Independence Fjord or Independence Sound is a large

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 ...

or sound in the eastern part of northern

Greenland Greenland is an autonomous territory in the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. It is by far the largest geographically of three constituent parts of the kingdom; the other two are metropolitan Denmark and the Faroe Islands. Citizens of Greenlan ...

. It is about long and up to wide. Its mouth, opening to the

Wandel Sea The Wandel Sea (; also known as McKinley Sea) is a body of water in the Greenland Sea, stretching from northeast of Greenland to Svalbard. It is obstructed by ice most of the year. This sea is named after Danish polar explorer and hydrographer, ...

of the

Arctic Ocean The Arctic Ocean is the smallest and shallowest of the world's five oceanic divisions. It spans an area of approximately and is the coldest of the world's oceans. The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) recognizes it as an ocean, ...

is located at . In the area around Independence Fjord there are traces of two

paleo-Eskimo The Paleo-Eskimo meaning ''"old Eskimos"'', also known as, pre-Thule people, 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 Am ...

cultures that were named Independence I culture and

Independence II culture Independence II was a Paleo-Eskimo culture that flourished in northern and northeastern Greenland from around 700 to 80 BC, north and south of the Independence Fjord. The Independence II culture existed in roughly the same areas of Greenland as ...

after the fjord.

Geography

This fjord marks the northern boundary of King Frederick VIII Land. The Marie Sophie Glacier and the Academy Glacier have their terminus at the head of the fjord. Jørgen Brønlund Fjord is a small fjord branching northwest from the northern shore of Independence Fjord, at the western limit of Melville Land. Astrup Fjord and Hagen Fjord have their mouths on the southern coast of the fjord.''Prostar Sailing Directions 2005 Greenland and Iceland Enroute'', p. 129 The latter is a larger fjord, with the Hagen Glacier at its head, branching closer to its mouth. Princess Thyra Island and Princess Margaret Island are two islands located at the confluence of Denmark Fjord and Independence Fjord.

History

The head of the fjord was first put on the map by Robert Peary, who reached the area of the head of the fjord in 1892 together with Eivind Astrup and gave the fjord its name. Peary had mapped the fjord as a bay or sound, leading westwards through the Peary Channel. To the east the coast of "Academy Land" was trending southeastwards. The ill-fated Denmark expedition 1906-1908 mapped the whole fjord from its mouth in the east, showing its true extent. The three expedition members who had explored the fjord on dogsleds, Ludvig Mylius-Erichsen, Niels Peter Høeg Hagen and Jørgen Brønlund, were not able to return to their base and died. The traces of ancient human settlements in the area have been the subject of research since the beginning of the 20th century. The first notable research results were published in 1911 by Christian Bendix Thostrup, a member of the Denmark Expedition.

Pre-history

North of the fjord, in southern Peary Land, there are remains of dwellings with elliptical floor plan, built by Early Paleoeskimo ''Independence I'' culture. These people used tools made from rocks and bones, and subsisted from hunting wildlife like musk oxen and

Arctic hare The Arctic hare (''Lepus arcticus'') is a species of hare highly adapted to living in the Arctic tundra and other icy biomes. The Arctic hare survives with shortened ears and limbs, a small nose, fat that makes up close to 20% of its body, and a ...

s. Bones of musk oxen hunted down in Peary Land show that the area was inhabited at 2000 BC. The oldest discoveries are dated at 2400 BC. Discoveries of the time starting around 1800 BC until 1300 BC were mostly made south of Independence Fjord. It is unknown whether the Independence I culture vanished or the people moved south. Discoveries of a later time, about 800 BC to 200 BC, are related to the ''Independence II'' culture. Initially, Independence I and Independence II had been regarded as the same culture, but Eigil Knuth found in 1956 that the two were separate cultures, because of different dwelling constructions, and differences in other artefacts. The residential dwellings of Independence II are more complex and larger than the older buildings in this area. Like their predecessors, the people of Independence II also settled south of Independence Fjord. In both cases it is unclear whether discoveries in other areas of North Greenland and on

Ellesmere Island Ellesmere Island (; ) is Canada's northernmost and List of Canadian islands by area, third largest island, and the List of islands by area, tenth largest in the world. It comprises an area of , slightly smaller than Great Britain, and the total ...

should be attributed to other cultures.

Image gallery

File:North Greenland section-txu-pclmaps-oclc-8322829 a 1.jpg, Map of Northeastern Greenland File:Independence-fjord.svg, Areas of Independence I and Independence II cultures around Independence Fjord File:Northward over the great ice - a narrative of life and work along the shores and upon the interior ice-cap of northern Greenland in the years 1886 and 1891-1897, with a description of the little tribe (14779210861).jpg, Navy Cliff in Independence Fjord picture taken during the First Thule ExpeditionIndependence Fjord, Peary, and the First Thule Expedition
/ref>

References

External links