Ilulissat Icefjord, Denmark

Abstract

Ilulissat Icefjord is on the west coast of Greenland, 250 km north of the Arctic Circle. It is a tidal fjord covered with massive floating ice, an outstanding example of an actively calving ice sheet. It is one of the fastest and most productive ice streams in the world, moving at 40 m a day and annually calving over 35 km3 of ice. The Greenland ice cap, from which Ilulissat Icefjord is one of the most impressive examples, is the only remnant in the Northern Hemisphere of the continental ice sheets from the last Quaternary Ice Age. The oldest ice there is estimated to be 250,000 years and is known for providing important information on past climate. The combination of ice, rock, and sea, with the dramatic sounds produced by the moving ice, is a memorable spectacle.