Umivik Bay ( da, Umivik Bugt), also known as ''Umiivik'' and ''Umerik'', is a bay in
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 ...
, southeastern
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 ...
. 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
A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate.
The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...
.
Unlike the jagged and forbidding appearance of most fjord systems in East Greenland, the Umivik area has a relatively gentle shape. Here the massive
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 ...
comes down to the shore in smooth, even undulations and the landscape looks unbroken, with only few glimpses of bare rock.
[''Prostar Sailing Directions 2005 Greenland and Iceland Enroute'', p. 102] Owing to this smoothness, Umivik Bay was chosen as launching point for westward overland crossings, including the pioneering 1888 Greenland venture by
Fridtjof Nansen
Fridtjof Wedel-Jarlsberg Nansen (; 10 October 186113 May 1930) was a Norwegian polymath and Nobel Peace Prize laureate. He gained prominence at various points in his life as an explorer, scientist, diplomat, and humanitarian. He led the team t ...
.
Geography
Umivik Bay is located between the
Fridtjof Nansen Peninsula to the north and 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 to the south. It includes a
sound
In physics, sound is a vibration that propagates as an acoustic wave, through a transmission medium such as a gas, liquid or solid.
In human physiology and psychology, sound is the ''reception'' of such waves and their ''perception'' by the ...
and a fjord and has a few large islands, the largest of which is
Upernattivik (Upernarsuak) lying squarely in the middle of the inner part of the bay. Other significant islands in the bay are
Trefoldigheden,
Terne Island and
Tre Lover in the inner bay, as well as
Pikiitsi further east off the shore. The innermost part of the bay, by the terminus of the glaciers is known as Qíngua.
The northern side of the bay includes three
sounds
In physics, sound is a vibration that propagates as an acoustic wave, through a transmission medium such as a gas, liquid or solid.
In human physiology and psychology, sound is the ''reception'' of such waves and their ''perception'' by the ...
, the Dietrichson Sound between Trefoldigheden and the mainland, the Torsukattak Sound between Upernattivik and the mainland —both about wide, and the Sverdrup Sound between both islands. At the bay's northeastern end there is the small Jensen Bay, as well as numerous islets and rocks with intricate channels.
Umiiviip Kangertiva (Gyldenløve Fjord), was named after
Hans Ulrik Gyldenløve
Hans Ulrik Gyldenløve (10 March 1615 – 31 January 1645) was the illegitimate son of King Christian IV of Denmark and his mistress, Karen Andersdatter. He was also a Danish-Norwegian Navy officer and ''lensmann'' bailiff.
Childhood
Hans Ulr ...
by Lieutenant
W. A. Graah in 1829. It is located on the southern side of the bay, between Upernattivik and the mainland shore; Vikingevig is a small bay in the fjord, in the northern shore of Odinland.
Umivik Bay's mouth is located between
Cape Colberger Heide and
Cape Lovelorn in the
Denmark Strait
The Denmark Strait () or Greenland Strait ( , 'Greenland Sound') is an oceanic strait between Greenland to its northwest and Iceland to its southeast. The Norwegian island of Jan Mayen lies northeast of the strait.
Geography
The strait connect ...
area of the Atlantic Ocean.
History
There are two
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 sites near the entrance to Umivik Bay on the northeastern side; one on the mainland shore and the other in the
Garner Islands
Garner may refer to:
Places United States
* Garner, Arkansas
* Garner, Iowa
* Garner, Missouri
* Garner, North Carolina
Other uses
* Garner (surname), a surname
* Granary, a grain store
* '' Tennessee v. Garner'', a United States Supreme Court ca ...
.
Until recent times
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 ...
visited the area during hunting trips. Fridjof Nansen wrote:
Nansen's expedition left sealer ''
Jason
Jason ( ; ) was an ancient Greek mythological hero and leader of the Argonauts, whose quest for the Golden Fleece featured in Greek literature. He was the son of Aeson, the rightful king of Iolcos. He was married to the sorceress Medea. He w ...
'' near
Sermilik
Sermilik ( da, Egede og Rothes Fjord) is a fjord in eastern Greenland. It is part of the Sermersooq municipality.
The settlement of Tasiilaq is located about 15 km to the east of the mouth of the fjord.
Geography
This fjord, whose Gre ...
Fjord, where Nansen had initially decided to start the crossing.
[Huntford, pp. 97–99] However, there followed days of extreme frustration for the party as, prevented by weather and sea conditions from reaching the shore, they drifted southwards with the ice. Most of this time was spent camping on the ice itself—it was too dangerous to launch the boats. By 29 July they were south of the point where they had left the ship. On that day they finally reached land, but were too far south to begin the crossing. After a brief rest, Nansen ordered the team back into the boats and to begin rowing north.
During the next 12 days the party battled northward along the coast through the ice floes. On the first day they encountered a large Eskimo encampment near
Cape Steen Bille Cape Steen Bille ( da, Kap Steen Bille) or ''Kap Bille'', also known as Kangeq, is a headland in the North Atlantic Ocean, southeast Greenland, Kujalleq municipality.
History
Cape Steen Bille was named in 1829 by Lieutenant Wilhelm August Graah
...
, and there were further occasional contacts with the nomadic native population as the journey continued. On 11 August, when they had covered about and had reached Umivik Bay, Nansen decided that although they were still far south of his intended starting place, they needed to begin the crossing before the season became too advanced for travel. After landing at Umivik, they spent the next four days preparing for their journey, and on the evening of 15 August they set out. They were heading north-west, towards
Christianhaab (now Qasigiannguit) on the west Greenland shores of Disko Bay, away.
[Huntford, pp. 115–116]
See also
*
Fridtjof Nansen: The Crossing of Greenland
*
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 ...
*
Søren Norby Islands
Bibliography
*Bjarne Grønnow, Jens Fog Jensen (2003). ''The Northernmost Ruins of the Globe''. Museum Tusculanum Press.
* (First published in 1997 by Gerald Duckworth)
* Tr. a
''Eskimo Life'' 1893.
*
*
References
External links
*{{commons-inline
The British Arctic Air Route Expedition.
Bays of Greenland