Inglefield Gulf or Inglefield Fjord (; ) is a

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 ...

in northwestern

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 ...

. To the west, the fjord opens into the

Baffin Bay Baffin Bay (Inuktitut: ''Saknirutiak Imanga''; ; ; ), located between Baffin Island and the west coast of Greenland, is defined by the International Hydrographic Organization as a marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean. It is sometimes considered a s ...

. Administratively it belongs to the

Avannaata Avannaata (, ) 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 the south, Avannaata is flanked ...

municipality. Inglefield Gulf was named after English explorer

Edward Augustus Inglefield Sir Edward Augustus Inglefield (27 March 1820 – 4 September 1894) was a Royal Navy officer who led one of the searches for the missing Arctic explorer John Franklin during the 1850s. In doing so, his expedition charted previously unexpl ...

Settlements

Qaanaaq Qaanaaq (), formerly known as New Thule, is the main town in the northern part of the Avannaata municipality in northwestern Greenland. The town has a population of 646 as of 2020. The population was forcibly relocated from its former, traditiona ...

is located in the northern entrance of the fjord. The village of

Qeqertat Qeqertat is a small village in the Qaanaaq area of the Avannaata municipality, in northern Greenland. It is located on the Harvard islands, in the inner Inglefield Fjord, approximately east of Qaanaaq. The village had 23 inhabitants in 2020. It ...

is located in the Harvard Islands, in the inner area of the fjord. Both are the northernmost communities in the world.

Geography

Together with

Wolstenholme Fjord Wolstenholme Fjord () is a fjord in Avannaata municipality, Northwest Greenland. The United States' Pituffik Space Base and the abandoned Inuit settlement of Narsaarsuk are on the coast of the fjord. The area was contaminated in 1968 with pluton ...

, Inglefield Gulf is one of the two main indentations in the stretch of coast between Cape York and

Cape Alexander Cape Alexander () is a cape which forms the south end of Churchill Peninsula and the east side of the entrance to Cabinet Inlet, on the east coast of Graham Land. It was charted by the Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey (FIDS) and photographe ...

.''Prostar Sailing Directions 2005 Greenland and Iceland Enroute,'' p. 77 On the northern shore of the fjord there is a branch, the

Bowdoin Fjord Bowdoin Fjord is a fjord in northern Greenland. To the south the fjord opens into the Inglefield Gulf of the Baffin Bay.GoogleEarth This fjord was named by Robert Peary after his alma mater, Bowdoin College. It was the subject of paintings by Fra ...

, and on the southern there are two, the Academy Bay in the inner fjord with the

Leidy Glacier Leidy Glacier (), is a glacier in northwestern Greenland. Administratively it belongs to the Avannaata municipality. This glacier was named by Robert Peary after paleontologist, parasitologist, and anatomist Joseph Leidy (1823 – 1891), member o ...

at its head and the narrow

Olrik Fjord Olrik Fjord (; ) is a fjord in the Avannaata municipality, Northwestern Greenland. To the east the fjord opens into the Hvalsund, at the end of the Inglefield Gulf of the Baffin Bay.GoogleEarth This fjord was named by Robert Peary after Christ ...

running roughly from east to west. The Heilprin Glacier, flowing from the

Greenland Ice Sheet The Greenland ice sheet is an ice sheet which forms the second largest body of ice in the world. It is an average of thick and over thick at its maximum. It is almost long in a north–south direction, with a maximum width of at a latitude ...

in the east, is the largest glacier that has its terminus in the fjord. The Tracy Glacier has its terminus further north near

Josephine Peary Island Josephine Peary Island, also known as the Josephine Peary Ø, is an island in the Arctic located in the Lincoln Sea and falls under Northeast Greenland National Park. It is named after Josephine Diebitsch Peary Josephine Cecilia Peary ( Di ...

in a bay at the northern side of the head of the fjord where the smaller Hart Glacier,

Sharp Glacier Sharp Glacier is a glacier flowing north to the head of Lallemand Fjord, close east of the Boyle Mountains, in Graham Land. Mapped by Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey The Falkland Islands and Dependencies Aerial Survey Expedition (FIDASE) ...

, Melville Glacier, and

Farquhar Glacier Farquhar Glacier (), is a glacier in northwestern Greenland. Administratively it belongs to the Avannaata municipality. This glacier was named by Robert Peary after Commodore Norman von Heldreich Farquhar, Farquhar (1840 – 1907), Chief of the B ...

have their terminus. As they discharge into the fjord all these glaciers are separated by

nunatak A nunatak (from Inuit language, Inuit ) is the summit or ridge of a mountain that protrudes from an ice field or glacier that otherwise covers most of the mountain or ridge. They often form natural pyramidal peaks. Isolated nunataks are also cal ...

s, the largest of which is the

Smithson Range Smithson or Smythson is an England, English surname and (less often) a given name. Notable people bearing the name include: Architects *Alison and Peter Smithson, 20th-century British architects *Robert Smythson, 16th-century English architect, fa ...

GoogleEarth Google Earth is a web mapping, web and computer program created by Google that renders a 3D computer graphics, 3D representation of Earth based primarily on satellite imagery. The program maps the Earth by superimposition, superimposing satelli ...

In the central area of the fjord the

Hubbard Glacier __NOTOC__ Hubbard Glacier ( Lingít: ''Sít' Tlein'') is a glacier located in Wrangell–St. Elias National Park and Preserve in eastern Alaska and Kluane National Park and Reserve in Yukon, Canada, and named after Gardiner Hubbard. Geograph ...

discharges on the northern shore and the Hurlbut Glacier on the southern shore. The islands of Qeqertarsuaq (Herbert Island) and Kiatak (Northumberland Island) lie off the fjord's mouth. They are aligned from east to west, dividing the outer gulf into two sounds, the

Murchison Sound The Murchison Sound (; ) is a sound in the Avannaata municipality, NW Greenland.GoogleEarth It was named after Scottish geologist Roderick Murchison (1792 – 1871). Geography It is a broad channel that runs roughly from northwest to southeast b ...

to the north beyond Cape Ackland, and the

Hvalsund The Whale Sound () is a sound in the Avannaata municipality, NW Greenland.GoogleEarth Geography It is a broad channel that runs roughly from east to west between the mouth of the Inglefield Fjord and Baffin Bay. Its minimum width is 19 km. ...

to the south, west of

Kangeq Kangeq or Kangek ( Kalaallisut: "Promontory") is a former settlement in the Sermersooq municipality in southwestern Greenland. It is located on the same island that formed the first Danish-Norwegian colony on Greenland between 1721 and 1728. Hi ...

References

External links

*
Greenland Climate Research Centre takes the temperature at Inglefield Bredning
Fjords of Greenland {{Greenland-geo-stub

Settlements

Geography

See also

References

External links