Fjord

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Not to be confused with ford (crossing).
"Fjords" redirects here. For the board game, see Fjords (board game).
Geirangerfjord, Mre og Romsdal
Satellite view of Kerguelen Islands's fjords, French Southern and Antarctic Land
s
Geologically, a fjord (/'fj??d/ or /'f???d/; also spelled fiord) is a long, narr
ow inlet with steep sides or cliffs, created by glacial erosion. The word comes
to English from Norwegian or Icelandic, in many cases to refer to any long narro
w body of water other than the more specific meaning it has in English. There ar
e many fjords on the coasts of Norway, Iceland, Greenland, Alaska, Kerguelen Isl
ands, British Columbia, Nunavut, Washington and Chile.[1] The Norwegian definiti
on of "fjord" differs from that of English - in Norwegian "fjord" refers to any
inlet or channel (see Oslofjord).
Contents
1 Formation
2 Fjord features and variations
2.1 Coral reefs
2.2 Skerries
3 Etymology
3.1 Scandinavian usage
4 False fjords
5 Freshwater fjords
5.1 Great Lakes
6 Locations
6.1 Principal glaciated regions
6.2 Other glaciated or formerly glaciated regions
6.3 Extreme fjords
7 See also
8 Notes
9 External links
Formation
A glacier in eastern Greenland flowing through a fjord carved by the movement of
ice
Illustration of how a fjord is created
A fjord is formed when a glacier cuts a U-shaped valley by ice segregation and a
brasion of the surrounding bedrock.[2] Glacial melting is accompanied by the reb
ounding of the Earth's crust as the ice load and eroded sediment is removed (als
o called isostasy or glacial rebound). In some cases this rebound is faster than
sea level rise. Most fjords are deeper than the adjacent sea; Sognefjord, Norwa
y, reaches as much as 1,300 m (4,265 ft) below sea level. Fjords generally have
a sill or shoal (bedrock) at their mouth caused by the previous glacier's reduce
d erosion rate and terminal moraine.[3] In many cases this sill causes extreme c
urrents and large saltwater rapids (see skookumchuck). Saltstraumen in Norway is
often described as the world's strongest tidal current. These characteristics d
istinguish fjords from rias (e.g. the Bay of Kotor), which are drowned valleys f
looded by the rising sea.
Fjord features and variations
Europe during Weichselian- & Wrm-Glaciation
Coral reefs
As late as 2000, some coral reefs were discovered along the bottoms of the Norwe
gian fjords.[4] These reefs were found in fjords from the north of Norway to the
south. The marine life on the reefs is believed to be one of the most important

reasons why the Norwegian coastline is such a generous fishing ground. Since th
is discovery is fairly new, little research has been done. The reefs are host to
thousands of lifeforms such as plankton, coral, anemones, fish, several species
of shark, and many more. Most are specially adapted to life under the greater p
ressure of the water column above it[citation needed], and the total darkness of
the deep sea.
New Zealand's fiords are also host to deep-water corals, but a surface layer of
dark fresh water allows these corals to grow in much shallower water than usual.
An underwater observatory in Milford Sound allows tourists to view them without
diving.[5]
Skerries
In some places near the seaward margins of areas with fjords, the ice-scoured ch
annels are so numerous and varied in direction that the rocky coast is divided i
nto thousands of island blocks, some large and mountainous while others are mere
ly rocky points or rock reefs, menacing navigation. These are called skerries. T
he term skerry is derived from the Old Norse sker, which means a rock in the sea
.
Skerries most commonly formed at the outlet of fjords where submerged glacially
formed valleys perpendicular to the coast join with other cross valleys in a com
plex array. The island fringe of Norway is such a group of skerries (called a sk
jrgrd); many of the cross fjords are so arranged that they parallel the coast and
provide a protected channel behind an almost unbroken succession of mountainous
islands and skerries. By this channel one can travel through a protected passage
almost the entire 1,601 km (995 mi) route from Stavanger to North Cape, Norway.
The Blindleia is a skerry-protected waterway that starts near Kristiansand in s
outhern Norway, and continues past Lillesand. The Swedish coast along Bohusln is
likewise skerry guarded. The Inside Passage provides a similar route from Seattl
e, Washington, and Vancouver, British Columbia, to Skagway, Alaska. Yet another
such skerry protected passage extends from the Straits of Magellan north for 800
km (500 mi).
Hardangerfjord in Hordaland, Norway
Hardangerfjord in Hordaland, Norway
Etymology
Important fjords and lakes in Norway. Note: The part of the map showing the nort
hern fjords has a considerably smaller scale. Blurred coastlines = skerries
With Indo European origin (*prts from *por- or *per) in the verb fara (travelling
/ferrying), the Norse noun substantive fjorr means a "lake-like" waterbody used f
or passage and ferrying.
The Scandinavian fjord, Proto-Scandinavian *feruz, is the origin for similar Euro
pean words: Icelandic fjrur, Swedish fjrd (for Baltic waterbodies), Scots firth. Th
e Danish even use fjord for shallow lagoons as well as minor bodies of water cut
into land; compare Scottish loch. The Germans call the narrow long bays of Schl
eswig-Holstein Frde but the Norwegian bays Fjord. The word is also related to Eng
lish ford (in German Furt, Low German Ford or Vrde, in Dutch names voorde, cf. Vi
lvoorde), Greek poros, and Latin portus. Fjord/firth/Frde as well as ford/Furt/Vrd
e/voorde refer to a Germanic verb for to travel: Swedish fara, Danish fare, Dutc
h varen, German fahren; English to fare has partially lost that meaning. The one
geographic object is a waterbody that allows the traveller to enter the land by
boat, the other one is the shallow site in a waterbody that allows the travelle
r to cross the water on foot, horse or wheels.
As a loanword from Norwegian, it is one of the few words in the English language
to start with the sequence fj,[6] although the word was for a long time normall
y rendered fiord,[7] a spelling preserved in place names such as Grise Fiord, bu
t now generally current only in New Zealand English.

Scandinavian usage
See also: Frden and East Jutland Fjorde
Use of the word fjord (including the eastern Scandinavian form fjrd) is more gene
ral in the Scandinavian languages than in English. In Scandinavia, fjord is used
for a narrow inlet of the sea in Norway, Denmark and western Sweden, but this i
s not its only application. In Norway and Iceland, the usage is closest to the O
ld Norse, with fjord used for both a firth and for a long, narrow inlet. In east
ern Norway, the term is also applied to long narrow freshwater lakes (for instan
ce Mjsa [commonly referred to as fjorden], Randsfjorden and Tyrifjorden) and some
times even to rivers (in local usage, for instance in Fl in Hallingdal, the Halli
ngdal river is referred to as fjorden). In east Sweden, the name fjrd is used in
a synonymous manner for bays, bights and narrow inlets on the Swedish Baltic Sea
coast, and in most Swedish lakes. This latter term is also used for bodies of w
ater off the coast of Finland where Finland Swedish is spoken. In Danish, the wo
rd may even apply to shallow lagoons. In modern Icelandic, fjrur is still used wit
h the broader meaning of firth or inlet. In Faroese fjrur is used both about inlet
s and about broader sounds, whereas a narrower sound is called sund. In the Finn
ish language, a word vuono is used although there is only one fjord in Finland.
Small waterfalls within these fjords are also used as freshwater resources for t
he people of Scandinavia and, in particular, Norway.
The German use of the word Frde for long narrow bays on their Baltic Sea coastlin
e, indicates a common Germanic origin of the word. The landscape consists mainly
of moraine heaps. The "Frden" and some "fjords" on the east side of Jutland, Den
mark are also of glacial origin. But while the glaciers digging "real" fjords mo
ved from the mountains to the sea, in Denmark and Germany they were tongues of a
huge glacier covering the basin of which is now the Baltic Sea. See Frden and Ea
st Jutland Fjorde.
Whereas fjord names mostly describe bays (though not always geological fjords),
straits in the same regions typically are named Sund, in Scandinavian languages
as well as in German. The word is related to "to sunder" in the meaning of "to s
eparate". So the use of Sound to name fjords in North America and New Zealand di
ffers from the European meaning of that word.
The name of Wexford in Ireland is originally derived from Veisafjorr ("inlet of t
he mud flats") in Old Norse, as used by the Viking settlers though the inlet at th
at place in modern terms is an estuary, not a fjord.
False fjords
The Lim bay in Croatia is sometimes called a fjord, but is actually a ria
The differences in usage between the English and the Scandinavian languages have
contributed to confusion in the use of the term fjord. Bodies of water that are
clearly fjords in Scandinavian languages are not considered fjords in English;
similarly bodies of water that would clearly not be fjords in the Scandinavian s
ense have been named or suggested to be fjords. Examples of this confused usage
follow.
The Bay of Kotor in Montenegro has been suggested by some to be a fjord, but is
in fact a drowned river canyon or ria. Similarly the Lim bay in Istria, Croatia,
is sometimes called "Lim fjord" although it is not actually a fjord carved by g
lacial erosion but instead a ria dug by the river Pazincica. The Croats call it
Limski kanal, which does not translate precisely to the English equivalent eithe
r.
In the Danish language any inlet is called a fjord,
Denmark may be considered a fjord in the geological
erminology is a sound, since it separates the North
-Thy) from the rest of Jutland. Ringkbing Fjord on

but none of the "fjords" of

sense. Limfjord in English t
Jutlandic Island (Vendsyssel
the western coast of Jutland i

s a lagoon. The long narrow "fjords" of Denmark's Baltic Sea coast like the Germ
an Frden were dug by ice moving from the sea upon land, while fjords in the geolo
gical sense were dug by ice moving from the mountains down to the sea.
The fjords in Finnmark (Norway), which are fjords in the Scandinavian sense of t
he term, are considered by some to be false fjords.[8] Although glacially formed
, most Finnmark fjords lack the classic hallmark steep-sided valleys of the more
southerly Norwegian fjords since the glacial pack was deep enough to cover even
the high grounds when they were formed. The Oslofjord on the other hand is a ri
ft valley, and not glacially formed.
In Acapulco, Mexico, the calanques narrow, rocky inlets on the western side of the c
ity, where the famous cliff-divers perform daily, are described in the city's to
urist literature as being fjords.
Freshwater fjords at the Italian slope of the Alps:
blue figures = water surface in meters above sea level,
brown figures = ground of the lakes in meters above (+) or below (-) sea level
Freshwater fjords
Some Norwegian freshwater lakes that have formed in long glacially carved valley
s with terminal moraines blocking the outlet follow the Norwegian naming convent
ion; they are named fjords. Outside of Norway, the three western arms of New Zea
land's Lake Te Anau are named North Fiord, Middle Fiord and South Fiord. Another
freshwater "fjord" in a larger lake is Western Brook Pond, in Newfoundland's Gr
os Morne National Park; it is also often described as a fjord, but is actually a
freshwater lake cut off from the sea, so is not a fjord in the English sense of
the term. Such lakes are sometimes called "fjord lakes". Okanagan Lake was the
first North American lake to be so described, in 1962.[9] The bedrock there has
been eroded up to 650 m (2,133 ft) below sea level, which is 2,000 m (6,562 ft)
below the surrounding regional topography.[10] Fjord lakes are common on the inl
and lea of the Coast Mountains and Cascade Range; notable ones include Lake Chel
an, Seton Lake, Chilko Lake, and Atlin Lake. Kootenay Lake, Slocan Lake and othe
rs in the basin of the Columbia River are also fjord-like in nature, and created
by glaciation in the same way. Along the British Columbia Coast, a notable fjor
d-lake is Owikeno Lake, which is a freshwater extension of Rivers Inlet. Quesnel
Lake, located in central British Columbia, is claimed to be the deepest fjord f
ormed lake on earth. Another area notable for fjord lakes is northern Italy and
southern Switzerland: Lake Como and its neighbours.
Great Lakes
Unique family of freshwater fjords are embayments of the North American Great La
kes. Baie Fine is located on the northwestern coast of Georgian Bay of Lake Huro
n in Ontario, and Huron Bay is located on the southern shore of Lake Superior in
Michigan.
Locations
Sognefjord in Norway, the second longest fjord in the world, is an enormous tour
ist attraction
Eyjafjrur in north Iceland, Akureyri can be seen to the far right
Killary Harbour, western Ireland
New Zealand's Milford Sound
Glacier in a fjord at Kenai Fjords National Park, Alaska
Tysfjord in Norway north of the Arctic Circle is located in the boreal zone
The entrance to Larsen Harbour, a sub-embayment of Drygalski Fjord in South Geor
gia Island.
Norwegian fjord by Kazimierz Stabrowski (1928), National Museum in Warsaw.
The principal mountainous regions where fjords have formed are in the higher mid
dle latitudes and the high latitudes reaching to 80N (Svalbard, Greenland), where
, during the glacial period, many valley glaciers descended to the then-lower se
a level. The fjords develop best in mountain ranges against which the prevailing

westerly marine winds are orographically lifted over the mountainous regions, r
esulting in abundant snowfall to feed the glaciers. Hence coasts having the most
pronounced fjords include the west coast of Norway, the west coast of North Ame
rica from Puget Sound to Alaska, the southwest coast of New Zealand, and the wes
t and to south-western coasts of South America, for example in Chile.
Principal glaciated regions
West coast of Europe
Faroe Islands
Westfjords of Iceland
Eastern Region of Iceland
Norway, the whole coast including Svalbard
Kola Bay in Russia
West coast of New Zealand
Fiordland, in the southwest of the South Island
Northwest coast of North America
Coast of Alaska, United States: Lynn Canal, Glacier Bay, etc.
British Columbia Coast, Canada: from the Alaskan Border along the Portla
nd Canal to Indian Arm; Kingcome Inlet is a typical West Coast fjord.
Hood Canal in Washington, United States and various of the sidewaters of
Puget Sound
Northeast coast of North America
Labrador: Saglek Fjord, Nachvak Fjord, Hebron Fjord
The east coast of Ungava Bay.
Greenland: Kangerlussuaq, Ilulissat Icefjord, Scoresby Sund
Saguenay Fjord, Quebec[11]
Chile
Western Patagonia, Chile
Other glaciated or formerly glaciated regions
Other regions have fjords, but many of these are less pronounced due to more lim
ited exposure to westerly winds and less pronounced relief. Areas include:
Europe
Ireland (There are three examples of glacial fjords in Ireland: Lough Sw
illy, Carlingford Lough and Killary Harbour)
Scotland (where called firths, the Scots language cognate of fjord; loch
s or sea lochs). Notable examples being:
Loch Long
Loch Fyne Scotland's longest fjord at 65 km.
Loch Etive
the Gullmaren on the west coast of Sweden
North America
Canada:
the west and south coasts of Newfoundland, particularly:
Facheux Bay
Bonne Bay in Gros Morne National Park
Aviron Bay
La Hune Bay
Bay de Vieux
White Bear Bay
Baie d'Espoir
La Poile Bay
Bay Le Moine
the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, particularly:

Ellesmere Island
Baffin Island
Greenland
Scoresby Sund, the largest fjord in the world
Sndre Strmfjord or Kangerlussuaq
Disko Island
Ilulissat Icefjord, the most productive ice fjord in the world.
United States
Somes Sound, Acadia National Park, Maine
Hudson River
most clearly seen at The Palisades
Puget Sound
South America
Chile:
Patagonia
Argentina:
Estados island
Arctic
Arctic islands
Particularly Novaya Zemlya
Antarctica
South Georgia (UK)
Kerguelen Islands (France)
particularly the Antarctic Peninsula
Sub-Antarctic islands
Extreme fjords
The longest fjords in the world are:
Scoresby Sund in Greenland 350 km (217 mi)[12][13]
Greely Fiord/Tanquary Fiord in Canada 230 km (143 mi)[citation needed]
Sognefjord in Norway 204 km (127 mi)
Deep fjords include:
Skelton Inlet in Antarctica 1,933 m (6,342 ft)
Sognefjord in Norway 1,308 m (4,291 ft) (the mountains then rise to up to 1,00
0 m (3,281 ft))
Messier Channel in Chile 1,288 m (4,226 ft)