Geomorphology of the Ammassalik Island, SE Greenland

Abstract

Geografisk Tidsskrift, Danish Journal of Geography 108(1):5–20, 2008 Ammassalik Island is located on the elevated, passive continental margin of SE Greenland. The island itself is dominated by high ground, presumably representing part of an upwarped zone along the continental margin, separated from an adjacent narrow coastal plain. Most of the present relief must have formed during the Palaeocene and Eocene, or later, during the Neogene. During the Quaternary the area was covered by the Greenland Ice Sheet, with the exception of a few nunataqs located at the junction of the elevated bedrock plateau and the escarpment. The geomorphological evolution during the Holocene has been characterised by both glacial and periglacial processes, intensifying during the late Holocene. Especially the Little Ice Age period (c. 1200–1900 AD) appears to have been a period of enhanced geomorphological activity, mainly controlled by growing glaciers and increasing activity of periglacial processes and aggrading permafrost. Following the end of the Little Ice Age, the 20th century have seen a net development towards warmer climate with retreating glaciers and presumably also in the intensity degrading of periglacial processes and of permafrost.