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{{Short description|Island in Baffin Bay, Greenland}}

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| image_map_alt = | image_map_size = | image_map_caption = Map of Disko Island| pushpin_map = Greenland| pushpin_label = Disko Island| pushpin_label_position = | pushpin_map_alt = | pushpin_relief = | pushpin_map_caption = Location of Disko Island in Greenland69N30scale:2000000|display=inline,title}}| etymology = | location = Baffin Bay| archipelago = | waterbody = | total_islands = | major_islands = | area_km2 = 8578| area_footnotes = List of islands by area>largest in world2nd largest in Greenland| length_km = 160| length_footnotes = | width_km = | width_footnotes = | coastline_km = | coastline_footnotes = | elevation_m = 1919| elevation_footnotes = | highest_mount = Pyramiden| country = Greenland| country_admin_divisions_title = Municipality| country_admin_divisions = Qeqertalik| country_admin_divisions_title_1 = | country_admin_divisions_1 = | country_admin_divisions_title_2 = | country_admin_divisions_2 = | country_capital_type = | country_capital = | country_largest_city_type = | country_largest_city = Qeqertarsuaq| country_capital_and_largest_city = | country_largest_city_population = 839| country_leader_title = | country_leader_name = | country_area_km2 = | demonym = | population = 1,100| population_as_of = | population_footnotes = | population_rank = | population_rank_max = | density_km2 = 0.13| density_rank = | density_footnotes = | languages = | ethnic_groups = Inuit| timezone1 = | utc_offset1 = | timezone1_DST = | utc_offset1_DST = | website = | additional_info = | footnotes = }}Disko Island (, ) is a large island in Baffin Bay, off the west coast of Greenland. It has an area of {{convert|8578|km2|mi2|0|abbr=on}},Norwegian University of Science and Technology {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110615162130weblink |date=2011-06-15 }} making it the second largest of Greenland after the main island and one of the 100 largest islands in the world.

Etymology

The island's Greenlandic name means The Large Island (from = island).

Geography

(File:Disko Island, Greenland in December.jpg | thumb | 220x124px | right | Flying above Disko Island in December)The island has a length of about {{convert|160|km|mi|-1|abbr=on}}, rising to an average height of {{convert|975|m|ft|0|abbr=on}}, peaking at {{convert|1919|m|ft|0|abbr=on}}. The port of Qeqertarsuaq (named after the island, and also known as Godhavn) lies on its southern coast. Blæsedalen valley is north of Qeqertarsuaq.The island is separated from Nuussuaq Peninsula in the northeast by the Sullorsuaq Strait. To the south of the island lies Disko Bay, an inlet bay of Baffin Bay.Nuussuaq, Saga Map, Tage Schjøtt, 1992

History

Research indicates that nine large tsunamigenic landslides struck Sullorsuaq Strait in prehistoric times during the Holocene, seven of them from the southern coast of the Nuussuaq Peninsula and two others from the northern coast of Disko Island. Seven of the landslides apparently occurred between about 8020 BC and 6520 BC with unidentified tsunamigenic effects. The two most recent prehistoric landslides generated megatsunamis which struck Alluttoq Island, the first sometime around 5650 BC with a run-up height of {{convert|41|to|66|m|0}}, and another that struck around 5350 BC with a run-up height of {{convert|45|to|70|m|0}}.WEB,weblink Giant mid-Holocene landslide-generated tsunamis recorded in lake sediments from Saqqaq, West Greenland, Korsgaard, Niels J., Svennevig, Kristian, Søndergaard, Anne S., Luetzenburg, Gregor, Oksman, Mimmi, Larsen, Nicolaj K., 13 March 2023, copernicus.org, European Geosciences Union, 12 October 2023, Erik the Red paid the first recorded visit to Disko Island at some time between 982 and 985. The island was used as a base for summer hunting and fishing by Norse colonists.Seaver, Kirsten A. “Greenland and Vinland.” The Frozen Echo: Greenland and the Exploration of North America, Ca. A.D. 1000-1500, Stanford University Press, 1998, pp. 28–29.The coal mining town of Qullissat was founded on the northeast coast of Disko Island in 1924."Qullissat" Ilulissat Museum By 1952 it was a cultural hub and the third-largest settlement in Greenland, with a population of 995.WEB,weblink Uncovering a 70-year-old permafrost degradation induced disaster in the Arctic, the 1952 Niiortuut landslide-tsunami in central West Greenland, Svennevig, Kristian, Keiding, Marie, Korsgaard, Niels Jákup, Lucas, Antoine, Owen, Matthew, Poulsen, Majken Djurhuus, Priebe, Janina, Sørensen, Erik Vest, Morino, Costanza, 10 February 2023, sciencedirect.com, Science Direct, 13 October 2023, On 15 December 1952, a major landslide on a slope of the mountain Niiortuut ({{coord|70.349|N|053.178|W|name=Niiortuut}}) on the southern coast of the Nuussuaq Peninsula generated a tsunami which traveled {{convert|30|km|0}} across Sullorsuaq Strait and struck Qullissat, where it had a run-up height of {{convert|2.2|to|2.7|m}} and inflicted damage on buildings. By 1966, Qullissat was the sixth-largest town in Greenland with a population of 1,400, but it was abandoned in 1972,WEB,weblink Suluk 2010 No.1, Air Greenland, PDF, 15 July 2010, dead,weblink 9 June 2010, leaving the northern coast of Disko Island uninhabited.On 21 November 2000, a large landslide at Paatuut on the southern coast of the Nuussuaq Peninsula generated a megatsunami with a run-up height of {{convert|50|m|0}} near the landslide and {{convert|28|m|0}} at the former site of Qullissat, {{convert|20|km|nmi mi}} away, where it inundated the coast as far as {{convert|100|m|ft|0}} inland.WEB,weblink Landslide and Tsunami 21 November 2000 in Paatuut, West Greenland, Dahl-Jensen, Trine, Larsen, Lotte, Pedersen, Stig, Pedersen, Jerrik, Jepsen, Hans, Pedersen, Gunver, Nielsen, Tove, Pedersen, Asger, Von Platen-Hallermund, Frants, Weng, Willy, 2004, repec.org, Ideas, 14 October 2023,

Geology

(File:Iron-sea07a.jpg|thumb|Native iron from Disko Island (size: 4.9 x 2.9 x 1.5 cm [1.9 in. x1.1 in. x 0.6 in.]))File:Native terrestrial iron from the Tertiary of Greenland.jpg|thumb|Polished slab from this same deposit, now at the Carnegie Museum of Natural HistoryCarnegie Museum of Natural HistoryMineral deposits, fossil finds and geological formations add to interest in the area. One of the interesting geological features is the native iron found at the island. A 22-ton (44,000 lbs; 20 tonnes) lump mixture of iron and iron carbide (cohenite) has been found. There are only a few places on earth where native iron is found which is not of meteoric origin.JOURNAL, Petrogenesis of Uivfaq iron, Disko Island, Greenland, Bird, John M., Goodrich, Cyrena Anne, Weathers, Maura S., Journal of Geophysical Research, 86, B12, 11787–11805, 10.1029/JB086iB12p11787, 1981, 1981JGR....8611787B, JOURNAL, Trace elements in natural metallic iron from Disko Island, Greenland, Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology, 93, 3, 1986, 10.1007/BF00389387, 273–282, W. Klöck, H. Palme, H. J. Tobschall, amp, 1986CoMP...93..273K, 129082315, There are numerous hot springs on the island. The microscopic animal Limnognathia, the only known member of its phylum, was discovered in the Isunngua spring.

Biodiversity

Several studies on the meiofauna show high marine interstitial diversity in Disko Island. For instance, the gastrotrich species Diuronotus aspetos is found in IterdlaJOURNAL, Balsamo M, Guidi L, Ferraguti M, Pierboni L, Kristensen RM, amp, Diuronotus aspetos (Gastrotricha): new morphological data and description of the spermatozoon, Helgoland Marine Research, 64, 1, 27–34, 2010, 10.1007/s10152-009-0163-x, 2010HMR....64...27B, free, and KigdlugssaitsutJOURNAL, Todaro MA, Balsamo M, Kristensen RM, amp, A new genus of marine chaetonotids (Gastrotricha) with a description of two new species from Greenland and Denmark, Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 83, 1391–1400, 2005, 6, 10.1017/S0025315405012579, 53120866, and is so far reported only in Disko Island. It is associated with a rich diversity of other gastrotrichs like Chaetonotus atrox, Halichaetonotus sp., Mesodasys sp., Paradasys sp., Tetranchyroderma sp., Thaumastoderma sp. and Turbanella sp.

References

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