Inuit settlements have existed in the area of the ice fjord for at least three thousand years. The abandoned settlement of Sermermiut two kilometres south of the modern town of Ilulissat was once amongst the largest settlements in Greenland with around 250 inhabitants. The modern town was founded in 1741 by missionary Danish Poul Egede for trader Jakob Severin who had an established a trading lodge in the area.
The Ilulissat fjord runs west 40 kilometres from the inland icecap to Disko Bay close to Ilulissat town. At its eastern end is the most productive glacier in the northern hemisphere. The glacier flows (and calves into icebergs) at a rate of 20 metres per day, resulting in around 20 billion tonnes of icebergs passing out of the fjord every year. Icebergs breaking from the glacier are often so large (up to 1km 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 (south of the United Kingdom and level with New York City).
History
Ilulissat ice fjord
References