Sermilik (fjord, Ammassalik)

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Sermilik
Egede and Rothe Fjord
View from Mittivakkat over the Sermilik Fjord to the inland ice (July 2016)

View from Mittivakkat over the Sermilik Fjord to the inland ice (July 2016)

Waters Irmingersee
Land mass Greenland
Geographical location 66 ° 0 ′  N , 37 ° 52 ′  W Coordinates: 66 ° 0 ′  N , 37 ° 52 ′  W
Sermilik (Greenland)
Sermilik
width Max. 14 km
length 85 km
Islands Aammangaa, Immikeertikajik, Qeertartivatsiaq, Ammassalik , Ikkatteq
Tributaries Inflows from the ice sheet and local glaciers

The Sermilik fjord ( Danish Egede og Rothe Fjord ) is 85 kilometers long and is the largest fjord system in southeastern Greenland . The last third of the ice fjord separates mainland Greenland from the island of Ammassalik . The only permanently inhabited settlement on the fjord is the village of Tiniteqilaaq , and the Sermilik research station is also on the west coast of Ammassalik Island . The Greenlandic name Sermilik means ice or glacier fjord.

geography

Icebergs at the Sermilik station

The fjord extends at the southern end of Kong Christian IX Land in the Kommuneqarfik Sermersooq approximately in a north-south direction. About 27 km south of the Arctic Circle , at the southern tip of the so-called Schweizerland , the two branches Maniisilertarpia (Helheimfjord) and Ningerti (Midgardfjord) unite to form Sermilik fjord. The fjord reaches its greatest width of around 14 km at around 66 ° 09 ' . Another important branch is the Qeertartivatsaap Kangertiva (Johan Petersen's Fjord), which flows into the southern section. At the confluence with the Irmingersee , the width of the Sermilik is around 11 km ( 65 ° 37 ′ 17 ″  N , 38 ° 3 ′ 19 ″  W ).

The catchment area of ​​the fjord covers an area of ​​58,045 km², which roughly corresponds to the area of Croatia . The altitude ranges from sea level to around 2900  m on the inland ice . The annual freshwater inflow amounts to around 40.4 billion m³, of which 85% comes from glacier melt (65% from the Helheim glacier alone), 11% from terrestrial surface waters, 3% from net precipitation and 1% from subglacial melting processes.

Several named islands lie along the rocky coast of the fjord, including Ammassalik , which separates Sermilik from Ammassaliip Kangertiva (Ammassalik Fjord), Ikkatteq and Qeertartivatsiaq ( 65 ° 52 ′  N , 38 ° 5 ′  W ), with an area of ​​over 24 km² the largest island completely in the fjord. Only the Ammassalik Island, which is one of the ten largest sub-islands in Greenland, is inhabited.

glacier

Midgard Glacier
Hann glacier at Johan Petersens Fjord

Several outlet glaciers calve from the inland ice into the Sermilik Fjord. The rear glaciers are almost exclusively accessible by helicopter and are therefore extremely rarely visited. The three most important have names that go back to Norse mythology , namely Helheim , Midgard and Fenris . The most important of these is the Helheim Glacier, the speed of which increased from 8 to 11 km per year between 2000 and 2005, earning it the status of an ice stream . The following glaciers lie in the catchment area of ​​the fjord from north to south. Those who calve are marked with a K (as of 2015).

f1Georeferencing Map with all coordinates: OSM | WikiMap on the right

Left

Settlement

Floor plan of a dilapidated peat house in the Inuit settlement Sivinganeq on the west coast of Ammassalik
Another ruined peat house in Sivinganeq

The only year-round inhabited settlement on the fjord is the village of Tiniteqilaaq . The closest places are Tasiilaq ( Ammassalik ) 15 km east and Isortoq around 40 km southwest of the fjord mouth. The nearest international airport is Kulusuk Airport, 38 km to the east. The island of Ikkatteq in the estuary was inhabited until 2005.

Many predominantly-off of vegetation rich coastal sections ruins of Inuit - Torfhäusern evidence of historic settlement. The people took advantage of the abundant hunting and fishing options, as in Tiniteqilaaq it still serves as a livelihood in addition to tourism. In 1931 and 1932, the Inuit ruins were raised in the entire region and listed as a historical monument . The following former settlements are located on the Sermilik Fjord, sorted by location.

Greenland (mainland)

Ammassalik

Other islands

history

Historically, the Sermilik Fjord is now connected to the Greenland crossing by Fridtjof Nansen in 1888. Nansen originally planned an east-west crossing with the goal of Christianshåb , using the fjord as the starting point and ascent to the inland ice.

On June 3, Nansen and his crew were picked up from the port of Ísafjörður on Iceland's northwest coast by the Norwegian sealer Jason . A week later, Greenland's coast was in sight, but the ship's progress was hampered by massive pack ice . On July 17th, Sermilik was still 20 km from the coast and Nansen decided to launch the dinghies. According to the captain, the expedition left the Jason "in a good mood and with the best hope of a happy endeavor". What followed, however, were days of frustration as weather and marine conditions made reaching the shore impossible. They drifted south with the pack ice, even camping on the ice. Commissioning the boats would have been too dangerous. On July 29th they were already 380 km south of the point where they had left the ship. After days on the ice, they spent some time on the mainland before Nansen gave orders to head back north. Finally, he started his Greenland crossing in Umivik Bay, almost 200 km south of the Sermilik estuary.

On July 29, 1912, the second successful expedition led by Alfred de Quervain reached the fjord. After a journey of almost six weeks across the inland ice, they settled near the island of Umiattuartivit on Sermilik, where they camped for two days. A depot for the expedition participants had previously been set up at this point.

Fridtjof Nansen (1888)
Seal catcher Jason caught in the ice near the Sermilik Fjord in 1888. Members of the Nansen expedition were on board.
Nansen's Greenland expedition route from 1888

tourism

Starting from Tasiilaq or Tiniteqilaaq , the east bank of the Sermilik Fjord is a popular place for extensive trekking tours in the summer months. In the southern part of the fjord you can take boat trips, for example to one of the many calving glaciers or to the abandoned settlement of Ikkatteq . With a bit of luck, you can spot a humpback whale or a narwhal . In addition, the Ammassalik Island is often circled on multi-day tours by kayak . Due to the high density of icebergs, the northern part of the fjord is only partially navigable in summer and is therefore usually approached by helicopter.

Literature and maps

Web links

Commons : Sermilik  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Sebastian H. Mernild et al .: Freshwater flux to Sermilik Fjord, SE Greenland . In: The Cryosphere 4, 2010, pp. 453-465. PDF (English).
  2. ^ Helheim Glacier. Environmental change hotspots. UNEP , accessed on October 13, 2016 .
  3. ↑ a b Arctic Sun Maps (2015): Kort over (Map of) Tasiilaq / Kulusuk . Scale 1: 250,000. ISBN 978-87-992925-7-8 .
  4. ↑ Population statistics Greenland 2005. Statistics Greenland, archived from the original on November 24, 2007 ; Retrieved October 12, 2016 (Danish).
  5. ↑ Population statistics Greenland 2006. Statistics Greenland, archived from the original on November 24, 2007 ; Retrieved October 12, 2016 (Danish).
  6. ^ A b Roland Huntford : Nansen . Abacus, London 2001, pp. 97-99. ISBN 0-349-11492-7 (English).
  7. ↑ Ernest Edwin Reynolds: Nansen . Penguin Books , Harmondsworth 1949 (English).
  8. ^ Stephan Orth: Swiss Greenland Expedition - The Forgotten Arctic Pioneers. Der Spiegel , August 2, 2012, accessed October 16, 2016 .
  9. ↑ Stephan Orth: Expedition Diary - Caipirinha with Greenland Ice. Der Spiegel , August 6, 2012, accessed October 16, 2016 .