A glacier is a persistent body of dense ice that is constantly moving under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires distinguishing features, such as crevasses and seracs, as it slowly flows and deforms under stresses induced by its weight. As it moves, it abrades rock and debris from its substrate to create landforms such as cirques, moraines, or fjords. Although a glacier may flow into a body of water, it forms only on land and is distinct from the much thinner sea ice and lake ice that form on the surface of bodies of water.
Kangerlussuaq, is a settlement in western Greenland in the Qeqqata municipality located at the head of the fjord of the same name. It is Greenland's main air transport hub and the site of Greenland's largest commercial airport. The airport dates from American settlement during and after World War II, when the site was known as Bluie West-8 and then Sondrestrom Air Base.
Landforms are categorized by characteristic physical attributes such as their creating process, shape, elevation, slope, orientation, rock exposure, and soil type.
An outwash plain, also called a sandur, sandr or sandar, is a plain formed of glaciofluvial deposits due to meltwater outwash at the terminus of a glacier. As it flows, the glacier grinds the underlying rock surface and carries the debris along. The meltwater at the snout of the glacier deposits its load of sediment over the outwash plain, with larger boulders being deposited near the terminal moraine, and smaller particles travelling further before being deposited. Sandurs are common in Iceland where geothermal activity accelerates the melting of ice flows and the deposition of sediment by meltwater.
A tunnel valley is a U-shaped valley originally cut under the glacial ice near the margin of continental ice sheets such as that now covering Antarctica and formerly covering portions of all continents during past glacial ages. They can be as long as 100 km (62 mi), 4 km (2.5 mi) wide, and 400 m (1,300 ft) deep.
Russell Glacier is a glacier in the Qeqqata municipality in central-western Greenland. It flows from the Greenland ice sheet in the western direction. The front of the glacier is located 25 km (16 mi) east of Kangerlussuaq. It is active, advancing 25 m (82 ft) every year, and, due to easy access from Kangerlussuaq, it remains a popular place for tourists to visit.
Tasersuatsiaq is a lake in central-western Greenland, in the Qeqqata municipality. It is located southeast of Kangerlussuaq, with a depth of 80 m (262.5 ft), covering an area of 750ha. During the operating years of the American base at Bluie West Eight at Kangerlussuaq the lake was referred to as Lake Ferguson. The lake and the Roklubben Restaurant at its western shore are connected to Kangerlussuaq by a gravel road, one of the very few in Greenland. Tasersuatsiaq is a source of fresh water for Kangerlussuaq.
Isunngua is a highland in the Qeqqata municipality in central-western Greenland, located immediately west of the Greenland Ice Sheet edge. In large part it is covered by the tundra, although in the immediate vicinity of the Sermersuaq ice sheet it gradually becomes exposed, barren, and largely devoid of life. The climate is polar continental, with the area receiving very little rainfall. Isunngua is a calving site for reindeer.
Akuliarusiarsuup Kuua is a river and valley of the same name in the Qeqqata municipality in central-western Greenland. Its source is the meltwater outflow from Russell Glacier, an outflow of the Greenland ice sheet. The river is a tributary of Qinnguata Kuussua, the main river in the Kangerlussuaq area. For most of its run, the river flows very slowly through the sandur basin of the valley, forming meanders amongst large fields of glacial silt quicksand. The climate is polar continental, with the area receiving very little rainfall.
Aajuitsup Tasia is a large lake in central-western Greenland, in the Qeqqata municipality. It is located approximately 12 km (7.5 mi) northeast of Kangerlussuaq. It is of elongated oval shape, with its western shore at 67°04′45″N50°30′02″W and its eastern shore at 67°05′35″N50°16′30″W. Aajuitsup Tasia is an oligotrophic lake of 32 m (105 ft) depth, covering an area of 1,350ha.
Sanningasoq is a large oligotrophic twin lake in central-western Greenland, in the Qeqqata municipality. It is located approximately 9 km (5.6 mi) northeast of Kangerlussuaq. It is characteristic in that it is composed of two lakes connected via a narrow water passage through a broken isthmus. Its northwestern shore is at 67°05′15″N50°39′50″W and its southeastern shore at 67°04′00″N50°28′53″W.
Kangerlussuaq Fjord is a long fjord in the Qeqqata municipality in central-western Greenland. The fjord is 190 km (120 mi) long and between 1.5 km (0.93 mi) and 8 km (5.0 mi) wide, flowing from the estuary of Qinnguata Kuussua river to the southwest, and emptying into the Davis Strait. It is the longest fjord of western Greenland.
Kangerlussuatsiaq Fjord is a fjord in the Qeqqata municipality in western Greenland. Taking its source in the tidewater glaciers draining the Maniitsoq ice cap, the fjord flows in a deep canyon through a mountainous, uninhabited region, emptying into Davis Strait near the settlement of Kangaamiut.
Tarajornitsut is an uninhabited tundra highland in the Qeqqata municipality in central-western Greenland, within the bounds of Kangaamiut dike swarm. The highland has many lakes, shallow valleys, hills, and wetlands, with plentiful wildlife, such as arctic geese. It is also a major calving ground for reindeer. In the future the area will become a protected nature reserve. The Polar Route from Sisimiut to Kangerlussuaq ends in Tarajornitsut, on the shore of Kangerlussuaq Fjord.
Majorqaq is a meltwater river and valley of the same name in the Qeqqata municipality in central-western Greenland. It is one of the widest rivers in western Greenland, draining the Greenland ice sheet.
Ikertooq Fjord is a 55 km (34 mi) long fjord in the Qeqqata municipality in western Greenland. The fjord empties into Davis Strait 21 km (13 mi) south of Sisimiut.
The Kankakee Torrent was a catastrophic flood that occurred about 19,000 calibrated years ago in the Midwestern United States. It resulted from a breach of moraines forming a large glacial lake fed by the melting of the Late Wisconsin Laurentide Ice Sheet. The point of origin of the flood was Lake Chicago. The landscape south of Chicago still shows the effects of the torrent, particularly at Kankakee River State Park and on the Illinois River at Starved Rock State Park.
Lake Kankakee formed 14,000 years before present (YBP) in the valley of the Kankakee River. It developed from the outwash of the Michigan Lobe, Saginaw Lobe, and the Huron-Erie Lobe of the Wisconsin glaciation. These three ice sheets formed a basin across Northwestern Indiana. It was a time when the glaciers were receding, but had stopped for a thousand years in these locations. The lake drained about 13,000 YBP, until reaching the level of the Momence Ledge. The outcropping of limestone created an artificial base level, holding water throughout the upper basin, creating the Grand Kankakee Marsh.
The Marseilles moraine is a terminal moraine that encircles the southern tip of Lake Michigan in North America. It begins near Elgin, Illinois, and extends south and west of Chicago metropolitan area, turning eastward 30 miles (48 km) to 40 miles (64 km) south of the lake in Kankakee and Iroqouis counties, entering Indiana. It formed during the Wisconsin glaciation. The glacier had been in retreat when it stopped for an extended period, depositing glacial till and sand creating the hills of the moraine.
