I9I0.] 



INLAND-ICE OF THE ARCTIC REGIONS. 



71 



The Inland-ice of Spitsbergen. — The group of islands to which 

 the name Spitzbergen has been appHed, Hes between the parallels of 

 76° and 81° of north latitude. The surface is generally mountain- 

 ous, the highest peaks rising to an elevation of about 5,000 feet, 

 though the greater number range from 2,000 to 4,000 feet in alti- 

 tude. The large northeastern land mass is called North East Land 

 and is covered with inland-ice which was crossed by Nordenskiold 

 and Palander in 1873^^ (see Fig. 9). New Friesland, or the north- 

 eastern portion of the main island, is also covered by inland-ice^- 

 (see Fig. 10). The southwestern margin of this inland-ice was 



Fig. 10. Inland-ice of New Friesland as viewed from Hinloopen Strait 

 (after Conway). 



somewhat carefully mapped by Conway and Gregory in 1896,^^ and 

 as this presents some interesting general features, it is reproduced 

 in part in Fig. 11. 



In addition to the lobes which push out upon the crest of the 

 plateau, there is here an expansion laterally beyond the main cap 

 and at lower levels in the form of an apron which is called the 

 Ivory Gate (compare the Frederikshaab Glacier in Fig. 38, p. 119). 

 Surrounding the inland-ice to the westward are small ice-caps 

 resembling the fjelds and braes of Norway, and also true mountain 

 glaciers whose cirques have shaped the mountains into the sharp 

 pinnacles of comb ridges. It is to these sharp peaks that Spitzber- 

 gen owes its name. 



"A. E. Nordenskiold, " Gronland " (authorized German edition), map 

 on p. 141. 



" W. Martin Conway, " An Exploration in 1897 of some of the Glaciers 

 of Spitzbergen," Geogr. Jour., Vol. 12, 1898, pp. 137-158. 



" Sir Wm. Martin Conway, " The First Crossing of Spitzbergen," 

 London, 1897, pp. 371, 2 maps. 



