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A '''nunatak''' (from the Inuit word ''nunataq'') is an exposed, often rocky element of a ridge, mountain, or peak not covered with ice or snow within (or at the edge of) an ice field or glacier. They are also called '''glacial islands'''. | [[File:Starr Nunatak-Antarctica.jpg|thumb|Starr Nunatak in Antarctica]] | ||
A '''nunatak''' (from the Inuit word ''nunataq'') is an exposed, often rocky element of a ridge, mountain, or peak not covered with ice or snow within (or at the edge of) an ice field or glacier. They are also called '''glacial islands'''. Examples are natural pyramidal peaks. | |||
[[Category: | The word is of Greenlandic origin and has been used in English since the 1870s. | ||
==Description== | |||
The term is typically used in areas where a permanent [[ice]] sheet is present and the nunataks protrude above the sheet. Nunataks present readily identifiable landmark reference points in [[glacier]]s or ice caps and are often named. While some nunataks are isolated, sometimes they form dense clusters, such as Queen Louise Land in Greenland. | |||
Nunataks are generally angular and jagged, which hampers the formation of glacial ice on their tops, although [[snow]] can accumulate on them. They usually contrast strongly with the softer contours of the glacially eroded land after a glacier retreats. | |||
Typically nunataks are the only places where plant life can survive on the [[ice sheet]]s or ice caps. Lifeforms on nunataks are frequently isolated by the surrounding ice or glacier, providing unique habitats. | |||
[[Category:Science]] |