SCIENTIFIC EESULTS 



79 



measuring- over 100 miles from the front, back to the 2,200-foot con- 

 tour of the inland ice, is the longest glacier in the Northern Hemi- 

 sphere. Its outer front in some places is only a few meters in height, 

 or in other places it merges so gradually into the sea ice that the bound- 



ary can not be detected. It is estimated that the length of the floating 

 end of Petermann Glacier is about 20 miles. The ascent of the 

 glacier is so slight in the great distance between its outer end and 

 the inland ice at the fjord head, that early explorers were led to 

 believe that a sound divided this northern section from the mainland. 



