Qaarsorsuaq Island (old spelling: ''Qaerssorsuaq'') is an uninhabited

island An island or isle is a piece of land, distinct from a continent, completely surrounded by water. There are continental islands, which were formed by being split from a continent by plate tectonics, and oceanic islands, which have never been ...

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 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 ...

. At , it is one of the largest islands in the

Upernavik Archipelago Upernavik Archipelago is a vast coastal archipelago in the Avannaata municipality in northwestern Greenland, off the shores of northeastern Baffin Bay. The archipelago extends from the northwestern coast of Sigguup Nunaa peninsula in the south at ...

, located in its southern part.''Upernavik'', Saga Map, Tage Schjøtt, 1992 The name of the island means "''a large rock surface''" in the

Greenlandic language Greenlandic, also known by its Endonym and exonym, endonym Kalaallisut (, ), is an Inuit languages, Inuit language belonging to the Eskaleut languages#Internal classification, Eskimoan branch of the Eskaleut languages, Eskaleut language family. ...

Geography

Location within the archipelago

Qaarsorsuaq Island is located in the outer belt of islands in the Upernavik Archipelago, in the group between the Upernavik Icefjord in the north, and Nunavik Peninsula in the south, approximately to the southeast of

Upernavik Kanunarinaqiniiaaq (known as Upernavik) is a small town in the Avannaata municipality in northwestern Greenland, located on a small island of the same name. With 1,064 inhabitants as of 2024, it is the twelfth-largest town in Greenland. It c ...

town, from which it is separated by the smaller

Akia Island Akia Island () is an uninhabited island in Avannaata municipality in northwestern Greenland. The name of the island means "''turned on its side''" in the Greenlandic language. Geography Akia Island is located in the outer belt of islands in t ...

. In the north, the Torsuut strait separates it from

Atilissuaq Island Atilissuaq Island is an island of Greenland. It is located in Baffin Bay in the Upernavik Archipelago Upernavik Archipelago is a vast coastal archipelago in the Avannaata municipality in northwestern Greenland, off the shores of northeastern B ...

, and several

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 ...

. In the northeast, small, low islands of Tapeq, Qeqertat, and Nunaa separate the island from the larger Aappilattoq Island, home to the Aappilattoq settlement. In the east and southeast, Qaarsorsuaq Island is separated from the large

Nutaarmiut Island Nutaarmiut Island (old spelling: ''Nutârmiut'') is an uninhabitedAkornat Strait.

Coastline

The island has a complicated shoreline, with several small bay and inlet indentations. The largest inlet is the Saqqarsuaq Fjord in the south.

Promontories

Qaarsorsuaq-island-apparsuit-south-promontory

Due to the complicated shoreline the island has a number of promontories, some of which bear identical names, such as ''Qoornoq'' and ''Apparsuit''. The names: ''rock surface'' and ''rock fall'' (or ''rock wall''), respectively, refer to the landform shapes of the promontories, and are very common in the archipelago.

Mountains

The island is mountainous throughout, with several distinct summits. The highest point on the island is the summit of the Sandersons Hope mountain in the western part of the island, at . Via a small

isthmus An isthmus (; : isthmuses or isthmi) is a narrow piece of land connecting two larger areas across an expanse of water by which they are otherwise separated. A tombolo is an isthmus that consists of a spit or bar, and a strait is the sea count ...

in the north, the island is connected with an otherwise standalone mountain, the flooded peak of Umiasussuk, the

trapezoid In geometry, a trapezoid () in North American English, or trapezium () in British English, is a quadrilateral that has at least one pair of parallel sides. The parallel sides are called the ''bases'' of the trapezoid. The other two sides are ...

shape of which is the landmark of Upernavik town, visible from the

Upernavik Airport Upernavik Airport (, ) is an airport located northeast of Upernavik, a town in Avannaata municipality in northwestern Greenland, capable of serving STOL aircraft. It is used as a transfer airport for passenger/cargo traffic to northern Greenla ...

and the entire eastern and northern coast of

Upernavik Island Upernavik Island is an island of Greenland. It is located in Baffin Bay in the Upernavik Archipelago. The town of Upernavik Kanunarinaqiniiaaq (known as Upernavik) is a small town in the Avannaata municipality in northwestern Greenland, loca ...

Valleys

There are two significant valleys on the island. Saqqarsuup Itillia (old spelling: ''Sarqarssûp itivdlia'') dissects the eastern part of the island into two separate massifs, the southern topping at a peak, and the northern topping at peak, to the east of the Umiasussuk mountain. The valley holds a small lake of the same name. The southwestern coast is home to several small lakes, most of which are in the north–south oriented Itillersuaq (old spelling: ''Itivdlerssuaq'') valley, through which leads a walking trail. The name of the valley means "''a crossing point between two

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 ...

s''" in the Greenlandic language.

References

{{Upernavik Archipelago Uninhabited islands of Greenland Islands of the Upernavik Archipelago