Avaqqat Kangerluat, also known as ''Avarqqat Kangerluat'', ''Avaqqat Kangerlua'' and ''Puiagtoq Fjord'', is a
fjord
In physical geography, a fjord or fiord () is a long, narrow inlet with steep sides or cliffs, created by a glacier. Fjords exist on the coasts of Alaska, Antarctica, British Columbia, Chile, Denmark, Germany, Greenland, the Faroe Islands, Ice ...
in the
King Frederick VI Coast
King Frederick VI Coast ( da, Kong Frederik VI Kyst) is a major geographic division of Greenland. It comprises the coastal area of Southeastern Greenland in Sermersooq and Kujalleq municipalities fronting the Irminger Sea of the North Atlantic Oce ...
,
Kujalleq
Kujalleq ( Greenlandic: , da, Den Syden, lit=The South) is a municipality on the southern tip of Greenland, operational from 1 January 2009. The administrative center of the municipality is in Qaqortoq (formerly called Julianehåb).
Creation
...
municipality, southern
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 ...
.
History
This fjord was referred to as "Auarket" by Lieutenant
Wilhelm August Graah
Wilhelm August Graah (1793–1863) was a Danish naval officer and Arctic explorer. Graah had mapped areas of West Greenland when he, in 1828–30, was sent by King Frederick VI of Denmark on an expedition to the unmapped eastern coast with t ...
in 1829 during his East Coast expedition. He camped at Taateraat Nuuat ("Taterat"), a place by the entrance of the fjord to the south. He found that a family of
Southeast-Greenland Inuit was living in the area o the fjord. Graah described these Inuit as good-looking. Graah was told about a strange object of iron in the area and he found that it was an old, rusty cannon. Graah cleaned it and fired it for the amusement of the Greenlanders.
Geography
Avaqqat Kangerluat extends in a roughly ESE/WNW direction for about 45 km between
Anorituup Kangerlua to the north and
Igutsaat Fjord
Igutsaat Fjord, also known as ''Igutsait Fjord'', is a fjord in the King Frederick VI Coast, Kujalleq municipality, southern Greenland.
Deposits of rare minerals have been found in this fjord, as well as in neighbouring Kangerluluk. Geography
Igut ...
to the south. To the east the fjord opens into the
North Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the "Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...
between Taterat and Karrat Point.
The fjord becomes wide in its middle part and has large active
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 ...
at its head and on its sides.
Puiattoq
Avaqqat Kangerluat, also known as ''Avarqqat Kangerluat'', ''Avaqqat Kangerlua'' and ''Puiagtoq Fjord'', is a fjord in the King Frederick VI Coast, Kujalleq municipality, southern Greenland. History
This fjord was referred to as "Auarket" by Lieute ...
is a tributary fjord with an active glacier on Avaqqat Kangerluat's southern shore and
Qassialik
Avaqqat Kangerluat, also known as ''Avarqqat Kangerluat'', ''Avaqqat Kangerlua'' and ''Puiagtoq Fjord'', is a fjord in the King Frederick VI Coast, Kujalleq municipality, southern Greenland. History
This fjord was referred to as "Auarket" by Lieute ...
, another offshoot, extends 7 km WSW close to the mouth on the southern shore but has no glacier at its head. Southeast of the mouth along the coast there is a small bay named Qasigiaqartarfia. Uummannaarsuk is a island located about 4 km from Avaqqat, the point on the northern side of the fjord's mouth.
The Avaqqat
Paleo-Eskimo
The Paleo-Eskimo (also pre-Thule or pre-Inuit) were the peoples who inhabited the Arctic region from Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, Chukotka (e.g., Chertov Ovrag) in present-day Russia across North America to Greenland prior to the arrival of the mode ...
archaeological site is located at the entrance of the fjord on its northern side.
Distribution Map of Archaeological, Historic, Cultural and Ancient Sites sites in Greenland
/ref>
Mountains
There are high mountains rising on both sides of the fjord, but not as steeply as in other fjords of the same area of the coast. A peak at the head of the fjord rises to a height of on the northern side between two confluent glaciers and a peak rises further to the west at .GoogleEarth
Google Earth is a computer program that renders a 3D representation of Earth based primarily on satellite imagery. The program maps the Earth by superimposing satellite images, aerial photography, and GIS data onto a 3D globe, allowing users ...
Bibliography
*John Grocott, ''Vertical Coupling and Decoupling in the Lithosphere'', Geological Society, pp 233–37
See also
*List of fjords of Greenland
This is a list of the most important fjords of Greenland:In Northern Greenland, a large area made up entirely of fjords; therefore Peary Land above not a fjord but a fjord area.In Northeastern Greenland, a large area made up entirely of fjor ...
References
External links
New insights on the north-eastern part of the Ketilidian orogen in South-East Greenland
Fjords of Greenland
{{Greenland-geo-stub