Aajuitsup Tasia (old spelling: ''Aujuitsup Tasia'') is a large

lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...

in central-western

Greenland Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland is t ...

, in the

Qeqqata Qeqqata (, da, Centrum, lit=Centre) is a municipality in western Greenland, operational from 1 January 2009. The municipality was named after its location in the central-western part of the country. Its population is 9,378 as of January 2020. Th ...

municipality. It is located approximately northeast of

Kangerlussuaq Kangerlussuaq (; ; da, Søndre Strømfjord), is a settlement in western Greenland in the Qeqqata municipality located at the head of the fjord of the same name. It is Greenland's main air transport hub and the site of Greenland's largest commer ...

. It is of elongated oval shape, with its western shore at and its eastern shore at . Aajuitsup Tasia is an

oligotroph An oligotroph is an organism that can live in an environment that offers very low levels of nutrients. They may be contrasted with copiotrophs, which prefer nutritionally rich environments. Oligotrophs are characterized by slow growth, low rates of ...

ic lake of depth, covering an area of 1,350ha.

Geography

The 2x10 km lake is separated from the

Akuliarusiarsuup Kuua Akuliarusiarsuup Kuua ( da, Sandflugtdalen) is a river and valley of the same name in the Qeqqata municipality in central-western Greenland. Its source is the meltwater outflow from Russell Glacier, an outflow of the Greenland ice sheet. The riv ...

valley and Kangerlussuaq in the south by a low

tundra In physical geography, tundra () is a type of biome where tree growth is hindered by frigid temperatures and short growing seasons. The term ''tundra'' comes through Russian (') from the Kildin Sámi word (') meaning "uplands", "treeless moun ...

ridge − part of the

Kangaamiut dike swarm The Kangaamiut dike swarm (old spelling: ''Kangâmiut'') is a 2.04 billion year old dike swarm located in the Qeqqata region of western Greenland. The dikes cut Archean orthogneisses and are exposed along approximately of the coast and a similar ...

. To the west lies a sibling

Sanningasoq Sanningasoq (old spelling: ''Sáningassoq'') is a large oligotrophic twin lake Isunngua Isunngua (old spelling: ''Isúngua'') is a highland in the Qeqqata municipality in central-western Greenland, located immediately west of the Greenland Ice Sheet edge. In large part it is covered by the tundra, although in the immediate vicinity o ...

. The surface of Aajuitsup Tasia is almost level with the surface of the neighboring meltwater lake, an outflow of Russell Glacier. The altitude differential produces an outflowing

bog A bog or bogland is a wetland that accumulates peat as a deposit of dead plant materials often mosses, typically sphagnum moss. It is one of the four main types of wetlands. Other names for bogs include mire, mosses, quagmire, and muskeg; a ...

gy stream flowing from Aajuitsup Tasia to the unnamed meltwater lake, allowing Aajuitsup Tasia to retain its freshwater character despite being directly in the

glacier A glacier (; ) is a persistent body of dense ice that is constantly moving under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its Ablation#Glaciology, ablation over many years, often Century, centuries. It acquires dis ...

outflow path.

Photographs

File:Aajuitsup-tasia-greenland.jpg, Eastern shore of Aajuitsup Tasia File:Aajuitsup-tasia-meltwater-freshwater-greenland.jpg, Color differential - fresh water of Aajuitsup Tasia, and

meltwater Meltwater is water released by the melting of snow or ice, including glacial ice, tabular icebergs and ice shelves over oceans. Meltwater is often found in the ablation zone of glaciers, where the rate of snow cover is reducing. Meltwater can be ...

of unnamed outflow lake of Russell Glacier File:Aajuitsup Tasia in summer 2010 (6).JPG, Lake Aajuitsup Tasia with Russell Glacier

References

{{reflist

External links

* Underwater photography in the lake a
Tropica Aquarium Plants
Kangerlussuaq Lakes of Greenland