Researchers Discover Earth's Northernmost Island Off Greenland By Accident

When modern space exploration backed by billionaires was just settling in, many jokingly said that we must invest the same energy in discovering the secrets held by planet Earth first.?

Now, the prophecy has been fulfilled after the discovery of a new island off the coast of Greenland. Scientists say this is the world's northernmost point of land on Earth and was revealed by movement of ice.?

The island's discovery was an accident

According to The Guardian, the explorers discovered the island by accident and did not intend to find a new piece of land when they began their journey.?

The island was discovered last month and according to head of the Arctic station research facility in Greenland, Morten Rasch, they were there to "collect samples" when they saw the island.?

Reuters

Also read:?Greenland's Summit Experiences Rain Instead Of Snow For The First Time In Recorded History

Initially, the scientists believed that they were on Oodaaq, an island first discovered in 1978 by a Danish survey group. Only while checking the exact location later did they realise that the island they visited lied 780 metres north-west of Oodaaq.

Reuters

It's not uncommon for explorers to find something different from what they set out to find. In fact, that's how North America was "discovered".?

The newly discovered island is extremely small - measuring only 30 metres with a peak of 3 metres.?

World's northernmost land to be named?“Qeqertaq Avannarleq”

It is largely made of mud from the ocean and rock soil left by moving glaciers. The team claims that they intend to recommend “Qeqertaq Avannarleq” as the island's name, which translates into "the northernmost island" in Greenlandic.?

Many explorers have attempted to find the world's northernmost island but to no avail. A similar island was found by Dennis Schmitt in 2007.?

Reuters

Also read:?Greenland Lost 8.5 Billion Tons Of Ice In A Day, Enough To Drown Andhra Pradesh In 2-Inch Water

While global warming is melting Greenland's ice sheet at a scary rate, this discovery cannot be attributed to those changes.For it to qualify as an island, it needs to remain above sea level at high tide.?

In the failure to do so, it would remain a bank.Rene Forsberg from Denmark's National Space Institute is convinced that these the land mass meets the criteria of an island, while warning that such small islands come and go.?

Isn't it weird that it's 2021 and we are still discovering new land on this Earth? Keep visiting Indiatimes.com for your daily dose of science and technology news.