The Name
Today, I thought I'd tell you a little bit about Kangerlussuaq. Its name comes from the Greenlandic language, and it means "big fjord". In Danish it is called Sonder Stromfjord, so that is what you can look for on this map.
It's difficult to see, but Kanger is on the west side of Greenland a little further north than Iceland and north of the Arctic Circle.
Fjord
So what, you may ask, is a fjord? It is defined as 'a long, narrow arm of the sea bordered by steep cliffs'; it is usually formed by glacial erosion. Kanger, as it is affectionately known, is located at the end of very long fjord, 120 miles from the Baffin Bay which runs between Greenland and Canada. The town sits on a flat plain at the mouth of the Qinnguata Kuussua River.
The fjord carries glacier melt water to the sea.
Children here go away to boarding school at a young age in Nuuk, the capital of Greenland. It is about a 20-minute flight away. Since there are very few roads here, airplane is the best way to get there. Did you know that, similarly, Alaska also has very few roads? It is part of the U.S., but it is also part of the Arctic region and thus shares characteristics with Greenland, Canada, Siberia, and Scandinavia. If you look carefully at the photo below, perhaps you can tell that the buildings are up off the ground. You might think this is to avoid flooding, but you would not be correct. Rather, the buildings are raised, so they don't cause the permafrost underneath to melt. Permafrost means that most of the soil in the Arctic is always frozen; only the top layer melts enough to support plants. If the warm buildings were to melt the permafrost, they would no longer be stable and would fall down.
These are apartments in the town of Kangerlussuaq.
Kangerlussuaq and KISS
Kanger used to be a United States air base named Bluie West-8. The U.S. used it during World War II and up until 1992. Now it has Greenland's largest commercial airport. Its population of 499 is mostly involved with transportation and tourism operations. Located here is also the Kangerlussuaq International Science Support station or KISS for short. It is here that Christine Urbanowicz, the researcher I am working with, has a spot in a research lab. This is also the place we come to charge our instruments and computers and where we can count on getting a hot shower every once in a while. Because it was a U.S. base, the electric outlets are compatible with American plugs; in Denmark, on the other hand, I had to use an adaptor to fit into the outlets.
Kangerlussuaq International Science Support Station with the Reindeer Hotel next door.
Working in the lab at KISS.
KISS is used by scientists from many places besides the U.S. and Denmark. It has dorm rooms, showers, a kitchen, offices/labs, and meeting rooms. You can tell from the picture, that there is nothing fancy about it; it is working space. We are happy to drop in every couple days and charge our computers and other devices, and every once in a while we even get a hot shower! Finally, Kanger sports its own unique golf course. Perhaps it looks to you like one big sand trap!
Can you see the yellow flags at the golf course?
Flag of the Day
Lily's flag based on Greenland's national flag.
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