not so green - The three glaciers of Sermilik

The three glaciers of Sermilik

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The Midgårdgletscsher in eastern Greenland

This series of photos by Flickr user best77 shows the glaciers feeding into the mighty Sermilik fjord in eastern Greenland, just north of the town of Angmagssalik. This fjord is fed by three large glaciers and several smaller ones. All of the large glaciers are visible in this series of photos, taken on August 30, 2006. The first photo featured here shows the northermmost of the major glaciers, called Midgårdgletscsher. The upper reaches of the glacier show a distinctive light-colored medial moraine, set off against a darker background. The glacier terminates just above the center of this picture, and then breaks up into a bright white section of densely packed ice that is several miles long. Finally, this ice begins to break up near the hanging glacier visible on the left, producing huge ice shelves and numerous smaller icebergs, which will float down the fjord and out to sea.

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The Helheimfjord, visible at the top of the image

The second photo featured here shows a smaller glacier in the foreground, flowing across flatter ground into an inlet of the fjord at right. At the top of the picture is a branch of the Sermilik fjord called the Helheimfjord. This fjord is fed by the southernmost of Sermilik's three major glaciers, the Helheimgletscher. The glacier itself cannot be seen in this photo, but the densely packed mass of icebergs calved from the glacier is easily seen at the top of the photo, flowing through the Helheimsfjord from left to right. This article from The Guardian presents some interesting information on the effects that global warming has been having on the Helheimgletscher and the nearby town of Angmagssalik.

In the other photos from this series, shown below, the third photo shows an edge-on view of the Midgårdgletscsher, while the fourth shows the Midgårdgletscsher at right, and the Fernisgletscher at left.

Other shots from this series, taken the same day as the photo above. Click the photo to go to the Flickr photo page, or the Google Earth icon to view the photo in Google Earth.