Inussulik Bay ( kl, Inussullip Imaa, old spelling: ''Inugsugdlip Imâ'') is a

bay A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a Gulf (geography), gulf, sea, sound (geography), sound, or bight (geogra ...

in the

Upernavik Archipelago Upernavik Archipelago is a vast coastal archipelago in the Avannaata municipality in northwestern Greenland, off the shores of northeastern Baffin Bay. The archipelago extends from the northwestern coast of Sigguup Nunaa peninsula in the south at ...

Avannaata Avannaata (, da, Det Nordlige, lit=The Northern) is a municipality of Greenland created on 1 January 2018 from the bulk of the former Qaasuitsup municipality. It encompasses an area of 522,700 km2 and has 10,726 inhabitants. Geography In ...

municipality in northwestern

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 ...

Geography

The bay is located in the northern part of Upernavik Archipelago, between

Kiatassuaq Island Kiatassuaq Island (old spelling: ''Kiatagssuaq'', da, Holm Ø, Holm Island) is an uninhabited island in the northern Upernavik Archipelago in Avannaata municipality in northwestern Greenland. It marks the southern border of Melville Bay. Histo ...

in the north and

Nuussuaq Peninsula Nuussuaq Peninsula (, old spelling: ''Nûgssuaq'') is a large (180x48 km) peninsula in western Greenland. Geography The waters around the peninsula are that of Baffin Bay. To the south and southwest the peninsula is bounded by Disko Bay, ...

in the south.''Upernavik Avannarleq'', Saga Map, Tage Schjøtt, 1992 It is an arch-shaped indentation of

Baffin Bay Baffin Bay ( Inuktitut: ''Saknirutiak Imanga''; kl, Avannaata Imaa; french: Baie de Baffin), located between Baffin Island and the west coast of Greenland, is defined by the International Hydrographic Organization as a marginal sea of the Arct ...

, sometimes included as part of

Melville Bay Melville Bay ( kl, Qimusseriarsuaq; da, Melville Bugt), is a large bay off the coast of northwestern Greenland. Located to the north of the Upernavik Archipelago, it opens to the south-west into Baffin Bay. Its Kalaallisut name, ''Qimusseriars ...

, although commonly the southern limit of latter is defined as

Wilcox Head Wilcox Head is a cape in Avannaata municipality in northwestern Greenland. Geography The cape is the western promontory on Kiatassuaq Island,''Upernavik Avannarleq'', Saga Map, Tage Schjøtt, 1992 delimiting the southern end of Melville Bay, ...

, the western cape of Kiatassuaq Island. At its widest − from the Wilcox Head promontory on Kiatassuaq Island to the Tinumanersuaq cape on Nuussuaq Peninsula − Inussulik Bay stretches for . The length of the bay reaches its maximum of at the point where the

Greenland ice sheet The Greenland ice sheet ( da, Grønlands indlandsis, kl, Sermersuaq) is a vast body of ice covering , roughly near 80% of the surface of Greenland. It is sometimes referred to as an ice cap, or under the term ''inland ice'', or its Danish equiva ...

( kl, Sermersuaq) drains into the bay via the Illullip Sermia glacier.

Islands

Kiatassuaq Island is the largest island in the bay, forming its northern boundary. Unlike the neighboring Melville Bay in the north and

Sugar Loaf Bay Sugar Loaf Bay is a bay in the Upernavik Archipelago in the Avannaata municipality in northwestern Greenland. It is an indentation of northeastern Baffin Bay. The name of the bay derives from the name of an island of the same name in the bay, Sug ...

in the south, Inussulik Bay has few islands. There are only five small islands, all uninhabited, as well as several

skerries A skerry is a small rocky island, usually defined to be too small for habitation. Skerry, skerries, or The Skerries may also refer to: Geography Northern Ireland * Skerries, County Armagh, a townland in County Armagh * Skerry, County Antrim, a ...

in the eastern part. The main island is the

Inussullissuaq Island Inussulissuaq Island (old spelling: ''Inugsuligssuaq'') is a small uninhabited island in the Melville Bay region of the Upernavik Archipelago in Avannaata municipality in northwestern Greenland. The name of the island means "''a large cairn''" in ...

in the north. In 1930 the island briefly served as a polar station for

Knud Rasmussen Knud Johan Victor Rasmussen (; 7 June 1879 – 21 December 1933) was a Greenlandic–Danish polar explorer and anthropologist. He has been called the "father of Eskimology" (now often known as Inuit Studies or Greenlandic and Arctic Studies ...

, the Greenlandic

polar Polar may refer to: Geography Polar may refer to: * Geographical pole, either of two fixed points on the surface of a rotating body or planet, at 90 degrees from the equator, based on the axis around which a body rotates * Polar climate, the c ...

explorer Exploration refers to the historical practice of discovering remote lands. It is studied by geographers and historians. Two major eras of exploration occurred in human history: one of convergence, and one of divergence. The first, covering most ...

and

anthropologist An anthropologist is a person engaged in the practice of anthropology. Anthropology is the study of aspects of humans within past and present societies. Social anthropology, cultural anthropology and philosophical anthropology study the norms and ...

. The station was named ''Bjørne Borg'' (or ''Bjørneborg'', a ''bear castle''). Its ruins can still be found on the island. The other islands are ''Inussulik'' immediately to the west of Inussullissuaq Island, ''Qeqertarsuaq'' immediately to the east,

Ikermiut Island Ikermiut Island is a small, uninhabited island in Avannaata municipality in northwestern Greenland, located in the center of Inussulik Bay in the northern part of Upernavik Archipelago, approximately halfway between Kiatassuaq Island in the north ...

in the center of the bay, and Illoorfik Island near the coast of Nuussuaq Peninsula.

Peninsulas

Nuussuaq Peninsula defines the southern and southeastern limit of Inussulik Bay. Two other peninsulas of mainland Greenland extend into the bay:

Sanningassorsuaq Peninsula Sanningassorsuaq Peninsula (old spelling: ''Sáningassorssuaq'') is a mainland peninsula in northwestern Greenland, located at the northern end of Upernavik Archipelago.''Upernavik Avannarleq'', Saga Map, 1:250.000, Tage Schjøtt, 1992 Geograph ...

and Illulissuaq Peninsula, bracing the small inlet at the far end of the bay from the north and south, respectively. The farthest inlet of the bay is choked with

iceberg An iceberg is a piece of freshwater ice more than 15 m long that has broken off a glacier or an ice shelf and is floating freely in open (salt) water. Smaller chunks of floating glacially-derived ice are called "growlers" or "bergy bits". The ...

s calving off the Illullip Sermia glacier.

Waterways

Kangerluarsuk Fjord is the main inlet of Inussulik Bay in the south; one of several of that name in Greenland. It separates the Illulissuaq Peninsula in the north from the main arm of Nuussuaq Peninsula in the south; with both peninsulas sharing the root, a

nunatak A nunatak (from Inuit ''nunataq'') is the summit or ridge of a mountain that protrudes from an ice field or glacier that otherwise covers most of the mountain or ridge. They are also called glacial islands. Examples are natural pyramidal peaks. ...

on the edge of the icesheet. In the northeast,

Ikerasaa Strait Ikerasaa Strait (old spelling: ''Ikerasâ'') is a strait in the Upernavik Archipelago in Avannaata municipality in northwestern Greenland. The strait separates Kiatassuaq Island in the north from the mainland Sanningassorsuaq Peninsula in the s ...

separates Sanningassorsuaq Peninsula from Kiatassuaq Island and the small Milissua Island, connecting through a small channel to the

Alison Bay Alison Bay ( kl, Kullorsuup Kangerlua) is a bay in Avannaata municipality in northwestern Greenland. The bay is a tributary bay of Melville Bay, and is located in the northern part of Upernavik Archipelago, between Kiatassuaq Island in the southw ...

in the north.

Settlement

The coasts and islands of Inussulik Bay are uninhabited. The closest settlements are

Kullorsuaq Kullorsuaq (, old spelling: ''Kuvdlorssuaq'') is a settlement in the Avannaata municipality in northwestern Greenland. It is the northernmost settlement in the Upernavik Archipelago, located on Kullorsuaq Island at the southern end of Melville Bay ...

in the north, and

Nuussuaq Nuussuaq (old spelling: ''Nûgssuaq''), formerly Kraulshavn, is a settlement in Avannaata municipality in northwestern Greenland. It is the only mainland settlement in the Upernavik Archipelago, located near the western tip of the Nuussuaq Penin ...

in the south. The bay is used as an inner waterway linking the settlements, offering partial shelter from the open waters of Baffin Bay for fishermen and hunters.

References

{{coord, 74, 15, N, 57, 00, W, scale:1000000, display=title Bays of the Upernavik Archipelago