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Ilulissat Icefjord
CC BY-SA 3.0 | Author: Michael Haferkamp  | Full Size | More Pics >

Ilulissat Icefjord

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Rank: 1001 UNESCO
Wonder Type: Natural
Country: Denmark
Best of: Fjord
Description:
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. [More Details]
This article uses material from UNESCO World Heritage List article "Ilulissat Icefjord", which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike 3.0 IGO License.