How does Greenland’s ice sheet shape the island’s landscape?

The Greenland Ice Sheet profoundly shapes the island's landscape by covering more than 80 percent of its total area. Its influence is characterized by the following features:12

• Topographic Containment: The ice sheet occupies a vast, saucer-like basin. While the interior bedrock is largely at or near sea level, the ice is contained by rugged mountain chains that parallel the east and west coasts.231
• Glacial Carving: The ice sheet constantly moves outward from its central domes toward the periphery. This movement forces ice through coastal mountain gaps, carving deep fjords that reach far into the island's interior.214
• Outlet Glaciers and Icebergs: Restricted tongues of ice, known as outlet glaciers, flow through these valleys to the sea. Where these glaciers meet the ocean, they calve into vast numbers of icebergs, a process that significantly impacts the island's coastal geography and the surrounding marine environment.3512
• Ice-Free Zones: The presence of the ice sheet defines the remaining landscape, leaving only limited, ice-free coastal areas—primarily in the southwest, north, and east—which consist largely of highlands and tundra.51