Navarana Fjord is a fjord in Peary Land, far northern Greenland. It is named after an Inuit woman. In 1984 important zinc and

barium Barium is a chemical element with the symbol Ba and atomic number 56. It is the fifth element in group 2 and is a soft, silvery alkaline earth metal. Because of its high chemical reactivity, barium is never found in nature as a free element. Th ...

deposits were discovered in the Navarana Fjord. Australian Ironbark Zinc corporation was granted an exploration licence in 2007.

History

This fjord was mapped by Danish

Arctic explorer Arctic exploration is the physical exploration of the Arctic region of the Earth. It refers to the historical period during which mankind has explored the region north of the Arctic Circle. Historical records suggest that humankind have explored ...

Eigil Knuth during the Danish Peary Land Expedition of 1947–1950.Nunat Aqqi; Stednavne
/ref> It was named after Navarana Mequpaluk (died 1921), the wife of Arctic explorer

Peter Freuchen Lorenz Peter Elfred Freuchen (20 February 1886 – 2 September 1957) was a Danish explorer, author, journalist and anthropologist. He is notable for his role in Arctic exploration, namely the Thule Expeditions. Personal life Freuchen was b ...

(1886–1957). Navarana had died at Upernavik in 1921 just before joining the Fifth Thule Expedition with her husband. Her death came at the time of the influenza epidemic that ravaged indigenous populations in Greenland in the early 1920s.Janice Cavell & Jeff Noakes, ''Acts of Occupation: Canada and Arctic Sovereignty, 1918–25''; p. 140

Geography

Navarana Fjord is located in the northeastern part of Freuchen Land, western Peary Land. It is the only significant branch of

J.P. Koch Fjord J.P. Koch Fjord is a fjord in Peary Land, northern Greenland. To the west, the fjord opens into the Lincoln Sea of the Arctic Ocean. It is named after Danish captain and explorer of the Arctic Johan Peter Koch (1870 – 1928), Geography The fjord ...

, with the junction about east of the mouth in the southern shore. The fjord runs roughly southwards in the middle fjord zone, deeply dividing the Freuchen Land Peninsula. It is about in length and high mountains rise on both sides of the shore, with impressive up to high cliffs in some places. There is a fairly large glacier, the Navarana Fjord Glacier, at the head of the fjord discharging from the southeast.

Geology

Geologically this fjord is located in the Paleozoic

Franklinian Basin Benjamin Franklin ( April 17, 1790) was an American polymath who was active as a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher, and political philosopher. Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the leading intell ...

. Navarana Fjord is part of an escarpment at the northern edge of a

Silurian The Silurian ( ) is a geologic period and system spanning 24.6 million years from the end of the Ordovician Period, at million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Devonian Period, Mya. The Silurian is the shortest period of the Paleozo ...

limestone shelf with a fault running for reaching Nyeboe Land. '' Sisamatispongia'' is a genus of fossil sponges whose

spicules Spicules are any of various small needle-like anatomical structures occurring in organisms Spicule may also refer to: * Spicule (sponge), small skeletal elements of sea sponges * Spicule (nematode), reproductive structures found in male nematodes ...

are only recorded from Navarana Fjord.

Bibliography

*H.P. Trettin (ed.), ''Geology of the Innuitian Orogen and Arctic Platform of Canada and Greenland.'' 1991

References

External links