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 are also called glacial islands.[2] Examples are natural pyramidal peaks. When rounded by glacial action, smaller rock promontories 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.