Ikertooq Fjord is a 55 km (34.2 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....

 21 km (13 mi) 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 upper part of the fjord, a confluence of three tributary inlets at approximately 66°53′20"N 52°32′00"W is called Suluppaavarsiorfik (old spelling: Sulugpâvarsiorfik). The tributary bays, from south to north, are: Avalleq, Akulleq (the innermost, main arm at approximately 66°55′50"N 52°16′00"W), and Maligiaq. Itinneq, an outflow river from the large, latitudinal Tasersuaq

Tasersuaq

Tasersuaq is a large lake in the Qeqqata municipality in central-western Greenland. The name of the lake means large lake in the Greenlandic language, and is a common name shared by several lakes in the country.- Geography :...

 lake, empties into the northern inlet.

The fjord initially flows westward, to then turn west-south-west between the mainland peninsula in the south, and 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 north, widening considerably at its mouth at approximately 66°46′N 53°27′W, where it 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....

. The fjord is unusual in that it connects through a very narrow waterway to the head of the narrower Amerloq Fjord

Amerloq Fjord

Amerloq Fjord is a long fjord in the Qeqqata municipality in western Greenland. The fjord empties into Davis Strait just south of Sisimiut.- Geography :The fjord mouth is located at approximately south of the town of Sisimiut...

 near the village of Sarfannguit

Sarfannguit

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

.

The northern inlet at the fjord head is surrounded by tall mountains immediately to the south of 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.

Settlement

The small Sarfannguit settlement occupies the eastern promontory on Sarfannguit Island, on the northern shore of the fjord, at the narrow waterway between the mainland and Sarfannguit Island. In the past, the coastal region was dotted with several small villages, all of which are now abandoned.