Britannia Glacier ( Danish : Britannia Gletscher ) is a glacier in Queen Louise Land , northeastern Greenland . Administratively it belongs to the Northeast Greenland National Park .
29-458: The glacier was mapped during the 1952–54 British North Greenland expedition led by Commander James Simpson . It was named in honour of Britannia . At the time of the expedition the name "Unicorn Glacier" had also been used. The main base of the British expedition was built close to the southern end of the glacier. In the 1980s the abandoned huts of the field camp were destroyed by a surge of
58-565: A Danish Supreme Court judgment of 28 November 2003 the move was considered an expropriative intervention. During the proceedings it was recognized by the Danish government that the movement was a serious interference and an unlawful act against the local population. The Thule tribe was awarded damages of 500,000 kroner, and the individual members of the tribe who had been exposed to the transfer were granted compensation of 15,000 or 25,000 each. A Danish radio station continued to operate at Dundas, and
87-427: A rocket assisted USAF Douglas C-47 . In early 1953 glaciological studies began, while seismic and gravimetric teams worked between North Ice and Britannia Sø. Observations were continued throughout the second winter, and in 1954 a party traversed the ice cap from North Ice to Thule. Attempts to measure the thickness of the ice sheet by seismic soundings failed, but markers placed on the ice, enabled information about
116-520: A day at this time—the midnight sun lasts from the middle of April to the end of August. Scarcity of resources requires they use every part of a harvested animal: the skins are used for clothing and covering the kayaks; the flesh and offal are eaten by humans and domestic animals; the narwhal and walrus tusks are carved into finely-worked figures, jewellery and hunting implements; and feathers can be used in handicrafts. The local school, Avanersuup Atuarfia, has around 120 pupils in forms 1 to 10. There
145-545: A few unpaved dirt roads in Qaanaaq. Only one road leaves the town — it connects to Qaanaaq Airport . Pickup trucks and SUVs are found in Qaanaaq, but skis, dogsleds and walking are better alternatives for getting around. There is a small hospital (built in the 1950s and rebuilt in 1996) in Qaanaaq with basic health care offered. More advanced care requires transfer to other medical centers in Greenland by air. Dental care
174-512: A record low value of −66.1 °C (−87 °F) was recorded. The members of the expedition were: Qaanaaq Qaanaaq ( Greenlandic pronunciation: [qaːnɑːq] ), formerly known as Thule or New Thule , is the main town in the northern part of the Avannaata municipality in northwestern Greenland . The town has a population of 646 as of 2020. The population was forcibly relocated from its former, traditional home, which
203-419: A report advocating an air base to USAAF chief Henry "Hap" Arnold . However, the 1951 air base site is a few miles inland from the original 1946 airstrip and across the bay from the historical Thule settlement, to which it is connected by an ice road. The joint Danish-American defense area, designated by treaty, also occupies considerable inland territory in addition to the air base itself. The town of Qaanaaq
232-502: A series of parachute drops, was making the second in series of free fall drops at an altitude of only 50 feet (15 m), when it was caught in a white-out , and made a forced belly landing . Three members of the crew were injured, and sheltered in the intact fuselage of the aircraft until air-lifted out by a Grumman HU-16 Albatross of the United States Air Force. The rest of the crew were recovered two days later by
261-534: A suitable place for landing and he named it Britannia Lake (Britannia Sø) after the future expedition. The exploration team stayed three weeks in the area, following which the Sunderland returned to bring the party back to Britain. In July 1952 the expedition sailed from Deptford aboard the former Norwegian sealer Tottan , while another cargo ship, loaded with four Weasel tracked vehicles, sailed from Hull. The expedition team consisted of 25 men; fifteen from
290-489: Is also a boarding school which holds about 20 students from surrounding settlements. The town kindergarten has a capacity of 34 children while the day nursery can hold up to 12. Air Greenland operates fixed-wing aircraft services between Qaanaaq Airport and Upernavik Airport , with further connections to Ilulissat Airport and Qaarsut Airport . Settlement flights operate to Siorapaluk , sporadically to Moriusaq , and to Savissivik via Pituffik Space Base. There are
319-672: Is located in the northern entrance of the Inglefield Fjord . The village of Qeqertat is located in the Harvard Islands , near the head of the fjord. The Qaanaaq area in northern Greenland was first settled around 2000 BCE by Paleo-Eskimos migrating from the Canadian Arctic. These people were displaced by the Thule culture which followed the same migration route around 1100 CE. By 1600, climatic effects of
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#1732787254798348-404: Is named for the town. Ways of living so far north and in such severe climatic conditions are passed on from generation to generation, and this ability to adapt has contributed to the survival of this small settlement. When the sea becomes open sometime around August, large dinghies with powerful engines are used for both hunting trips and ordinary journeys. There is still sunlight twenty-four hours
377-609: Is offered in the form of a dentist who visits the town twice a year. Qaanaaq Hospital falls under the Avannaa health region. A small local fire brigade is assisted by firefighters from the Pituffik Space Base . The town is part of the region of Avannaata , which is represented by a 17-member council and mayor. Qaanaaq is home to a remote CTBTO infrasound listening station called IS-18, which uses an array of barometric sensors to detect possible nuclear tests around
406-525: The Little Ice Age caused the semi-nomadic Thule culture in Greenland to fragment into isolated groups, with inhabitants of the northwest diverging as the Inughuit . As they lost access to open water due to thickening sea ice, they lost the ability to build boats and had limited hunting opportunities. In 1818, Sir John Ross 's expedition made first contact with nomadic Inuktun (Polar Eskimos) in
435-525: The North Ice station about 230 miles (370 km) to the west. The Weasels were landed on the coast and drove the 100 miles inland as far as the base camp. Once the party arrived at the site of North Ice, their stores and equipment, more than 86 tons of it, were air-dropped from two RAF Handley Page Hastings transport aircraft, flying from Thule . During the supply operation, on 16 September 1952, Hastings No. WD492 of 47 Squadron , having already made
464-928: The Polar Medal in November 1954, while Commander Simpson was also presented with the Patron's Medal from the Royal Geographical Society in 1955, and was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) on 2 January 1956. In the 1980s the abandoned huts of the expedition field camp were destroyed by a surge of the Britannia Glacier . During the expedition temperatures below −59.4 °C (−75 °F) were recorded at North Ice on 16 occasions, and on 9 January 1954,
493-785: The Britannia Glacier. With a width reaching 9 km (5.6 mi), the Britannia Glacier is one of the main glaciers in Queen Louise Land . It flows roughly from north to south in northern Queen Louise Land, to the west of the western edge of the mighty Storstrommen and south of the Suzanne Glacier that flows by the Ymer Nunatak . The glacier has its terminus in the Britannia Lake , located at its southern end. The Admiralty Glacier flows from
522-470: The abandoned houses remained. The USAF only used that site for about a decade, and it has since returned to civilian use. Knud Rasmussen was the first to recognize the Pituffik plain as ideal for an airport. USAAF Colonel Bernt Balchen , who built Sondrestrom Air Base , knew Rasmussen and his idea. Balchen led a flight of two Consolidated PBY Catalina flying boats to Thule on 24 August 1942 and then sent
551-498: The area. James Saunders 's expedition aboard HMS North Star was marooned in North Star Bay 1849–50 and named landmarks. Robert Peary built a support station by a protected harbor at the foot of iconic Mount Dundas in 1892. It served as a base camp for his expeditions and attracted a permanent population. In 1910 explorers Knud Rasmussen and Peter Freuchen established a missionary and trading post there. They called
580-492: The armed services and the merchant navy, nine civilian scientists, and a Danish army officer. After collecting sledge dogs in south-west Greenland, the two ships sailed to Young Sund in the north-east coast. From there RAF Sunderland flying-boats airlifted the expedition to Britannia Lake in Queen Louise Land and set up the main base camp of the expedition. Commander Simpson then led a party on dog sleds to establish
609-539: The icecap was either on foot, by dog sled , or by M29 Weasel tracked vehicles. Expedition members also made pioneering ascents in the Barth Mountains and Queen Louise Land . Simpson made a preparatory exploration in 1951. A Short Sunderland flying boat landed in Seal Lake and from there Simpson walked across Storstrommen to Queen Louise Land . There he found an ice-free glacial lake that would be
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#1732787254798638-692: The movement of the ice sheet and the accumulation of snow to be gathered. At North Ice ice cores to a depth of 14 metres (46 ft) were recovered. The expedition suffered its only fatality in 1953, when Captain H. A. Jensen of the Danish Army , a qualified surveyor, fell to his death on a steep snow slope. In August 1953, the expedition was re-supplied by sea and air, and eight team members, who had signed on for only one year, left to be replaced by five more. The expedition returned to England by ship in August 1954. The entire expedition team were awarded
667-519: The site "Thule" after classical ultima Thule ; the Inuit called it Umanaq ("heart-shaped"), and the site is commonly called "Dundas" today. The United States abandoned its territorial claims in the area in 1917 in connection with the purchase of the Virgin Islands . Denmark assumed control of the village in 1937. A cluster of huts known as Pituffik ("the place the dogs are tied") stood on
696-436: The southwest into the western end of the lake. This Greenland location article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . British North Greenland expedition The British North Greenland expedition was a British scientific mission, led by Commander James Simpson RN, which lasted from July 1952 to August 1954. A total of 30 men took part, though not all stayed for both years. The purpose of BNGE
725-532: The wide plain where the base was built in 1951. (A main base street was named Pituffik Boulevard.) The affected locals moved to Thule. However, in 1953 the USAF planned to construct an air defense site near that village, and in order to prevent contact with soldiers in a way deemed "unhealthy", the Danish government forcibly relocated "Old Thule" with about 130 inhabitants to a newly constructed, modern village 60 miles (97 km) north, known as Qaanaaq, or "New Thule". In
754-562: The world. The station is maintained by the Danish Meteorological Institute , and as of 2016 the current operator is Svend Erik Ascanius. With 646 inhabitants as of 2020, Qaanaaq is the largest settlement in the far north of the country. Its population has been relatively stable with only minor fluctuations since the mid-1990s. The city, with its relatively low population and tradition of hunting, currently has more huskies than human residents. Qaanaaq has
783-403: Was expropriated for the construction of a United States Air Force base in 1953. The inhabitants of Qaanaaq speak the local Inuktun language and many also speak Kalaallisut and Danish . Qaanaaq is one of the northernmost towns in the world. Within Greenland, it is the northernmost major town and the third northernmost public settlement, after nearby Qeqertat and Siorapaluk . Qaanaaq
812-529: Was established in the winter of 1953 when the United States expanded Pituffik Space Base and forcibly relocated the population of Pituffik and Dundas 31 km (19 mi) to the north within four days. The settlement was subsequently moved another 100 km (62 mi) to the north. A 48.6-kilogram (107-pound) fragment of the Cape York meteorite , discovered near Thule in the summer of 1955,
841-521: Was primarily to carry out scientific studies in glaciology , meteorology , geology and physiology . Gravimetric and seismological surveys were made, and radio wave propagation was also studied from their station codenamed " North Ice ". It also provided information useful to the Armed Forces about operating in Arctic environments, and the majority of the team were serving members. Travel over
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