I have been looking at some new images of the Staunings Alkps in East Greenland, in what we might refer to as a classic Alpine landscape. It's heavily glacierized, with no plateau ice caps or snowfields. Almost all of the snow and ice is found in hollows or depressions, separated by a multitude of sharp peaks, jagged "sawtooth" ridges and pinnacles. Slopes are very steep, and frost processes dominate in the destruction of bedrock outcrops. Avalanches and snow bank collapses are frequent.
This landscape stratches from hoirozon to horizon, and is revealed in all its glory in footage from a low-altitude (5,000m) overflight in a chartered Airbus aircraft, on its way to the North Pole.
There are thousands of spectacular peaks here, most of them still unclimbed. But we can understand why the Staunings Alps are now something of a magnet to climbing expeditions........
One thing that I find particularly intriguing is the transition from "alpine country" to "plateau and fjord country" on the northern, western and southern flanks of the mountains. Look at this photo:
The contrast is staggering -- within a few miles we pass into an old plateau landscape where most of the snow and ice is found on extensive or broken plateaux. The plateau segments are separated by deep troughs containing outlet glaciers, and there are many places where ice spills over the plateau edge in spectacular "frozen cascades".
What is the explanation for the differences between these landscapes? Watch this space.........
Landscape types to the north of Scoresby Sund. The red line encloses most of the Alpine terrain.
Satellite image of the Staunings Alps / Werner Mountains area
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