Researchers say they have accidentally discovered what they believe is the world's northernmost island off the coast of Greenland.
Scientists from the University of Copenhagen initially thought they had arrived at Oodaaq, an island discovered by a Danish survey team in 1978, to collect samples during an expedition that took place in July. Instead, they ended up on an undiscovered island further north.
"We were convinced that the island we were standing on was Oodaaq, which until then had been recorded as the northernmost island in the world," said expedition leader Morten Rasch from the university's Department of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management.
"But when I posted pictures of the island and its coordinates on social media, a number of American island researchers went crazy and said it couldn't be real," he added in a statement on Friday.
The as-yet-unidentified island is 780 meters north of Oodaaq, an island near Cape Morris Jesup, Greenland's northernmost point.
The research team reportedly does not consider the discovery to be the result of climate change and is believed to have proposed naming the island Qeqertaq Avannarleq, which means "northernmost island" in Greenlandic.
The island consists mostly of small mounds of mud and gravel, according to Rasch. He said it may be the result of a large storm that, with the help of the sea, gradually pushed material from the seabed together until an island formed. The island is not expected to exist for long, Danish researchers believe.
(BalkanWeb)
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