Fjord 43598 225298339 2008-07-12T23:25:29Z Ghirlandajo 147410 /* Locations */ [[Kola Bay]] [[Image:Geirangerfjord (6-2007).jpg|right|thumb|270px|[[Geirangerfjord]], [[Norway]]]] A '''fjord''' or '''fiord''' ({{pronEng|fjɔːd|fiːɔːd}} or {{pronEng|fiːɔːd}}) is a long, narrow [[inlet]] with steep sides, created in a valley carved by [[glaciation|glacial activity]]. ==Formation== {{see|Ice sheet dynamics#erosion}} The seeds of a fjord are laid when a [[glacier]] cuts a [[U-shaped valley]] through [[Abrasion (geology)|abrasion]] of the surrounding [[bedrock]] by the sediment it carries. Many such valleys were formed during the recent [[ice age]]. Glacial melting is also accompanied by a rebound in the earth's crust as the ice load is removed. In some cases this rebound may be faster than the sea level rise. Most fjords are, however, deeper than the adjacent sea; [[Sognefjord]], Norway, reaches as much as 1,300&nbsp;m (4,265&nbsp;ft) below sea level. Fjords generally have a sill or rise at their mouth caused by the previous glacier's [[terminal moraine]], in many cases causing extreme currents and large saltwater rapids (along the [[Pacific Northwest]] Coast of North America (see [[skookumchuck]]). [[Saltstraumen]] in Norway is often described as the worlds strongest tidal current. These characteristics distinguish fjords from [[ria]]s (e.g. the [[Bay of Kotor]]), which are drowned valleys flooded by the rising sea. ==Fjord features and variations== ===Coral reefs=== As late as 2000, some of the world's largest coral reefs were discovered along the bottoms of the Norwegian fjords. These reefs were found in fjords all the way 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 this discovery is fairly new, little research has yet been done. So far, only the deep sea diver who discovered the first reef at 60 meters has visited it, and even he has only been down three times. The reefs are host to thousands of lifeforms such as plankton, coral, [[Sea anemone|anemones]], fish, several species of sharks, and many more one would expect to find on a reef. However most are specially adapted to life under the greater pressure of the [[water column]] above it, and the total darkness of the deep sea. New Zealand's fiords are also host to deep sea 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. ===Skerries=== In some places near the seaward margins of areas with fjords, the ice-scoured channels are so numerous and varied in direction that the rocky coast is divided into thousands of island blocks, some large and mountainous while others are merely rocky points or rock [[reef]]s, menacing navigation. These are called [[skerry|skerries]]. The term skerry is derived from the [[old Norse]] ''sker'', which means a rock in the sea. Skerries are most commonly formed at the outlet of fjords where 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 (called a ''skjærgård''); 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 1,601.03 km route from [[Stavanger]] to [[North Cape]], Norway. The [[Blindleia]] is a skerry-protected waterway that starts near [[Kristiansand]] in southern [[Norway]], and continues past [[Lillesand]]. The [[Sweden|Swedish]] coast along [[Bohuslän]] is likewise skerry guarded. The [[Inside Passage]] provides a similar route from [[Seattle]], [[Washington]] and [[Vancouver, British Columbia]] to [[Skagway]], Alaska. Yet another such skerry protected passage extends from the [[Straits of Magellan]] north for 800 km. ==False fjords== 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 which are clearly fjords in Scandinavian languages are not considered fjords in English; similarly bodies of water which would clearly not be fjords in the Scandinavian sense have been named or suggested to be fjords. Examples of this confused usage follow. The [[Gulf 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 glacial erosion but instead a ria dug by the river Pazinčica. The [[Croat]]s call it ''Limski kanal'' which does not transliterate precisely to the English equivalent either. [[Limfjord]] in the north of Denmark is a fjord in the Scandinavian sense, but is not a fjord in the English sense. In English it would be called a [[channel (geography)|channel]], since it separates the island of [[Vendsyssel-Thy]] from the rest of [[Jutland]]. While the long fjord-like bays of the [[New England]] coast are sometimes referred to as "fiards", the only glacially-formed fjord-like feature in New England is [[Somes Sound]] in Maine. The fjords in [[Finnmark]] (Norway), which are fjords in the Scandinavian sense of the term, are considered by some {{who?|date=August 2007}} to be false fjords. 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. In Mexico, the [[calanque]]s - narrow, rocky inlets - on the western side of the city, where the famous cliff-divers perform daily, are described in the city's tourist literature <!--or in guidebooks; moer than one--> as being fjords.<!--I think they even attribute them to glaciation--> ==Freshwater fjords== Some Norwegian freshwater lakes which have formed in long glacially carved valleys with terminal [[moraines]] blocking the outlet follow the Norwegian naming convention; they are named fjords. Outside of Norway, the three western arms of New Zealand's [[Lake Te Anau]] are named North Fiord, Middle Fiord and South Fiord. Another freshwater "fjord" in a larger lake is Baie Fine, located on the northeastern coast of [[Georgian Bay]] of [[Lake Huron]] in [[Ontario]]. Western Brook Pond, in Newfoundland's [[Gros Morne National Park]], 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]].<ref>{{Citation |last=Nasmith |first=Hugh |year =1962 |title =Late glacial history and surficial deposits of the Okanagan Valley, British Columbia |place=Victoria, BC, Canada |publisher=BC Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources }}</ref> The bedrock there has been eroded up to 650&nbsp;m ''below'' sea level, which is 2000&nbsp;m below the surrounding regional topography—deeper than the [[Grand Canyon]].<ref>{{cite journal |last=Eyles |first=Nicholas |coauthors=Mullins, Henry T.; and Hine, Albert C. |year=1990 |title=Thick and fast: Sedimentation in a Pleistocene fiord lake of British Columbia, Canada |journal=Geology |volume=18 |issue=11 |pages=1153–1157 |doi=10.1130/0091-7613(1990)018<1153:TAFSIA>2.3.CO;2 }}</ref> Fjord lakes are common on the inland [[lea]] of the [[Coast Mountains]] and [[Cascade Range]]; notable ones include [[Lake Chelan]], [[Seton Lake]], [[Chilko Lake]], and [[Atlin Lake]]. [[Kootenay Lake]] and others 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 fjord-lake is [[Owikeno Lake]], which is a freshwater extension of [[Rivers Inlet]]. Another area notable for fjord lakes is northern [[Italy]] and southern [[Switzerland]] - [[Lago di Como]] and its neighbours. ==Etymology== {{Original research|date=September 2007}} [[Image:Norge_Fjorder1.png|thumb|300px|Important fjords and lakes in Norway. Note: The part of the map showing the northern fjords has a smaller scale.]] With [[Proto-Indo-European language|Indo European]] [[origin]] (''*prtús'' from ''*por-'' or ''*per'') in the [[verb]] ''fara'' (travelling/ferrying), the [[North Germanic languages|Norse]] [[noun substantive]] ''fjǫrðr'' means a "[[Lake]]-like" [[waterbody]] used for passage and ferrying. The [[North Germanic languages|Scandinavian]] ''fjord'', [[Proto-Scandinavian]] *''ferþuz'', is the origin for similar European words: Icelandic ''fjörður'', Swedish ''fjärd'' (for Baltic waterbodies), Scottish ''firth''. The Danish use ''fjord'' for any small bay or lagoon in their country. The Germans call the narrow long bays of Schleswig-Holstein ''Förde'' but the Norwegian bays ''Fjord''. Perhaps the word is also related to English ''ford'' (which is in German ''Furt''), Greek ''poros'', Latin ''portus'' and the Dutch word ''voorde'' (for mud-flat, cf. Vilvoorde). As a [[loanword]] from [[Norwegian language|Norwegian]], it is one of the few words in the English language to start with the [[Digraph (orthography)|digraph]] ''fj''. ===Scandinavian usage=== Use of the word fjord (including the eastern Scandinavian form ''fjärd'') is more general in the [[North Germanic languages|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 is not its only application. In Norway, the usage is closest to the Old Norse, with fjord used for both a firth and for a long, narrow inlet. In eastern Norway, the term is also applied to long narrow freshwater lakes (for instance [[Mjøsa]] [commonly referred to as ''fjorden''], [[Randsfjorden]] and [[Tyrifjorden]]) and sometimes even to rivers (in local usage, for instance in [[Flå]] in [[Hallingdal]], the [[Hallingdal river]] is referred to as ''fjorden''). In east Sweden, the name ''fjärd'' is used in a synonymous manner for bays, [[Bight (geography)|bights]] and narrow inlets on the Swedish [[Baltic Sea]] coast, and in most Swedish lakes. This latter term is also used for bodies of water off the coast of Finland where [[Finland Swedish]] is spoken. In Danish, the word may even apply to shallow [[lagoon]]s. In modern Icelandic, ''fjörður'' is still used with the broader meaning of firth or inlet. In [[Finnish language]], a word ''vuono'' is used although there is only one fjord in Finland. The German use of the word ''Förde'' for long narrow bays on their Baltic Sea coastline, indicates a common [[Germanic languages|Germanic]] origin of the word. The landscape consists mainly of moraine heaps. The "Förden" and some "fjords" on the east side of Denmark are also of glacial origin. But while the glaciers digging "real" fjords moved from the mountains to the sea, in Denmark and Germany they were tongues of a huge glacier covering the bassin of which is now the Baltic Sea. See [[Förden and East Jutland Fjorde]]. Whereas fjordnames mostly describe bays (though not always geological fjords), [[strait]]s 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 separate". So the use of ''Sound'' to name fjords in North America and New Zealand differs from the European meaning of that word. The name of [[Wexford]] in [[Ireland]] is originally derived from ''Veisafjǫrðr'' ("inlet of the mud flats") in [[Old Norse]], as used by the [[viking]] settlers — though the place does not have a fjord in the more narrow modern meaning. ==Locations== [[Image:Ofotfjord-April.JPG|thumb|right|[[Ofotfjord]] in [[Nordland]], inside the [[Arctic circle]], April 2003]] [[Image:Fjord in Norway.jpg|thumb|[[Nærøyfjord]], branch of [[Sognefjorden]]]] [[Image:Eyjafjörður.jpeg|thumb|Eyjafjörður in north Iceland, [[Akureyri]] can be seen to the far right]] The principal mountainous regions where fjords have formed are in the higher [[middle latitudes]] where, during the glacial period, many valley glaciers descended to the then-lower sea level. The fjords develop best in mountain ranges against which the prevailing [[westerlies|westerly]] marine winds are [[Orographic lift|orographically lifted]] over the mountainous regions, resulting in abundant snowfall to feed the glaciers. Hence coasts having the most pronounced fjords include the west coast of Europe, the west coast of [[North America]] from Puget Sound to Alaska, the west coast of New Zealand, and the west coast of South America. Other areas which have lower altitudes and less pronounced glaciers also have fjords or fjord-like features. ===West coast of Europe=== *[[Faroe Islands]] *[[Norway]] **[[Lofoten Islands]] **[[Svalbard]] ***[[Spitsbergen]] *[[Russia]]'s [[Kola Bay]] *[[Sweden]], a small part of the west coast *[[Iceland]] **West Fjords ([[Vestfirðir]]) ===West coast of New Zealand === [[Image:MilfordSound.jpg|thumb|right|New Zealand's [[Milford Sound]]]] *[[Fiordland]], in the southwest of the [[South Island]] ===Northwest Coast of North America === *The coast of [[Alaska]] in the United States:[[Lynn Canal]], etc. *[[British Columbia Coast]], [[Canada]]: from the Alaskan Border along the [[Portland Canal]] to [[Indian Arm]]; [[Kingcome Inlet]] is a typical West Coast fjord. *[[Hood Canal]] in [[Washington]]<!--and various of the sidewaters of Puget Sound--> ===West coast of South America === *[[Zona Austral]], [[Chile]] ===Other glaciated regions === [[Image:Greenland.A2003233.1340.250m.jpg|thumb|right|The coastline of eastern Greenland, with its many fjords. At the bottom is the longest fjord in the world, [[Scoresby Sund]].]] Other regions have fjords, but many of these are less pronounced due to more limited exposure to westerly winds and less pronounced relief. Areas include: *Europe ** [[Ireland]] (Ireland's only fjord is in [[Killary Harbour]] near [[Leenane]], [[County Galway]], on the west coast) ** [[Scotland]] (where called [[firths]], the [[Scots language]] [[cognate]] of fjord; [[lochs]] or [[sea lochs]]) ** [[Sweden]] ** [[Galicia (Spain)|Galicia]] in [[Spain]] *North America ** [[Canada]]: *** [[Newfoundland & Labrador]]: [[Torngat Mountains National Park Reserve|Saglek Fjord]], [[Nachvak Fjord]], [[Hebron Fjord]], and [[Bonne Bay]] in [[Gros Morne National Park]] *** [[Quebec]]'s [[Saguenay River]] valley *** the [[Canadian Arctic Archipelago]], particularly: ****[[Ellesmere Island]] ****[[Baffin Island]] ** [[Greenland]] ** [[United States]] ***[[Somes Sound]], [[Acadia National Park]], [[Maine]] ***[[Hudson River]] ****most clearly seen at the [[New Jersey Palisades]] *[[Arctic]] **[[List of islands in the Arctic Ocean|Arctic islands]] *[[Antarctica]] **[[Kerguelen Islands]] ([[France]]) **particularly the [[Antarctic Peninsula]] *[[Sub-antarctic islands]] ===Extreme fjords=== [[Image:Sognefjord, Norway.jpg|thumb|right|[[Sognefjorden]], Norway]] The longest fjords in the world are: # [[Scoresby Sund]] in Greenland - 350&nbsp;km (220&nbsp;mi) # [[Sognefjord]] in Norway - 203&nbsp;km (126&nbsp;mi) # [[Hardangerfjord]] in Norway - 179&nbsp;km (111&nbsp;mi) Deep fjords include: # [[Skelton Inlet]] in Antarctica - 1,933&nbsp;m (6,342&nbsp;ft) # [[Sognefjord]] in Norway - ~1,308&nbsp;m (4,291&nbsp;ft) (the mountains then rise to up to 1,000&nbsp;m) # [[Messier Channel]] in Chile, South America - 1,288&nbsp;m (4,226&nbsp;ft) Even deeper is the [[Vanderford Valley]] (2,287&nbsp;m or 7,503&nbsp;ft), carved by the Antarctica's Vanderford Glacier. This undersea valley lies offshore, however, and so is not a fjord. ==References== <references/> ==See also== *[[Sound (geography)|Sound]] *[[Firth]] ==External links== {{commons|Fjord|Fjord}} {{Wiktionary}} *[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/2683797.stm Use of whales to probe Arctic fjord's secrets] *[http://www.visitnorway.com/MWTemplates/QWFeature.aspx?id=175771 Fjord guide at visitnorway.com - Official Travel Guide to Norway] *[http://www.fjords.com Pictures and info about Norwegian fjords] *[http://www.fjordtourscruises.com/norvegianfjords.html More information about Norwegian fjords] *[http://www.doc.govt.nz/Conservation/Marine-and-Coastal/Marine-Reserves/025~Fiordlands-Marine-Reserves/index.asp#Marine-Environment Fiordland's Marine Environment (and corals)] *[http://www.milforddeep.co.nz/gallery.htm Gallery of corals and associated marine life] *[http://www.canadiangeographic.ca/atlas/themes.aspx?id=rivers&sub=rivers_east_saguenay Saguenay River - The Canadian Atlas Online] [[Category:Fjords| ]] [[Category:Glaciology]] [[Category:lakes]] [[be-x-old:Фіёрд]] [[bs:Fjord]] [[br:Fjord]] [[bg:Фиорд]] [[ca:Fiord]] [[cs:Fjord]] [[da:Fjord]] [[de:Fjord]] [[et:Fjord]] [[el:Φιόρδ]] [[es:Fiordo]] [[eo:Fjordo]] [[eu:Fiordo]] [[fa:آبدره]] [[fr:Fjord]] [[gl:Fiorde]] [[ko:피오르]] [[hr:Fjord]] [[id:Fyord]] [[is:Fjörður]] [[it:Fiordo]] [[he:פיורד]] [[ka:ფიორდი]] [[lv:Fjords]] [[lb:Fjord]] [[lt:Fjordas]] [[li:Fjord]] [[hu:Fjord]] [[nl:Fjord]] [[ja:フィヨルド]] [[no:Fjord]] [[nn:Fjord]] [[pl:Fiord]] [[pt:Fiorde]] [[ro:Fiord]] [[ru:Фьорд]] [[sk:Fjord]] [[sl:Fjord]] [[sr:Фјорд]] [[fi:Vuono]] [[sv:Fjord]] [[tr:Fiyord]] [[uk:Фіорд]] [[zh:峡湾]]