Kangerluarsunnguaq Bay ( aŋeʁluɑʁsuŋːuɑq̚) is a bay of the

Davis Strait The Davis Strait (Danish language, Danish: ''Davisstrædet'') is a southern arm of the Arctic Ocean that lies north of the Labrador Sea. It lies between mid-western Greenland and Baffin Island in Nunavut, Canada. To the north is Baffin Bay. The ...

in the

Qeqqata Qeqqata (, ) is a municipality in western Greenland, operational from 1 January 2009. The municipality was named after its location in the central-western part of the country. Its population is 9,378 as of January 2020. The administrative cente ...

municipality on the western coast of

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 located directly to the north of

Sisimiut Sisimiut (), also known by its Danish name Holstensborg or Holsteinsborg, is the capital and largest city of the Qeqqata municipality, the second-largest city in Greenland, and the largest Arctic city in North America.The term 'city' is loos ...

Geography

The bay branches off Davis Strait to the east, just north of Sisimiut. It is navigable in its entirety, protected from the open sea by a series of

skerries A skerry is a small rocky island, usually defined to be too small for habitation. Skerry, skerries, or The Skerries may also refer to: Geography Northern Ireland *Skerries, County Armagh, a List of townlands in County Armagh#S, townland in Coun ...

and channels in the west. In the past, at the time of the

Saqqaq culture The Saqqaq culture was a Paleo-Eskimo culture in southern Greenland. It was named after the settlement of Saqqaq, the site of many archaeological finds. The Saqqaq were the longest-residing residents of Greenland in all of history. Timeframe T ...

settlements in the area, the bay extended further inland, the shoreline was up to several dozen meters above the present line, covering portions of the Sisimiut valley, and gradually decreasing in time due to

post-glacial rebound Post-glacial rebound (also called isostatic rebound or crustal rebound) is the rise of land masses after the removal of the huge weight of ice sheets during the last glacial period, which had caused isostatic depression. Post-glacial rebound an ...

. To the north the bay is bounded by the Palasip Qaqqaa range.

Sisimiut Airport Sisimiut Airport () is an airport located northwest of Sisimiut, a town in the Qeqqata municipality in central-western Greenland. The airport has a single runway designated 13/31 which measures , built on the northern shore of Kangerluarsunngu ...

is located at the far western end on the northern side, behind the several skerries and small islands of Qeqertarmiut and the Annertusoq skerry group protecting it from the storm waves of the open sea, and separating it from the mouth of Amerloq Fjord in the southwest.

Economy

The bay provides a sheltered waterway for the town of Sisimiut. Both the commercial port and the harbour are located on the southern shore of the bay, on the mainland. The bay is used for recreational

yachting Yachting is recreational boating activities using medium/large-sized boats or small ships collectively called yachts. Yachting is distinguished from other forms of boating mainly by the priority focus on comfort and luxury, the dependence on ma ...

and boating. The Qeqqata municipality is planning the expansion of the residential area in Sisimiut in the 2010s, with the area north of the bay reserved for real estate. Several camping sites are scattered in Sisimiut valley at the head of the bay.

References

{{reflist Bays of Greenland Bays of the Arctic Ocean Davis Strait Sisimiut