A fjard (, ) is a large open space of water between groups of islands or mainland in archipelagos. Fjards can be found along sea coasts, in freshwater lakes or in rivers. Fjard and

fjord In physical geography, a fjord (also spelled fiord in New Zealand English; ) is a long, narrow sea inlet with steep sides or cliffs, created by a glacier. Fjords exist on the coasts of Antarctica, the Arctic, and surrounding landmasses of the n ...

were originally the same word, and they generally meant sailable waterway. In

Scandinavia Scandinavia is a subregion#Europe, subregion of northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. It can sometimes also ...

, fjords dominate along the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Denmark, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. A sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Se ...

coast while fjards dominate the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by the countries of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and the North European Plain, North and Central European Plain regions. It is the ...

coast.

Fjards vs. fjords vs. förden vs. rias

Although fjards and fjords are similar in that they are a glacially-formed topography, they still differ in some key ways: * Fjords are characterized by steep high

relief Relief is a sculpture, sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces remain attached to a solid background of the same material. The term ''wikt:relief, relief'' is from the Latin verb , to raise (). To create a sculpture in relief is to give ...

cliffs carved by glacial activity and often have split or branching channels. * Fjards are glacial depressions or valleys that have much lower reliefs than fjords. Fjards fill with eroded local materials which assist in "filling", along with rising sea levels since the last ice age contributing as well. Other low relief landforms that are only associated with fjards, such as mud flats, salt marshes, and flood plains,ABPmer and HR Wallingford. 2007
Understanding and Managing Morphological Change in Estuaries
Ch. 3 of ''The Estuary-Guide: A website based overview of how to identify and predict morphological change within estuaries.'', Joint Defra/EA Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management R&D Programme. UK Department for Environment, Food, and Public Affairs. further characterize the difference between fjords and fjards. * " Förden" of the German coast and the fjords of Danish eastern

Jutland Jutland (; , ''Jyske Halvø'' or ''Cimbriske Halvø''; , ''Kimbrische Halbinsel'' or ''Jütische Halbinsel'') is a peninsula of Northern Europe that forms the continental portion of Denmark and part of northern Germany (Schleswig-Holstein). It ...

together form a third type of glacial inlet. They tend to occur along older 'beheaded' river channels and open into the tideless Baltic sea. * Rias are drowned valleys, such as the

estuaries An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environm ...

of Thames, Severn and Humber and the firths of Tay and Forth.

Examples

Denmark

* Hjortsholm on the coast of

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

Finland

* Airisto in the

Turku Turku ( ; ; , ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Southwest Finland. It is located on the southwestern coast of the country at the mouth of the Aura River (Finland), River Aura. The population of Turku is approximately , while t ...

Archipelago * Kihti between the

Archipelago and

Åland Åland ( , ; ) is an Federacy, autonomous and Demilitarized zone, demilitarised region of Finland. Receiving its autonomy by a 1920 decision of the League of Nations, it is the smallest region of Finland by both area () and population (30,54 ...

* Porkkalanselkä west from Porkkala peninsula * Seurasaarenselkä and Kruunuvuorenselkä in

Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...

Republic of Ireland

* Killary Harbour on the west coast of

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

Sweden

* Kanholmsfjärden in the Stockholm archipelago in

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

United Kingdom

Scotland

Cree The Cree, or nehinaw (, ), are a Indigenous peoples of the Americas, North American Indigenous people, numbering more than 350,000 in Canada, where they form one of the country's largest First Nations in Canada, First Nations. They live prim ...

, Kirkcudbrighshire and Wigtownshire *

Firth of Clyde The Firth of Clyde, is the estuary of the River Clyde, on the west coast of Scotland. The Firth has some of the deepest coastal waters of the British Isles. The Firth is sheltered from the Atlantic Ocean by the Kintyre, Kintyre Peninsula. The ...

, Dunbartonshire * Loch Laxford, Sutherland. * Rough Firth, Kirkcudbrightshire * Water of Fleet, Kirkcudbrightshire

Wales

* Alaw Estuary, Anglesey * Pwllheli Harbour, Caernarfonshire

United States

* Somes Sound in Acadia National Park,

Maine Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...

.Bird, E.C.F., 2008, ''Coastal Geomorphology: An Introduction'', 2nd ed. John Wiley and Sons Ltd. West Sussex, England. Jackson, J.A., 1997, ''Glossary of Geology''. American Geological Institute. Alexandria, Virginia. Goudie, A., 2004, ''Encyclopedia of Geomorphology''. Routledge. London, England.

References

{{coastal geography Coastal and oceanic landforms Glacial landforms