What is a Fjord?

About Fjord:

• A fjord is a long, deep, narrow body of water that reaches far inland.
• Fjords are often set in a U-shaped valley with steep walls of rock on either side.
• Fjords are found mainly in Norway, Chile, New Zealand, Canada, Greenland, and the U.S. state of Alaska.
• How are Fjords Formed?
  • Fjords have been shaped throughout the span of several ice ages by slow-moving glaciers.
  • As the glacier moved, it cut away at the top layers of ice and into the sediment below.
  • Melting waters also carved away into the land, meaning that many fjords are actually deeper than the sea that feeds into it.
  • Where the fjord meets the sea, also known as the mouth, many glaciers left behind shill or shoal rock deposits.
  • Because the mouth is a shallower opening than the body of the fjord, it results in extremely fast-moving water (this includes strong currents and saltwater rapids).
• Fjords commonly are deeper in their middle and upper reaches than at the seaward end.
  • This results from the greater erosive power of the glaciers closer to their source, where they are moving most actively and vigorously.
• Because of the comparatively shallow thresholds of fjords, the bottoms of many have stagnant water and are rich in black mud containing hydrogen sulfide.
• Some features of fjords include coral reefs and rocky islands called skerries.
• Epishelf Lakes:
  • Another feature of some fjords is the presence of epishelf lakes. These lakes occur when melted fresh water becomes trapped under a floating ice shelf.
  • This freshwater does not mix with the saltwater below, but rather floats on top of it.

Q1: What is a Glacier?

Glaciers are massive bodies of slowly moving ice. Glaciers form on land, and they are made up of fallen snow that gets compressed into ice over many centuries. They move slowly downward from the pull of gravity.

Source: Fuel slick from sunk ship spreads to Greenland fjord

‹ ›