Dove Bay Explained

Dove Bay
Other Name:Dove Bugt
Pushpin Map:Greenland
Pushpin Map Caption:Location in Greenland
Location:Arctic
Coords:76.5°N -20°W
Oceans:Greenland Sea
Countries:Greenland
Length:120km (80miles)
Width:35km (22miles)

Dove Bay (Danish: Dove Bugt) is a bay in King Frederick VIII Land, northeastern Greenland. It is part of the Northeast Greenland National Park area.

Etymology

Dove bay is said to have been the legendary Breidifjòrdr of the Sagas of Icelanders.[1]

It was named Dove Bai by the Second German North Polar Expedition led by Carl Koldewey after German physicist and meteorologist Heinrich Wilhelm Dove (1803–79).[2]

Geography

Dove Bay is a large bay located between Cape Bismarck in Germania Land to the north, a complex cluster of coastal islands to the west, Store Koldewey to the east and Adolf S. Jensen Land to the southwest. Besides Store Koldewey, there are numerous islands in the periphery of the bay such as Edward Island, Godfred Hansen Island, Lindhard Island, Nanok Island, Tvillingerne and Djævleøen —with its conspicuous Teufelkap. There are also fjords, such as the Mørkefjord and Hellefjord, having their mouth in the bay. To the south, the bay opens to the Greenland Sea through the Storebaelt (Store Bælt) strait.[3]

The bay is usually free from ice in August and September. Its waters are deep.[4]

The Danmarkshavn weather station is located north of the bay on the southern shore of the Germania Land Peninsula.[5]

Notes and References

  1. Tornøe, J.K. 1944: Lysstreif over Norgesveldets historie. Meddelelser Norges Svalbard- og Ishavsundersökelser 56.
  2. Web site: Catalogue of place names in northern East Greenland . Geological Survey of Denmark . 9 July 2019.
  3. Web site: Storebælt. Mapcarta. 18 June 2016.
  4. Prostar Sailing Directions 2005 Greenland and Iceland Enroute, p. 125
  5. http://www.danmarkshavn.gl Danmarkshavn