Tasersuatsiaq
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Tasersuatsiaq (old spelling: ''Taserssuatsiaq'') is a
lake A lake is often a naturally occurring, relatively large and fixed body of water on or near the Earth's surface. It is localized in a basin or interconnected basins surrounded by dry land. Lakes lie completely on land and are separate from ...
in central-western
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 ...
, 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. It is located southeast of
Kangerlussuaq Kangerlussuaq (; ; ) is a settlement in western Greenland in the Qeqqata municipalities of Greenland, municipality located at the head of the Kangerlussuaq Fjord, fjord of the same name. It was Greenland's main air transport hub and the site of G ...
, with a depth of , covering an area of 750ha. During the operating years of the American base at
Bluie West Eight Sondrestrom Air Base, originally Bluie West-8, was a United States Air Force base in central Greenland. It was closed in 1992 and it is now the site of Kangerlussuaq Airport. The site is located north of the Arctic Circle and from the northea ...
at Kangerlussuaq the lake was referred to as Lake Ferguson. The lake and the Roklubben Restaurant at its western shore are connected to Kangerlussuaq by a gravel road, one of the very few in Greenland. Tasersuatsiaq is a source of fresh water for Kangerlussuaq. In 2025, research by the University of Maine Climate Change Institute reveals that Tasersuatsiaq had browned due to two months of record heat and precipitation in fall 2022, and may not be able to recover from the browning state.


Geography

The 2x6km lake is separated from the valleys of
Qinnguata Kuussua Qinnguata Kuussua is a river in a valley of the same name in the Qeqqata municipality in central-western Greenland. Its sources are meltwater outflows from Russell Glacier (Greenland), Russell Glacier and Leverett Glacier flowing from the Greenl ...
and
Akuliarusiarsuup Kuua Akuliarusiarsuup Kuua () is a river and valley of the same name in the Qeqqata municipality in central-western Greenland. Its source is the meltwater outflow from Russell Glacier, an outflow of the Greenland ice sheet. The river is a tributary o ...
, as well as the Kangerlussuaq settlement in the north by a low
tundra In physical geography, a tundra () is a type of biome where tree growth is hindered by frigid temperatures and short growing seasons. There are three regions and associated types of tundra: #Arctic, Arctic, Alpine tundra, Alpine, and #Antarctic ...
ridge of Qaarsorsuaq. To the west lies the far end of the
Kangerlussuaq Fjord Kangerlussuaq Fjord (old spelling: ''Kangerdlugssuaq'', ) is a long fjord in the Qeqqata municipality in central-western Greenland. The fjord is long and between and wide, flowing from the estuary of Qinnguata Kuussua river to the southwest, ...
. On the southern and eastern side it is bounded by a vast highland of Ammalortup Nunaa, the original region artificially populated with 27
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 ...
en.


Flora and fauna

The bottom of the lake is covered with
pondweed Pondweed refers to many species and genera of aquatic plants and green algae: *''Potamogeton'', a diverse and worldwide genus *''Elodea'', found in North America *''Aponogeton'', in Africa, Asia and Australasia *''Groenlandia'', a genus of aquatic ...
meadows.Ole Pedersen, Klaus Peter Brodersen (University of Copenhagen); Tropica Aquarium Plants
/ref> Muskoxen and reindeer are common in the area.


References

{{reflist Kangerlussuaq Lakes of Greenland