This dataset provides a comprehensive record of thermal springs across Greenland’s ice-free margins. Thermal springs have temperatures ranging from near freezing to over 60°C. The inventory consolidates records from over a century of scientific literature, field observations, Greenlandic placenames, satellite imagery, and geological maps.
The database contains documented spring localities, each with detailed metadata. Attributes include name, coordinates, geological setting, source type, in-situ visit records, contributor, source DOI if possible, and a confidence score reflecting location accuracy. For springs identified through linguistic sources, the language root, original term, and translation are included. Where available, in-situ measurements of temperature, salinity, pH, oxygen content, and discharge are recorded.
Coordinates are provided in latitude and longitude and converted to NSIDC Sea Ice Polar Stereographic North (EPSG:3413). Positional uncertainty is estimated per site, with historical records generally being less precise. Elevations are interpolated from ArcticDEM v3, lithology from the Geological Map of Greenland 2.0, and 2 m annual mean air temperature from CARRA reanalysis.
The dataset supports interdisciplinary research, conservation planning, and monitoring of Greenland’s thermal springs. It is a living resource, with procedures provided for adding new records or updating existing ones.
Terms of use:
Please acknowledge the dataset and cite it in any use or publication:
Nielsen et al. (2025) "Review of Greenland thermal springs". [preprint].
Acknowledgements
The authors gratefully acknowledge Ronnie N. Glud, Michelle Citterio, Ole Bennike, Flemming Christiansen, and Stuart Watt for their valuable contributions to the development of the database through constructive discussions. E.B.N. and W.C. were supported by the Independent Research Fund Denmark project 3103-00029B. M.K. acknowledges the Carlsberg Foundation and the Independent Research Fund Denmark for supporting an expedition to explore hot springs on Liverpool, Land and Blosseville Coast in 2003, and the Leister Foundation and Christiane Leister for supporting his hot springs work on East and South Greenland during the Leister Go East 2023 Expedition; Hans Kristian Scoresby Hammeken and members of the Leister Go East 2023 expedition are thanked for their excellent field assistance. M.K. also acknowledges the Independent Research Fund Denmark for supporting his work in the Ikka Fjord, where Jesper Kikkenborg, Jens Erik Larsen, Erik Trampe and the Arctic Command at the Naval Base Grønnedal provided excellent field assistance. R.M.K. gratefully acknowledges financial support from the Carlsberg Foundation, the Danish Research Agency, and the Commission for Scientific Research in Greenland. K.S.C. and R.M.K. also acknowledge support from the Faculty of Science at the University of Copenhagen for long-term support of research activities at Arctic Station in Qeqertarsuaq.
(2025-08-29)
