Spellings of geographic places and geological features

Back to Author instructions >

Spelling of geographical places and features

Geographical place names are the names used for geographical places and features such as countries, regions, cities, towns, villages, lakes, rivers and streams, seas, oceans, ice caps, ice sheets, peninsulas, estuaries, bays, fjords, sounds, mountains or valleys etc.

For reasons of accuracy and cultural respect, published manuscripts should always use the most accurately available spellings for geographical places wherever they are in the world. Where available, names authorised by official bodies, such as the Greenland Language Secretariat (GLC), should be used.

Manuscripts submitted to GEUS Bulletin should adhere to following guidelines regarding spellings of geographic places:

  • Use the official names authorised by the country in question.
  • Where a historical precedent exists for a widely used, non-authorised name, authors may include the non-authorised name together with the authorised name where it first appears in the main text and figures or tables. For example, “Kangerlussuaq (Søndre Strømfjord)” or in a figure, “Kangerlussuaq • Søndre Strømfjord”. Therein authors should use the authorised place name throughout.
  • For Greenlandic place names, refer to the Language Secretariat of Greenland’s database of authorised place names. The database can be searched in the interactive map (in English, Danish and Greenlandic).
  • For Danish place names, refer to the Agency for Climate Data in Denmark’s Place Names Register. The database can be searched in the interactive map (in Danish only).
  • Widely used international spelling can be used where they are also used by official bodies of the country in question. For example, "Denmark" vs. "Danmark", "Greenland" vs. "Kalaallit Nunaat" and "Copenhagen" vs. "København".

Spelling of geological units and other features named after localities in Greenland

Formal lithostratigraphic units, names of magmatic intrusions and other published geological features should use the spelling convention established by the community and within existing scientific literature. This is true, even if those locality names have since changed following Greenlandic orthography. However, refer to the modern, authorised place name spelling when describing the geographical location of said features. For example, “Kangâmiut dyke swarm” for the geological feature, but “Kangaamiut” for the geographical place name.

Names for geological features that are not formerly defined elsewhere should use up-to-date authorised place name spellings.

 

To the top