Kangerlussuaq Icefjord

For other uses, see Kangerlussuaq (disambiguation).
Kangerlussuaq Icefjord
Giesecke Icefjord
Kangerlussuaq Icefjord (Upernavik Archipelago)
Location Upernavik Archipelago
Coordinates 73°33′N 55°48′W / 73.550°N 55.800°W / 73.550; -55.800Coordinates: 73°33′N 55°48′W / 73.550°N 55.800°W / 73.550; -55.800
Ocean/sea sources Baffin Bay
Basin countries Greenland
Max. length 42 km

Kangerlussuaq Icefjord (old spelling: Kangerdlugssuaq, Danish: Giesecke Isfjord) is a fjord in the Qaasuitsup municipality in northwestern Greenland.

Geography

The 42 km (26 mi) long fjord flows to the northwest between the mainland of Greenland in the northeast, and a chain of islands in the southwest: Aukarnersuaq Island, Anarusuk Island, Nuuluk Island, Qallunaat Island, and Tuttorqortooq Island.

The fjord head is located at 73°30′N 55°28′W / 73.500°N 55.467°W / 73.500; -55.467, where the southern tongue of Giesecke Glacier, named (Greenlandic: Kakiffait Sermiat), reaches the fjord. The fjord mouth is located in the northernmost part of Tasiusaq Bay, between Tuttorqortooq Island in the southwest and Mernoq Island in the north.[1]

Qaaneq Fjord

The innermost portion of the fjord bears a different name: Qaaneq (old spelling: Qâneq). It is an inner extension of Kangerlussuaq Icefjord, with the flow from one to the other disrupted by the Kakiffait Sermiat glacier tongue. If the length of both fjords were to be combined, the total length of Kangerlussuaq Icefjord would reach 64 km (40 mi). The head of Qaaneq Fjord is located at 73°21′30″N 55°02′22″W / 73.35833°N 55.03944°W / 73.35833; -55.03944, situated between two nunataks on the mainland of Greenland, bounding it from the north and from the southwest.

References

  1. Upernavik, Saga Map, 1:250.000, Tage Schjøtt, 1992
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