INTRODUCTION.) 
HE continental island of Greenland, although not a large producer 
T of minerals, is of interest to economic geologists, because of the 
character of its ore deposits, and to mining engineers, because the 
greater portion of its revenue is derived from royalties levied upon an 
ore of aluminum. 
During the summer of 1914, the writer examined the west coast 
from the Josva copper mine (latitude 60752717” N.) to Upernivik (lati- 
tude 72747730” N.) and obtained most of the data for this article. 
The area of Greenland is 2 142 000 km? (827 000 square miles), of 
which some 1 847 000 km? (713 000 square miles), or 86 %, is buried 
by the continental ice sheet (Figure 1). On the east coast the ice sheet 
reaches the sea practically everywhere; on the west coast, however, 
except where several great arms of ice push out into the sea, there is 
a narrow band of ice-free land, which, locally, is as much as 225 km 
(140 miles wide). The habitable part of Greenland (an area on the 
west coast of some 112 000 km? (43 130 square miles) consists of in- 
numerable rugged and bare islands and of a highly accentuated treeless 
mainland, deeply cut by many perpendicular or steep-sided fiords. The 
highest mountains are not much over 2 135 m (7000 feet) above sea- 
level, but, as they rise almost sheer from the sea, they have a grandeur 
out of all proportion to their height. 
General mining condition. 
Steamers make yearly from fifteen to twenty round trips between 
Copenhagen and Greenland, the navigating season being from April to 
November. In addition, as a rule, several freighters from Philadelphia 
1) Published by permission of the Grønlandsk Minedrifts Aktieselskab. Ack- 
nowledgments are due Messrs. WALTER STRACHE and Amos D. Jounson for hearty 
co-operation and assistance in the field and to CLinron BERNARD and О. №. LINDAAS 
for the use of their reports. 
The above paper is to be read in abstract at the December 1921 meeting of 
the Society of Economic Geologists. 
1* 
