Muskox 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 ...

King Christian X Land King Christian X Land (; ) is an area of northeastern Greenland. History This area was named after King Christian X of Denmark and Iceland (). At the time of the Three-year Expedition to East Greenland, it is reported that, when Lauge Koch w ...

, East

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 ...

. Administratively it lies in the

Northeast Greenland National Park Northeast Greenland National Park (, ) is the world's largest national park and the 10th largest protected area (the only larger protected areas consist mostly of sea). Established in 1974, the Northeast Greenland national park expanded to its p ...

area. This fjord is part of the

Kaiser Franz Joseph Fjord Kaiser Franz Joseph Fjord (; ) is the northernmost fjord system in the NE Greenland National Park area, East Greenland. Geography The Kaiser Franz Joseph Fjord has its mouth in the Foster Bay of the Greenland Sea, between Cape Mackenzie at th ...

system.

History

Muskox Fjord was mapped in 1899 during the Swedish Greenland Expedition in search of survivors of

S. A. Andrée's Arctic balloon expedition of 1897 S is the nineteenth letter of the English alphabet. S may also refer to: History * an Anglo-Saxon charter's number in Peter Sawyer's, catalogue Language and linguistics * Long s (ſ), a form of the lower-case letter s formerly used where "s ...

led by Swedish

Arctic explorer Arctic exploration is the physical exploration of the Arctic region of the Earth. It refers to the historical period during which mankind has explored the region north of the Arctic Circle. Historical records suggest that humankind have explored ...

Alfred Gabriel Nathorst Alfred Gabriel Nathorst (7 November 1850 – 20 January 1921) was a Swedish Arctic explorer, geologist, and palaeobotanist. He travelled to Spitzbergen, Svalbard and Greenland where he took an interest in the Arctic floras from the Paleozoic ...

(1850–1921). It was named ''Moskusoksefjorden'' after the

muskox The muskox (''Ovibos moschatus'') is a hoofed mammal of the family Bovidae. Native to the Arctic, it is noted for its thick coat and for the strong odor emitted by males during the seasonal rut, from which its name derives. This musky odor ha ...

of which Nathorst saw a quite large herd near the shores of the fjord, one of the areas in East Greenland providing a habitat for this resilient Arctic mammal. There are Norwegian hunting huts by the shores of the fjord.

Geography

Muskox Fjord is a branch of the

Nordfjord Nordfjord (—in contrast to Sunnfjord) is a traditional district in Vestland county, Norway. Geography The region is located in the northern part of Vestland county in Western Norway. It centers on the Nordfjorden and it comprises Stad Muni ...

, a tributary of

. Its entrance is located in the eastern shore of the head of Nordfjord, southeast of the terminus of the Waltershausen Glacier, between Cape Kolthoff in the south and Cape Bull in the north. The fjord is about wide near the mouth, narrowing to an average of less than in most of the length of its inner part. It stretches roughly towards the southeast for almost , curving northeastwards for the last until the head. Muskox Fjord separates Hudson Land in the north from the

Gauss Peninsula Gauss Peninsula () is a peninsula in eastern Greenland. Administratively this peninsula is part of the Northeast Greenland National Park zone. History The second German North Polar Expedition 1869–70 originally gave the name ''Cap Gauss'' to ...

in the south. There are up to high mountains on both sides of the mouth area of the fjord, where there are some places with good anchorages.''Prostar Sailing Directions 2005 Greenland and Iceland Enroute'', p. 120 There is no glacier flowing into the head, which is located in the isthmus area of

Hold with Hope Hold with Hope is a peninsula in eastern Greenland. Administratively it is part of the Northeast Greenland National Park zone. Geologically Hold with Hope is a place of great interest. Geography Hold with Hope is located between Loch Fyne in t ...

, only west of the head of

Loch Fyne Loch Fyne (, ; meaning "Loch of the Vine/Wine"), is a sea loch off the Firth of Clyde and forms part of the coast of the Cowal, Cowal Peninsula. Located on the west coast of Argyll and Bute, west of Scotland. It extends inland from the Sound o ...

.''Prostar Sailing Directions 2005 Greenland and Iceland Enroute'', p. 122

Bibliography

*A. K. Higgins, Jane A. Gilotti, M. Paul Smith (eds.), ''The Greenland Caledonides: Evolution of the Northeast Margin of Laurentia''.

References

External links

Sedimentary processes and paleoenvironments in Moskusoksefjord

Geology of North-East Greenland
Fjords of Greenland {{Greenland-geo-stub

History

Geography

Bibliography

See also

References

External links