The Ilulissat Icefjord runs west 40 kilometres from the Greenland Ice Sheet to Disko Bay close to Ilulissat town. At its eastern end is the Jakobshavn Isbræ glacier, the most productive glacier in the northern hemisphere. The glacier flows at a rate of 20-35 metres per day, resulting in around 20 billion tonnes of icebergs calved off and passing out of the fjord every year. Icebergs breaking from the glacier are often up to a kilometer in height large that they are too tall to float down the fjord and lie stuck on the bottom of its shallower areas, sometimes for years, until they are broken up by the force of the glacier and icebergs further up the fjord. Ilulissat (Danish: Jakobshavn from founder Jakob Severin) is a town in the Qaasuitsup municipality in western Greenland, located approximately 200 km (120 mi) north of the Arctic Circle. With the population of 5,072, (2008)[2] it is the third largest settlement in Greenland after Nuuk and Sisimiut. In direct translation, Ilulissat is the Greenlandic word for "the icebergs". Ilulissat is Greenland's most popular tourist destination on account of its proximity to the picturesque Ilulissat Icefjord. Tourism is now the town's principal industry. The Ilulissat Icefjord (Ilulissat Kangerlua) runs west 40 km (25 mi) from the Greenland ice sheet to Disko Bay close to Ilulissat town. At its eastern end is the Jakobshavn Isbræ glacier, the most productive glacier in the Northern Hemisphere. The glacier flows at a rate of 20–35 m (66–110 ft) per day, resulting in around 20 billion tonnes of icebergs calved off and passing out of the fjord every year. Icebergs breaking from the glacier are often so large (up to a kilometer (3,300 ft) in height) that they are too tall to float down the fjord and lie stuck on the bottom of its shallower areas, sometimes for years, until they are broken up by the force of the glacier and icebergs further up the fjord. On breaking up the icebergs emerge into the open sea and initially travel north with ocean currents before turning south and running into the Atlantic Ocean. Larger icebergs typically do not melt until they reach 40-45 degrees north (further south than the United Kingdom and level with New York City). The Ilulissat Icefjord was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2004.
The Ilulissat Icefjord is situated in western Greenland, north of the Arctic Circle. It has been inscribed because of its unique glaciological characteristics and its scenic beauty. The site consists of Sermeq Kujalleq, the most productive glacier draining the inland icecap op Greenland, and the iceberg-filled fjord named Kangia. It also takes in part of the inland ice itself and some of the surrounding land. Ilulissat Icefjord is the pre-eminent glacier in the northern hemisphere. Although there are many more glacier-related sites on the World Heritage List, this site is only surpassed by Antarctica in terms of size and calving. The Inland Ice and the ice stream Sermeq Kujalleq that terminates in the interior of Kangia are celebrated natural phenomena that have attracted world-wide scientific interest since the first descriptions in the 18th century. The calving front of Sermeq Kujalleq is 5 km long. The extremely high velocity of 19 metres a day, makes it one of the world's fastest glaciers. It produces 35 cubic kilometres of ice a year and is responsible for one-tenth of the total production of icebergs from the Inland Ice. The icebergs fill the fjord Kangia, and vary in size from small blocks to giants of 1.5 cubic kilometres of ice or more. Really large icebergs are rare, but they can always be seen at the mouth of the icefjord, where they run aground on the threshold of Isfjeldsbanken The book on the Ilulissat Icefjord site was prepared by the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS), and includes many contributions from relevant specialists. The book is a popular version of the nomination volume. The parties involved in the preparation of the original nomination report agreed to publication in book-form, in Greenlandic, Danish and English versions, of a volume that a wider range of readers can enjoy. We hope that those who enjoy reading this book, and admire the varied and fascinating illustrations, will feel tempted to spend a few summer days at Sermermiut, from where the beauty of the icefjord can be properly appreciated.
Ilulissat Icefjord is the first site in Greenland and one of the first in the Arctic to be included in the UNESCO World Heritage List among numerous other world famous localities. Ilulissat Icefjord possesses great beauty created by the Inland Ice, the glaciers and the majestic icebergs. The area’s abundant animal life has for thousands of years made it possible for people to inhabit this otherwise inhospitable environment. The icefjord is of international importance to the geosciences and numerous expeditions have for more than 250 years explored the area. Read about the glacier fed by the Inland Ice, the formation and drift of icebergs, its exploration and the influence of the icefjord on hunter cultures and the modern industry of present-day Greenland. Text and images are based on the book about the icefjord. The complete story is found in the book below. Air Alpha Greenland is based in Odense, Denmark but uses Ilulissat Airport as a hub. Air Greenland, affiliated with the SAS Group, operates air services to Ilulissat. Albatros Travel[3] also offers air services and cruises to Ilulissat. Air Iceland will begin operating air services between Ilulissat and Iceland in July 2009. Arctic Umiaq Line coastal ferry links Ilulissat with Sisimiut, Nuuk, and other towns and settlements on the western and southwestern coast of Greenland. The Ilulissat Icefjord is a tidewater ice-stream located 1,000 km up the west coast of Greenland. It drains into the bay of Disko Bugt (bight) which is partially blocked by the large island of Disko. The Icefjord (locally called Kangia) is the sea mouth of Sermeq Kujalleq, one of the few glaciers through which the ice of the Greenland ice cap reaches the sea. It is the second fastest and most prolific ice-calving tidewater glacier in Greenland producing a constant procession of icebergs and still actively eroding the fjord bed. The surroundings are low heavily glaciated PreCambrian gneiss and amphibolite rocks extending some 50 km inland to the ice cap with flanking lateral moraines and ice-dammed lakes; also lakelets, glacial striations, roches moutonées, and perched erratics typical of glaciated landscapes. The Greenland ice cap, 1.7 million km2 in area, is the only remnant in the Northern Hemisphere of the continental ice sheets of the last Quaternary Ice Age. The icecap formed during the Middle and Late Pleistocene over a once temperate landscape, the south central part of which drained through large rivers to Disko Bugt, still marked as channels under the ice and submarine troughs. The ice cap's oldest ice is estimated to be 250,000 years old, maintained by the annual accumulation of snow matched by loss through calving and melting at the margins. The icecap holds a detailed record of past climatic change and atmospheric conditions (in trapped air bubbles) for this entire length of time, and shows that during the last ice age the climate fluctuated between extreme cold and warmer periods. This ended around 11,550 years ago, since when the climate has been more stable. Around Ilulissat Icefjord, the evidence of glaciation is mainly of the last 100,000 years. This culminated in the 'Little Ice Age' 500-100 years ago when the ice expanded in pulses to a maximum during the 19th century. A glacial recession has occurred during the 20th century. In 1851 the ice front across the fjord was 25 km east of the sea. By 1950 it had retreated some 26 km further east.
