Traverse Route from Pituffik to Warming Land, North Greenland

William Colgan; Dominik Fahrner; Gregor Luetzenburg; Anja Løkkegaard; Eva Sofie Bendix Nielsen; Penelope How; Anja Rutishauser; Anne Solgaard; Robert S Fausto; Kristian K Kjeldsen; Christopher Shields; Henrik Spanggård; Patrick Smith; Joseph A MacGregor; Andreas P. Ahlstrøm; Nanna B Karlsson

doi:10.34194/ft7sk529

Photograph of the land-to-sea transition maintained at Pituffik harbour on 17 May 2022. Uummannaq (Dundas Fjeld) in the background.

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Abstract

We examine the feasibility of an overland motorised traverse from Pituffik to Greenland’s oldest ice outcrop in Warming Land, North Greenland. We assess a 778 km overland traverse that departs Pituffik via the Nunatarssuaq Take-Off Ramp, which is an alternative to the more frequently used, but more heavily crevassed, Thule Take-Off Ramp. The traverse route includes brief sea ice and primitive road conditions, each c. 4% of the route length, and a lengthy ice sheet segment (c. 92% of the route length). This study outlines challenges for each of these traverse segments, including primitive road conditions and snow cover, seasonality of extreme cold conditions (air temperatures below –30°C), seasonality of surface melting and softening (air temperatures above 0°C), sea-ice thickness and potential ridging hazards, and ice dynamics and potential crevasse hazards. Ongoing work is required for annual vetting of the traverse route to ensure operational safety. The optimal operational window for such a traverse is departing Pituffik in mid-April and returning in mid-May. In comparison to aircraft-supported ice-sheet fieldwork, scientific traverses offer the opportunity for more intensive ground-based science, while significantly reducing carbon emissions. Based on previously reported traverse fuel consumptions, a ground traverse from Pituffik to Warming Land would use 90% less fuel than aircraft supported fieldwork. This assessment underscores the potential for sustainable ground-based access to Greenland’s oldest ice outcrop and other science sites within the region.

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Copyright (c) 2025 William Colgan, Dominik Farhner, Gregor Luetzenburg, Anja Løkkegaard, E. B. Nielsen, Penelope How, Anja Rutishauser, Anne Solgaard, Robert S Fausto, Kristian K Kjeldsen, Christopher Shields, Henrik Spanggård, Patrick Smith, Joseph A MacGregor , Andreas P. Ahlstrøm, Nanna B Karlsson

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Data Availability Statement

A shapefile of the Pituffik to Warming Land traverse route described here is available in the online supplementary material associated with this report (Supplementary File S1; Colgan et al. 2025). https://doi.org/10.22008/FK2/OIP6L4

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This work was supported by GC-Net.

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Traverse Route from Pituffik to Warming Land, North Greenland

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Traverse Route from Pituffik to Warming Land, North Greenland

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