Ilulissat Icefjord
Located on the west coast of Greenland, 250 km
north of the Arctic Circle, Greenland’s Ilulissat Icefjord (40,240 ha)
is the sea mouth of Sermeq Kujalleq, one of the few glaciers through
which the Greenland ice cap reaches the sea. Sermeq Kujalleq is one of
the fastest (19 m per day) and most active glaciers in the world. It
annually calves over 35 km3 of ice, i.e. 10% of the production of all
Greenland calf ice and more than any other glacier outside Antarctica.
Studied for over 250 years, it has helped to develop our understanding
of climate change and icecap glaciology. The combination of a huge
ice-sheet and the dramatic sounds of a fast-moving glacial ice-stream
calving into a fjord covered by icebergs makes for a dramatic and
awe-inspiring natural phenomenon.