A nunatak (from Inuitnunataq) is the summit or ridge of a mountain that protrudes from an ice field or glacier that otherwise covers most of the mountain or ridge. They often form natural pyramidal peaks. Isolated nunataks are also called glacial islands,[2] and smaller nunataks rounded by glacial action may be referred to as rognons.[3][4]
The word is of Greenlandic origin[5] and has been used in English since the 1870s.
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Vieira, G.T.; Ferreira, A.B. (1998). "General characteristics of the glacial geomorphology of the Serra da Estrela"(PDF). In G.T. Vieira (ed.). Glacial and Periglacial Geomorphology of the Serra da Estrela. Guidebook for the field-trip IGU Commission on Climate Change and Periglacial Environments, 26–28 August 1998. pp. 37–48. Retrieved October 16, 2011.