Bernstorff Fjord ( da, Bernstorff Isfjord; kl, Kangertittivaq) 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 ...

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 ...

, eastern

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 ...

. Administratively it is part of the

Sermersooq Sermersooq (, da, sted med meget is, lit=place of much ice) is a municipality in Greenland, formed on 1 January 2009 from five earlier, smaller municipalities. Its administrative seat is the city of Nuuk (formerly called Godthåb), the capital ...

municipality. The fjord was named after Danish statesman

Andreas Peter Bernstorff Andreas Peter Bernstorff (28 August 173521 June 1797), also known as Andreas Peter Graf von Bernstorff, was a Danish diplomat and Foreign Minister. He was a guardian of civil and political liberty. Background and early career Bernstorff was born ...

. This fjord is almost always blocked by heavy ice.

History

One of the coastal islands, Igdluluarssuk (Sattiaatteq) at the entrance of the fjord on its southern side, had had the northernmost

Inuit Inuit (; iu, ᐃᓄᐃᑦ 'the people', singular: Inuk, , dual: Inuuk, ) are a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic and subarctic regions of Greenland, Labrador, Quebec, Nunavut, the Northwest Territories ...

settlement of the southern group on the east coast in the recent past. Arctic explorer

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 ...

of the

Danish Navy The Royal Danish Navy ( da, Søværnet) is the sea-based branch of the Danish Defence force. The RDN is mainly responsible for maritime defence and maintaining the sovereignty of Danish territorial waters (incl. Faroe Islands and Greenland). Oth ...

explored this area in 1828–30, during an expedition in search of the legendary

Eastern Norse Settlement The Eastern Settlement ( non, Eystribygð ) was the first and by far the larger of the two main areas of Norse Greenland, settled by Norsemen from Iceland. At its peak, it contained approximately 4,000 inhabitants. The last written record from t ...

Geography

To the east the Bernstorff Fjord opens into the

Irminger Sea The Irminger Sea is a marginal sea of the North Atlantic Ocean. It is bordered to the west by southern Greenland, to the north by Iceland and the Denmark Strait, to the east by the Reykjanes Ridge (a northern part of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge), ...

(North Atlantic Ocean). It separates the

Odinland Odinland ( da, Odin Land), also ''Odinsland'' in the Defense Mapping Agency Greenland Navigation charts, is a peninsula in the King Frederick VI Coast, southeastern Greenland. It is a part of the Sermersooq municipality. The peninsula is fully e ...

Peninsula with its SE end,

Cape Møsting Cape Møsting ( da, Kap Møsting) is a headland in the North Atlantic Ocean, southeast Greenland, Kujalleq municipality. History Cape Møsting was named by Lieutenant Wilhelm August Graah in 1829 during his East Coast expedition. Graah took a la ...

to the north,''Prostar Sailing Directions 2005 Greenland and Iceland Enroute'', p. 102 from the

Thorland Thorland ( da, Thors Land) is a peninsula in the King Frederick VI Coast, southeastern Greenland. It is a part of the Sermersooq municipality. History One of the coastal islands, Igdluluarssuk (Sattiaatteq) at the entrance of the fjord on its s ...

Peninsula and

Cape Moltke Cape Moltke ( da, Kap Moltke; kl, Kangeq) is a headland in the North Atlantic Ocean, southeast Greenland, Kujalleq municipality. History There are numerous ancient Inuit ruins in the shores of the coves and islands near the cape, remains of the ...

to the south of the fjord. A single island, Ensomheden, is located within the fjord about from its mouth. The

Storebjørn Storebjørn () is a mountain in Lom Municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. The tall mountain is located in the Jotunheimen mountains within Jotunheimen National Park. The mountain sits about southwest of the village of Fossbergom and about ...

Bernstorff Bernstorff is an old and distinguished German-Danish noble family of Mecklenburgian origin. Members of the family held the title of Count/Countess, granted to them on 14.12.1767 by King Christian VII of Denmark. Notable members * Andreas Gott ...

, Fimbul and Sleipner glaciers at the head of this fjord produce massive amounts of

ice Ice is water frozen into a solid state, typically forming at or below temperatures of 0 degrees Celsius or Depending on the presence of impurities such as particles of soil or bubbles of air, it can appear transparent or a more or less opaq ...

.Evidence for the asynchronous retreat of large outlet glaciers in southeast Greenland at the end of the last glaciation
/ref> The Ydun Glacier,

Gerd Glacier Gerd or GERD may refer to: * Gerd (given name), a list of people with the given name or nickname * Gerd (moon), a moon of Saturn * Gerd Island, South Orkney Islands, Antarctica * Gastroesophageal reflux disease, a chronic symptom of mucosal damage ...

and Gymer Glacier are smaller glaciers flowing from Odinland into the northern shore of Bernstorff Fjord, and the Tjalfe Glacier and Røskva Glacier flow from Thorland into the southern shore. The constant glacier activity produces a powerful current streaming out of the fjord which, together with the numerous ice floes, makes navigation hazardous in the area between its mouth and

Umivik Bay Umivik Bay ( da, Umivik Bugt), also known as ''Umiivik'' and ''Umerik'', is a bay in King Frederick VI Coast, southeastern Greenland. It is part of the Sermersooq municipality. Unlike the jagged and forbidding appearance of most fjord systems i ...

Bibliography

*Spencer Apollonio, ''Lands That Hold One Spellbound: A Story of East Greenland'', 2008

References

External links

Picture of Ensomheden in the middle of Bernstorff FjordSeabirds and seals in Southeast Greenland; Results from a survey in July 2014
Fjords of Greenland {{Greenland-geo-stub

History

Geography

See also

Bibliography

References

External links