Quick guide to Ilulissat Icefjord

The stunning beauty of the area is due to the unique combination of the enormous production production of icebergs from the glacier Sermeq Kujalleq at the head of the icefjord and the presence of Isfjeldsbanken (the “iceberg bank”), the threshold across the mouth of the fjord where the icebergs run aground. An unending drama of changing forms, colours and sounds is created as the icebergs melt, collapse and collide with each other.

Sermeq Kujalleq moves with an extreme high velocity – 19 metres a day – and it is responsible for one-tenth of the total production of icebergs from the Inland Ice. The movement of ice towards the fjord is through an ice stream which flows through a narrow channel, that can be followed from the present glacier front and far in over the ice sheet. The channel and the icefjord itself are formed by glacial erosion of earlier river valleys, which were draining water from the central Greenland before the ice arrived.

^{Map of Ilulissat Icefjord and surrounding region. Limit of the World Heritage Site is marked with red line.}

Each year snow equivalent to about 600 cubic kilometres of ice accumulates on the Inland Ice, and there is an equivalent loss through the production of icebergs and melting. About half of the loss is due to the calving of icebergs from glaciers that reach sea level. The eastern and southern parts of the Inland Ice are limited by high mountain ranges partially submerged in the ice. The central part of the Inland Ice therefore drains mainly towards the west with several prominent outlet glaciers reaching Disko Bugt and Uummannaq Fjord. The area around Ilulissat represents the southern part of this drainage area and the glacier Sermeq Kujalleq is the most productive glacier in Greenland.

The area around Ilulissat Icefjord is an important part of the Inland Ice providing information about the history of the ice sheet far back in time. With an area of 1.7 million square kilometres the Inland Ice is the Worlds second largest ice sheet only exceeded in size by the ice sheet covering Antarctica. The continental ice sheets, which covered North America and Europe during the ice ages have melted away many years ago, and the Inland Ice is the only continental ice sheet on the northern hemisphere which still exists.

Signs of earlier advances and retreats of the Inland Ice margin are widespread in the area. The present day ice-free strip of land bordering the Inland Ice was glaciated at the culmination of the last ice age about 21.000 years ago. At that time, the Inland Ice also covered large parts of the shel areas off West Greenland. After the end of the last ice age, about 11,550 years ago, the Inland Ice slowly shrank to its present size.

^{About 21,000 years ago, during the last ice age, the large ice sheets of the Northern Hemisphere covered an area of 30 million km2, including much of North America. Ilulissat was centrally placed in the glaciated regions of the Northern Hemisphere.}

^{Map showing the retreat of Sermeq Kujalleq from 1850 to 2006. Klik on the map to enlarge it.}

Sermeq Kujalleq is one of the best investigated ice streams in the world. During the last 150 years a large number of scientific expeditions have visited the area and described the gradual retreat of the ice margin from 1850 to 2002, and during the last years the ice stream has been studied by satellite data. The ice margin was nearly stable from 1950 to 2002 and during this period the glacier retreated every summer and advanced during winter. From 2002 to 2003 the floating part of the glacier broke up and the ice margin retreated 12 kilometres.

The icefjord is nutrient-rich, so there is plenty of food for the marine animals. For many years this has created good hunting and fishery possibilities for people in the area. During the Stone Age about 4400 years ago, the Saqqaq people settled at Kangia, and after them the Dorset people came and finally the Thule people arrived. To day fishing and fish industry continue to be the most important business enterprise in Ilulissat which is Greenland´s third-largest town.