Coastal and Oceanic Landform (24. Fjord)

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  •  Fjord is long, narrow inlet with steep sides or cliffs.

  • Created in a valley carved by glacial activity.

  • The word comes to English from Norwegian.

  • Whole coast of Norway and the island of Greenland have many fjords.

  • Formed by a glacier cuts a U-shaped valley by ice segregation &  abrasion of bedrock.

  • Glacial melting rebound of Earth's crust as the ice load and eroded sediment is removed

  • Most fjords are deeper than the adjacent sea
  •  Sognefjord, Norway,1,300 m  below sea level.

  • Fjords  have a sill or shoal  at their mouth.



Geirangerfjord, Norway
Geirangerfjord, Norway


  • Sill causes extreme currents and large saltwater rapid.

  • Saltstraumen in Norway is often described as the world's strongest tidal current.


Features of fojord

1.Coral reef
  • Some coral reefs were discovered along the bottoms of the Norwegian fjords.
  • New Zealand's fjords are also host to deep sea corals.
2.Skerries
  • Rocky coast is divided into thousands of island blocks, some large and mountainous while others are merely rocky points or rock reefs, menacing navigation. These are called skerries.
  •  The term skerry is derived from the Old Norse sker, which means a rock in the sea.
  • Commonly formed at the outlet of fjords.
  • Submerged glacially formed valleys perpendicular to the coast join with other cross valleys in a complex array. 
  • The island fringe of Norway is such a group of skerries
Magdalenafjord in the high arctic archipelago Svalbard of Norway
Magdalenafjord in the high arctic archipelago Svalbard of Norway



Location of fojord

West cost of Europe
  • Faroe Islands
  • Westfjords of Iceland
  • Eastfjords of Iceland
  • Norway
  • Kola Bay in Russia


West coast of New Zealand
  • Fiordland,southwest of the South Island


Northwest coast of North America
  • Coast of Alaska, United States: Lynn Canal, Glacier Bay
  • British Columbia Coast, Canada: from the Alaskan Border along the Portland Canal to Indian Arm
  • Hood Canal in Washington


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
  • Chile


Europe
    • Ireland Lough Swilly, Carlingford Lough and Killary Harbour
    • Scotland 
    • the Gullmaren on the west coast of Sweden


North America
  • Canada Ilulissat Icefjord, the most productive ice fjord in the world.

Sognefjord in Norway, the third longest fjord in the world,
Sognefjord in Norway, the third longest fjord in the world,


The longest fjords in the world are:

  1. Scoresby Sund in Greenland 350 km
  2. Greely Fiord/Tanquary Fiord in Canada 230 km
  3. Sognefjord in Norway 204 km 





Deep fjords include:
  1. Skelton Inlet in Antarctica 1,933 m 
  2. Sognefjord in Norway 1,308 m 
  3. Messier Channel in Chile

New Zealand's Milford Sound
New Zealand's Milford Sound

Tysfjord in Norway north of the Arctic Circle boreal zone
Tysfjord in Norway north of the Arctic Circle boreal zone
Hardangerfjord in Hordaland, Norway.
Hardangerfjord in Hordaland, Norway.




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