NEW PHYSIOGRAPHY AND GEOLOGY OF GREENLAND 49 



north of 70° N. lat. The surface probably inclines pretty much 

 toward the south in this place. Along the west coast high border 

 areas are found in the district of Umanag, Proven and the southern 

 portion of Upernivik. The surface of the ice cap is high everywhere, 

 in most places about 1,000 meters. From Koch's expedition we 

 know that the 2,000-meter curve is surprisingly close to the coast 

 east of Proven. In Melville Bay the borderland is low and almost 

 entirely concealed by the ice cap whose margin thus drops to sea- 

 level in this place. From the inmost nunataks it is seen that the 

 1,000-meter contour is far from the coast. 



In extreme northern Greenland the altitudinal conditions are 

 well known on account of the numerous expeditions. Here we can 

 mark the 1,000-meter, 

 1,500-meter, and 2,000- 

 meter contours with 

 great precision (Fig. 5). 

 It will at once be evident 

 that comparatively large 

 areas of the inland ice cap 

 are below 1,000 meters, 

 and that this contour 

 takes a very irregular 

 course determined by the 

 large fiord glaciers. Es- 

 pecially the Humboldt 



Fig. s 



Glacier and the Petermann Glacier may be traced far into the ice cap. 

 In almost the whole of north Greenland the margin itself is at an alti- 

 tude of about 500 meters. Einar Mikkelsen's expedition, with its 

 low altitudes, in northeast Greenland, affords good proof that the 

 gneiss surface generally is very low here. To the west of Dronning 

 Louises Land the 2,000-meter contour again approaches land, and 

 everywhere, where it has been possible to get a view of the inland 

 ice from Franz Joseph Fiord and Scoresby Sound its surface has 

 been very high, near 2,000 meters. From Koch's expedition we 

 learn that considerable stretches of the inland ice are above 2,500 

 meters in northeast Greenland, whereas only a small area is 3,000 

 meters or upward. The latter area is situated about midway 



