Ella Island

Ella Island (Danish: Ella Ø) is an island in eastern Greenland, within Northeast Greenland National Park.

Ella Island
Ella Ø (Danish)
The southwestern side of Ella Island in August 2007. An onlap of Devonian sandstone (right) on folded Cambrian-to-Ordovician rocks (left) is visible.
Ella Island is located in Greenland
Ella Island
Ella Island
Geography
LocationGreenland Sea
Coordinates72°51′N 25°00′W
Administration
Greenland
ZoneNortheast Greenland National Park
Demographics
Population0

Geography

Ella Island is located at the mouth of Kempe Fjord in the northern end of King Oscar Fjord. To the east lie the larger Traill Island and Geographical Society Island. Off its northern end lie Maria Island and Ruth Island.[1]

The island has an area of 143.6 square kilometres (55.4 sq mi) and a shoreline of 59.6 kilometres (37 mi).[2] Ella Island is separated from the western shore of the fjord by the Narwhal Sound.

The Sirius Dog Sled Patrol maintains a small base on the northern coast of the island which is staffed only in summer.[3][4]


Map of northeastern Greenland

History

The Danish geologist and Arctic explorer Lauge Koch (1892–1964) had a cabin on the northern side of the island named "Eagle's Nest." The Danish botanist and evolutionary biologist Thorvald Sørensen (1902–1973) spent the years 1931–1935 on the island. His observations formed the basis for his doctoral thesis in 1941.

During World War II, U.S. military forces had a radio, weather, and sledge patrol station called "Bluie East Four" on the island.[5]

In 1971 a meteorite was found on Ella Island,[6] classified as a L-6 chondrite.

On 16 September 2023 an unwitnessed tsunami of undetermined origin struck the northern part of Ella Island, penetrating 50 metres (55 yd) inland and devastating the Sirius Dog Sled Patrol station, washing much of it into the sea. The station was closed for the winter, and no one was present when the wave hit. The cruise ship Ocean Albatros arrived on the scene on 17 September and contacted the Joint Arctic Command with the first report of the damage. On 19 September, personnel from the Sirius Dog sled Patrol and the Royal Danish Navy patrol vessel HDMS Knud Rasmussen began clean-up and salvage work at the site, which they completed by 21 September despite a 20 September warning by officials to ships in the area to avoid putting crew members or passengers ashore because of a risk of additional tsunamis.[7][8]

See also

References
  1. "Kempes Fjord". Mapcarta. Retrieved 5 August 2019.
  2. UNEP
  3. Palle Norrit. "The Sirius Sledge Patrol". Archived from the original on 2011-04-21. Retrieved 2010-07-26.
  4. "Organisation" (in Danish). Grønlands Kommando. Archived from the original on 2010-11-14. Retrieved 2010-07-26.
  5. Greenland Stations Archived 2007-11-23 at the Wayback Machine
  6. 1975Metic..10 1C Page 1
  7. "Greenland Tsunami Washes Abandoned Station to Sea, Not Far From Site of Cruise Ship Grounding". Santa Monica Observer. Santa Monica, California. 21 September 2023. Retrieved 15 October 2023.
  8. Wenger, Dr. Michael (22 September 2023). "Mysterious Tsunami Hits Station in East Greenland". polarjournal.ch. Polar Journal. Retrieved 15 October 2023.


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