Kangerlussuaq Fjord, East Greenland

"Kangerdlugssuaq" redirects here. For the fjord in western Greenland, see Kangerlussuaq Fjord. For other meanings, see Kangerlussuaq (disambiguation).
Kangerlussuaq Fjord
Location
Location Arctic
Coordinates 68°25′N 32°26′W / 68.417°N 32.433°W / 68.417; -32.433Coordinates: 68°25′N 32°26′W / 68.417°N 32.433°W / 68.417; -32.433
Ocean/sea sources North Atlantic Ocean
Basin countries Greenland
Max. length 68 km
Max. width 9.7 km
Average depth 960 m

Kangerlussuaq Fjord (Greenlandic: Kangerlussuaq, meaning 'large fjord'; old spelling Kangerdlugssuaq) is a fjord in eastern Greenland. It is part of the Sermersooq municipality.

The fjord was named by the East-Greenland Coast Expedition led by Georg Carl Amdrup in 1900. Currently drilling explorations are being carried out for the possible exploitation of gold, palladium and platinum in the Kangerlussuaq area.[1]

Geography

This fjord is located in King Christian IX Land, roughly midway between Scoresby Sound and the Sermilik Fjord and is the second-largest fjord in the southeastern coast of Greenland. Its waters are fed by the huge Kangerlussuaq Glacier, the largest glacier on the east coast of the Greenland ice sheet, among other not so large active glaciers such as the Hutchinson Glacier near its southern entrance. The fjord stretches inland in a roughly NW direction and its mouth is located between Cape Deichmann and Cape Hammer in the Denmark Strait area of the Atlantic Ocean.[2]

The Nordfjord, Courtauld Fjord, Amdrup Fjord (Atterteq) and Watkins Fjord (Torsukattak) are smaller side fjords within the Kangerlussuaq Fjord system.[3] Kraemer Island lies at the entrance of Watkins Fjord, separated from the Skaergaard Peninsula on the northern shore of Kangerlussuaq Fjord by the narrow Uttental Sund. Kangerlussuaq Fjord is a deep fjord with strong and dangerous currents. Near the fjord's entrance its sides widen, forming an impressive bay surrounded by towering cliffs and high mountains, such as the 1,660 m high Batbjerg.[4]

Map of Greenland section.
Kangerdlugsuak in a map showing the route taken by the Antarctic during Amdrup's East-Greenland Coast Expedition 1900.

Geology

The area around Kangerlussuaq has been known for its unique geology since the 1930s regarding the many intrusions where magma from the earth's interior has been forced into the earth's crust. The Skaergaard intrusion that was discovered by Lawrence Wager in 1931 during the British Arctic Air Route Expedition is especially well-known.[5]

History

The eastern coast of Greenland was inhabited by Paleo-Eskimo people 4000 years ago and the Kangerlussuaq Fjord was likely visited by hunters. A quartz hand scraper found in Cape Irminger —24 km east of Cape Hammer— proves that the region was visited at least 2000 years ago.[6] Inuit people lived in the area between the late 13th century and the early 19th century.[7]

Remains of Inuit dwellings were found in 1900 when the first Europeans reached this remote fjord during Georg Amdrup's East-Greenland Coast Expedition. However, the first archaeological excavations on the Skaergaard Peninsula were carried out by members of the 'Second East-Greenland Expedition of the Scoresbysund Committee' led by Ejnar Mikkelsen in 1932.[7]

In 1945 there was a prisoners colony near the mouth of the fjord and a US run weather station was established on the Skaergaard Peninsula. The weather station was moved in 1949 to North Apulileeq (Nordre Aputiteq) island, located about 45 km to the southwest off Cape Edvard Holm.

See also

Bibliography

References

  1. ↑ Project Update and Activities (PDF; 1,9 MB), Platina Resources Ltd., 26. Februar 2014 (englisch)
  2. ↑ "Kangerlussuaq". Mapcarta. Retrieved 11 April 2016.
  3. ↑ Christian Glahder: Hunting in Kangerlussuaq, East Greenland, 1951–1991. An Assessement of Local Knowledge (= Meddelelser om Grønland, Man & Society, Nr. 19, 1995), p. 10 (englisch)
  4. ↑ Prostar Sailing Directions 2005 Greenland and Iceland Enroute, p. 109
  5. ↑ Per Ivar Haug: Gazetteer of Greenland (= Til Opplysning Nr. 15), Universitätsbibliothek Trondheim, Trondheim 2005, ISBN 82-7113-114-1
  6. ↑ Christian Glahder: Hunting in Kangerlussuaq, East Greenland, 1951–1991. An Assessement of Local Knowledge (= Meddelelser om Grønland, Man & Society, Nr. 19, 1995), p. 12
  7. 1 2 Skaergaard history

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Sunday, April 24, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.