Ikerasaa Strait is a strait

Strait

A strait or straits is a narrow, typically navigable channel of water that connects two larger, navigable bodies of water. It most commonly refers to a channel of water that lies between two land masses, but it may also refer to a navigable channel through a body of water that is otherwise not...

 in the Upernavik Archipelago

Upernavik Archipelago

Upernavik Archipelago is a vast archipelago of small islands in the Qaasuitsup municipality in northwestern Greenland, on the coast of northeastern Baffin Bay...

 in the Qaasuitsup

Qaasuitsup

Qaasuitsup is a new municipality in Greenland, operational from 1 January 2009. As of January 2010 its population is 17,749. The administrative center of the municipality is in Ilulissat...

 municipality in northwestern 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 strait separates Kiatassuaq Island

Kiatassuaq Island

Kiatassuaq Island is an uninhabited island in the Melville Bay region of the Upernavik Archipelago in the Qaasuitsup municipality in northwestern Greenland.- History :...

 in the north from the mainland Sanningassorsuaq Peninsula

Sanningassorsuaq Peninsula

Sanningassorsuaq Peninsula is a mainland peninsula in northwestern Greenland, located at the northern end of Upernavik Archipelago.- Geography :The Sanningassorsuaq Peninsula is long, and wide...

 in the south. The name of the strait is the local dialect version of ikerasak, a generic word for 'strait' in the Greenlandic language.

Geography

The strait is 17 km (10.6 mi) long and at most 3.7 km (2.3 mi) wide. Located in the northern part of Upernavik Archipelago, it is an inner waterway of Inussulik Bay

Inussulik Bay

Inussulik Bay is a bay in the Upernavik Archipelago in the Qaasuitsup municipality in northwestern Greenland.- Geography :The bay is located in the northern part of Upernavik Archipelago, between Kiatassuaq Island in the north and Nuussuaq Peninsula in the south...

, linking it with Alison Bay

Alison Bay

Alison Bay is a bay in the Qaasuitsup municipality in northwestern Greenland. The bay is a tributary bay of Melville Bay, and is located in the northern part of Upernavik Archipelago, between Kiatassuaq Island in the southwest and the mainland of Greenland in the northeast.- Geography :Alison bay...

 in the northeast. In the northwest, the strait is bounded by the mountainous Kiatassuaq Island

Kiatassuaq Island

Kiatassuaq Island is an uninhabited island in the Melville Bay region of the Upernavik Archipelago in the Qaasuitsup municipality in northwestern Greenland.- History :...

. In the northwest, the strait splits into two channels, with the small Milissua Island straddling the middle.

The northern channel is very narrow, and both channels often choked with icebergs from 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...

  reaching the waterline at the east end of the strait, and the confluence with Alison Bay. The southern coast of the strait is undeveloped, formed by the Sanningassorsuaq Peninsula

Sanningassorsuaq Peninsula

Sanningassorsuaq Peninsula is a mainland peninsula in northwestern Greenland, located at the northern end of Upernavik Archipelago.- Geography :The Sanningassorsuaq Peninsula is long, and wide...

, and the nunatak

Nunatak

A nunatak is an exposed, often rocky element of a ridge, mountain, or peak not covered with ice or snow within an ice field or glacier. The term is typically used in areas where a permanent ice sheet is present...

at its root.