Amerloq Fjord is a 36 km (22.4 mi) long fjord

Fjord

Geologically, a fjord is a long, narrow inlet with steep sides or cliffs, created in a valley carved by glacial activity.-Formation:A fjord is formed when a glacier cuts a U-shaped valley by abrasion of the surrounding bedrock. Glacial melting is accompanied by rebound of Earth's crust as the ice...

 in the Qeqqata

Qeqqata

Qeqqata is a new municipality in western Greenland, operational from 1 January 2009. The municipality was named after its location in central-western part of the country. Its population is 9,677 as of January 2010. The administrative center of the municipality is in Sisimiut...

 municipality in western Greenland

Greenland

Greenland is an autonomous country within the Kingdom of Denmark, located between the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Though physiographically a part of the continent of North America, Greenland has been politically and culturally associated with Europe for...

. The fjord empties into Davis Strait

Davis Strait

Davis Strait is a northern arm of the Labrador Sea. It lies between mid-western Greenland and Nunavut, Canada's Baffin Island. The strait was named for the English explorer John Davis , who explored the area while seeking a Northwest Passage....

 just south of Sisimiut

Sisimiut

Sisimiut is a town in central-western Greenland, located on the coast of Davis Strait, approximately north of Nuuk. It is the administrative center of the Qeqqata Municipality and the second-largest town in Greenland, with a population of 5,460 people as of 2010. The site of the present-day town...

.

Geography

The fjord mouth is located at approximately 66°52′N 53°42′W south of the town of Sisimiut. To the north, the fjord is bounded by the Nasaasaaq

Nasaasaaq

Nasaasaaq is a high prominent mountain in the Qeqqata municipality in western Greenland. It is located on the mainland of Greenland, immediately to the southeast of Sisimiut on the northern coast of Amerloq Fjord, a tributary of Davis Strait....

 ridge, whose massif is spread out over 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) in the west-east direction, constituting the terminal point of a long mountain range extending from the Pingu mountain group halfway between Davis Strait and the Greenland ice sheet

Greenland ice sheet

The Greenland ice sheet is a vast body of ice covering , roughly 80% of the surface of Greenland. It is the second largest ice body in the world, after the Antarctic Ice Sheet. The ice sheet is almost long in a north-south direction, and its greatest width is at a latitude of 77°N, near its...

 . The range flattens considerably towards the east in the area of Kangaamiut dike swarm north of Kangerlussuaq

Kangerlussuaq

Kangerlussuaq is a settlement in western Greenland in the Qeqqata municipality, located at the head of a fjord of the same name. It is Greenland's main air transport hub, being the site of Greenland's largest commercial airport....

, due to pressure exerted by the icesheet for long periods in the past. The Nasaasaaq ridge connects to the other latitudinal ridges approximately 15 km (9.3 mi) east of Sisimiut, north of the fjord head located at approximately 66°53′30"N 52°53′30"W.

The head of the fjord is unusual in that it connects through a very narrow waterway to the wider Ikertooq Fjord

Ikertooq Fjord

Ikertooq Fjord is a long fjord in the Qeqqata municipality in western Greenland. The fjord empties into Davis Strait south of Sisimiut.- Geography :...

. From the south, the fjord is bounded by the long Sarfannguit Island

Sarfannguit Island

Sarfannguit Island is an island in the Qeqqata municipality in western Greenland.- Geography :The island is of elongated shape, separated from the mainland of Greenland by Sarfannguit Channel, a narrow waterway at the eastern promontory occupied by the Sarfannguit settlement...

  in the center and east, and by the smaller Maniitsorsuaq Island in the west. Qeqertarmiut and Annertusoq skerries

Skerry

A skerry is a small rocky island, usually defined to be too small for habitation. It may simply be a rocky reef. A skerry can also be called a low sea stack....

 separate the fjord mouth from Kangerluarsunnguaq Bay

Kangerluarsunnguaq Bay

Kangerluarsunnguaq Bay is a bay of Davis Strait in the Qeqqata municipality on the western coast of Greenland. It is located directly to the north of Sisimiut.- Geography :...

 in the north.

Settlement

There are two settlements in the vicinity of Amerloq Fjord. At the mouth of the fjord, Sisimiut town reaches to the sea in its southernmost parts. At the other end of the fjord, at the narrow waterway between the mainland and Sarfannguit Island, the small Sarfannguit

Sarfannguit

Sarfannguit is a settlement in the Qeqqata municipality in central-western Greenland. Its population is 126 as of 2010...

 settlement occupies the island promontory.

Transport

Royal Arctic Line

Royal Arctic Line

Royal Arctic Line A/S or Royal Arctic is a freight company in Greenland, formed in 1992 and headquartered in Nuuk. It has 650 employees and is owned by the Government of Greenland...

 provides weekly ferry services from Sarfannguit to Sisimiut and Itilleq

Itilleq

Itilleq is a settlement in the Qeqqata municipality in central-western Greenland. Located 45 km south of Sisimiut on the shores of Davis Strait, it had 112 inhabitants in 2010.- History :...

, a settlement further south on the coast of Davis Strait. The ships sail through the entire length of the fjord on the way.

Sisimiut is a port of call for the Arctic Umiaq Line

Arctic Umiaq Line

Arctic Umiaq Line A/S or Arctic Umiaq is a passenger and freight line in Greenland. Its name derives from the Greenlandic word for a traditional Inuit boat, the umiaq. The sea connection provided by Arctic Umiaq is a lifeline for the entire western and southwestern Greenland...

, with connections to Ilulissat

Ilulissat

Ilulissat is a town in the Qaasuitsup municipality in western Greenland, located approximately north of the Arctic Circle. With the population of 4,546 as of 2010, it is the third-largest settlement in Greenland, after Nuuk and Sisimiut....

 and Aasiaat

Aasiaat

Aasiaat is a town in the Qaasuitsup municipality in western Greenland. Located in the heart of Aasiaat Archipelago at the southern end of Disko Bay. With a population of 3,005 as of 2010, it is Greenland's fifth-largest town.-Etymology:...

 in the Disko Bay

Disko Bay

Disko Bay is a bay on the western coast of Greenland. The bay constitutes a wide southeastern inlet of Baffin Bay.- Geography :To the south the coastline is complicated with multiple waterways of skerries and small islands in the Aasiaat archipelago...

region, and to coastal towns in southwestern and southern Greenland.