish: Kaffeklubben Ø; Greenlandic: Inuit Qeqertaat) is a small island lying off the northern tip of Greenland. It contains the northernmost point of land on Earth.

Overview

Kaffeklubben Island is found at Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found., and is 713.5 kilometres (443.3 mi) from the geographic North Pole. It is placed north of the Frederick E. Hyde Fjord, about 37 kilometres (23 mi) east of Cape Morris Jesup and west of Cape Bridgman, a little east of a central point along the northern coast of Greenland. Kaffeklubben Island is approximately 0.7 kilometres (0.43 mi) in length,[1] and about 300 metres (980 ft) across at its widest point. The highest point is about 30 metres (98 ft) above sea level.[1]

The explorer Robert Peary was the first to sight Kaffeklubben

The island was first sighted[citation needed] by the United States explorer Robert Peary in 1900; however, Kaffeklubben was not visited until 1921. It was then, when the Danish explorer Lauge Koch set foot on the island, that it received its name, after the coffee club in Copenhagen's da (Geologisk Museum).

In 1969 a Canadian team calculated that its northernmost tip lies 750 metres (2,460 ft) farther north than Cape Morris Jesup, thus claiming its record as the most northerly point on land.

Since then, several gravel banks have been found to the north, most notably Oodaaq, although there is debate as to whether Oodaaq or these other gravel banks should be considered for the record since they are rarely permanent, being regularly swallowed by the moving ice sheets, shifting, or becoming submerged in the ocean.

Vegetation

Despite the harsh environment, vegetation grows on Kaffeklubben Island – not only various mosses, liverworts, and lichens, but also flowering plants: Saxifraga oppositifolia (purple saxifrage) and Papaver radicatum (Arctic poppy).[2][3][4][5]

See also

  • ATOW1996, also claimed as the most northerly land area.
  • 83-42, another potentially northernmost point of land

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. http://www.atlasobscura.com/places/the-flowers-of-kaffeklubben-island
  4. http://www.paxarctica.org/Greenland_2008_PV.html
  5. http://www.sagaxexpeditions.com/2US%20-%203.4%20Photos-Videos.html


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