Appat Island (old spelling: ''Agpat'') is an uninhabitedNorwegian University of Science and Technology
island in the

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 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 ...

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 ...

. At , it is one of the larger islands in the

Uummannaq Fjord Uummannaq Fjord is a large fjord system in the northern part of western Greenland, the largest after Kangertittivaq fjord in eastern Greenland. It has a roughly south-east to west-north-west orientation, emptying into the Baffin Bay in the nor ...

system, located in its north-central part.Nuussuaq, Saga Map, Tage Schjøtt, 1992 It is the site of the former settlements of

Ritenbenck Ritenbenck, Ritenbenk or Ritenbench ( kl, Appat) is a former settlement on Appat Island in Avannaata municipality in northwestern Greenland. The island is located in the Uummannaq Fjord. Ritenbenck was founded in 1755 by the General Trade Comp ...

and Qaqortuatsiaq.

Air Greenland Air Greenland A/S (formerly named Grønlandsfly), also known as Greenlandair, is the flag carrier airline of Greenland, owned by the Greenlandic Government. It operates a fleet of 32 aircraft, including 1 airliner used for transatlantic and ch ...

helicopters approach Ukkusissat Heliport on the way from

Uummannaq Heliport Uummannaq Heliport is a heliport in Uummannaq, a town located on Uummannaq Island in Avannaata municipality in northwestern Greenland. There are no facilities in the heliport. Airlines and destinations Air Greenland operates government contra ...

alongside the southern and western wall of Appat, to then pass above the narrow Appat Ikerat strait between Appat and a smaller, mountainous

Salleq Island Salleq Island (old spelling: ''Sagdleq'') is an uninhabited island in the Avannaata municipality in northwestern Greenland. It is located in the north-central part of the Uummannaq Fjord.Nuussuaq, Saga Map, Tage Schjøtt, 1992 The walls of the isl ...

Geography

Appat Island is separated from Uummannaq Island and Salliaruseq Island in the south by the central arm of the Uummannaq Fjord; from the Salleq Island in the west by the Appat Ikerat strait; from the

Ukkusissat Peninsula Ukkusissat (, old spelling: ''Uvkusigssat'') is a settlement in Avannaata municipality, in northwestern Greenland. The population of the settlement was 154 in 2020. The name means soapstone. Geography The settlement abuts the northwestern t ...

in the north and northeast by the Torsukattak Strait. A small archipelago of low-lying skerries lies directly to the southeast of the island, with a small settlement of Saattut. It is very mountainous, with precipitous walls falling from the glaciated summit

plateau In geology and physical geography, a plateau (; ; ), also called a high plain or a tableland, is an area of a highland consisting of flat terrain that is raised sharply above the surrounding area on at least one side. Often one or more sides ...

in all directions. The plateau (and the island itself) is bisected by the Naqellorssuaq valley. The highest point on the island is Appat Qaqaa (), a summit in the western part of the glaciated summit plateau. The coastline is undeveloped, apart from the Umiasuqasuup Ilua fjord at the southeastern end.

Promontories

Mining

Qaqortuatsiaq, located on the northern coast of Appat near the shore of the Torsukattak Strait, is a former marble quarry, now abandoned.

Mining Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the econom ...

activities in the area are likely to resume in the future, providing an economic lifeline to the communities of the

Uummannaq Uummannaq is a town in the Avannaata municipality, in central-western Greenland. With 1,407 inhabitants in 2020, it is the eighth-largest town in Greenland, and is home to the country's most northerly ferry terminal. Founded in 1763 as Omenak, t ...

region, keeping the relatively new

Qaarsut Airport Qaarsut Airport ( kl, Mittarfik Qaarsut) is an airport in Qaarsut, a settlement on the Nuussuaq Peninsula in Avannaata municipality in northwestern Greenland. It is a primary airport with a gravel runway, capable of serving STOL aircraft of Air ...

open.

Access

The island can be reached via individually chartered fishing boats from Saattut, the settlement on a skerry off the southeastern cape, or from

Ukkusissat Ukkusissat (, old spelling: ''Uvkusigssat'') is a settlement in Avannaata municipality, in northwestern Greenland. The population of the settlement was 154 in 2020. The name means soapstone. Geography The settlement abuts the northwestern t ...

to the northwest. Package tourists visit the 'desert' on the cape as part of an organized tour from Uummannaq. Uummannaq Tourist Service
/ref> Movement within the interior of Appat is restricted to

mountaineering Mountaineering or alpinism, is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending tall mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas. Indoor climbing, sport climbing, ...

References

External links