Sherard Osborn 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, Förden and East Jutland Fjorde, Germany, ...
in northern
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 i ...
. To the NNW, the fjord opens into the
Lincoln Sea
Lincoln Sea (french: Mer de Lincoln; da, Lincolnhavet) is a body of water in the Arctic Ocean, stretching from Cape Columbia, Canada, in the west to Cape Morris Jesup, Greenland, in the east. The northern limit is defined as the great circle lin ...
. Administratively it is part of the
Northeast Greenland National Park.
This fjord was named after
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...
admiral and
Arctic explorer Sherard Osborn (1822 – 1875).
Geography
It is a fjord with a wide mouth that opens to the NNW between
Dragon Point
A dragon is a reptilian legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted a ...
at the northern end of
Hendrik Island
Hendrik Island is an island in far northern Greenland. Its area is 583 km2. It is part of the Northeast Greenland National Park.
The island is named after Inuit Arctic explorer Hendrik Olsen, who was a member of Knud Rasmussen's Second Th ...
, and
Cape May
Cape May consists of a peninsula and barrier island system in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is roughly coterminous with Cape May County and runs southwards from the New Jersey mainland, separating Delaware Bay from the Atlantic Ocean. The so ...
, at the northwestern end of
Wulff Land. Hendrik Island forms the western shore of the fjord north of the
Hartz Sound and smaller high
Castle Island lies in Saint Andrew Bay off the northeastern shore of Hendrik Island.
Sherard Osborn Fjord forms
Wulff Land's western coastline and Hendrik Island forms part of the northern half of the facing shore, while the shore south of the Hartz Sound that separates the island from the mainland is part of
Warming Land
Warming Land is a peninsula in far northern Greenland. Administratively it is a part of the Northeast Greenland National Park. It was named after Danish botanist and ecologist Eugen Warming (1841 – 1924).
Geography
Warming Land is located be ...
on one side and
Permin Land on the other. The Hartz Sound connects the area of the head of the fjord with neighboring
Saint George Fjord to the east.
GoogleEarth
Google Earth is a computer program that renders a 3D computer graphics, 3D representation of Earth based primarily on satellite imagery. The program maps the Earth by superimposition, superimposing satellite images, aerial photography, and geog ...
The
Ryder Glacier at the fjord's head discharges ice from the
Greenland Ice Cap
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 equiv ...
and fills most of the inner fjord as far as Wedge Island. At the head of the fjord, to the southwest of Wulff Land, lies
Aage Bistrup Land, an
unglaciated
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 over many years, often centuries. It acquires distinguishing features, such as ...
land area completely surrounded by the Ryder Glacier. high
Cape V. Normann is at the northern end of Permin Land.
[''Prostar Sailing Directions 2005 Greenland and Iceland Enroute,'' p. 94]
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 fjo ...
References
External links
Block diagram of fjords on the North Greenland side of Lincoln SeaWitnessing time - from 445 million year old rocks exposed in the Fjords to ~4 thousand year old small ice caps
Fjords of Greenland
{{Greenland-fjord-stub