Administratively it lies in the Northeast Greenland National Park zone.

This glacier was named Nunatak glacieren in 1899 by Swedish Arctic explorer and geologist A.G. Nathorst during the expedition he led to Greenland in search of survivors of S. A. Andrée's Arctic balloon expedition of 1897.

The name was chosen owing to the tops of nunataks appearing to overhang it.

[1] The Nunatak Glacier originates at the eastern end of the Adolf Hoel Glacier, south of the area of the Jakob Kjøde Bjerg nunatak.

It flows in a roughly northwest to southeast direction for about 20 km (12 mi) until its terminus at the head of the Geologfjord.