Sullorsuaq Strait Explained

Sullorsuaq Strait (old spelling: Suvdlorssuaq, Danish: Vaigat) is a strait on the western coast of Greenland.

Geography

The strait separates Nuussuaq Peninsula in the northeast from Qeqertarsuaq Island in the southwest.^[1] The strait waterway connects inner Disko Bay in the southeast with Baffin Bay in the northwest. Qeqertarsuatsiaq Island is located in the northeastern mouth of the strait, where it opens into Baffin Bay. At the southeastern end, the large Alluttoq Island is located in the outlet of the strait, at the confluence with Disko Bay.^[2]

Settlement

Saqqaq is the only settlement in the area, located in the southern part on the shores of Nuussuaq Peninsula. The former coal mining settlement of Qullissat, founded in 1924, was located on the northeast coast of Disko Island and grew into one of Greenland's larger settlements. Qullissat was abandoned in 1972, and the entire northern coast of Disko Island is now uninhabited.

History

Archaeological excavations in Qilakitsoq on the northeastern shore revealed the existence of an ancient Arctic culture later named the Saqqaq culture, which is the archaeological designation of the earliest Palaeo-Eskimo culture of west and southeast part of Greenland. The natives inhabited the area of west-central Greenland between 2500 BCE and 800 BCE.^[3]

Major landslides have struck Sullorsuaq Strait since prehistoric times, sometimes generating tsunamis or megatsunamis:

• Research indicates that nine large tsunamigenic landslides struck the strait in prehistoric times during the Holocene, seven of them from the southern coast of the Nuussuaq Peninsula and two from the northern coast of Disko Island. Seven of the landslides apparently occurred between about 8,020 BC and 6,520 BC with unidentified tsunamigenic effects. The two most recent prehistoric landslides generated megatsunamis which struck Alluttoq Island, the first sometime around 5,650 BC with a run-up height of 41mto66mm (135feetto217feetm), and another that struck around 5,350 BC with a run-up height of 45mto70mm (148feetto230feetm).^[4]
• On 15 December 1952, an 80m (260feet) thick landslide began at a height of 500mto700mm (1,600feetto2,300feetm) on a slope of the mountain Niiortuut (70.349°N -53.178°W) on the southern coast of the Nuussuaq Peninsula and traveled 2750m (9,020feet). Between 1800000m²4500000m² of material entered the strait, creating of new land extending 90m (300feet) into the strait and generating a tsunami. With a run-up height of 4.5to, the wave struck a group of four fishermen away on the southern coast of the Nuussuaq Peninsula, killing one of them. Then it struck the town of Qullissat away on Disko Island, where it had a run-up height of 2.2to.^[5]
• On 21 November 2020, a 90000000m² landslide with a mass of 260,000,000 tons fell from an elevation of 1000mto1400mm (3,000feetto4,600feetm) at Paatuut on the southern coast of the Nuussuaq Peninsula, reaching a speed of 140kph. About 30000000m² of material with a mass of 87,000,000 tons entered the strait, generating a megatsunami. The wave had a run-up height of 50m (160feet) near the landslide and 28m (92feet) at the former site of Qullissat, 20km (10miles) away, where it inundated the coast as far as 100m (300feet) inland. Refracted energy from the tsunami created a wave with a run-up height of that destroyed boats at Saqqaq, from the landslide.^[6]
• An unwitnessed landslide from an elevation of 600mto880mm (2,000feetto2,890feetm) consisting of 18300000m²25900000m² of frozen debris and rock occurred at Assapaat (70.3192°N -52.9967°W) on the southern coast of the Nuussuaq Peninsula on 13 June 2021. About 3900000m² of material entered the strait but did not generate a tsunami.^[7]

See also

• Thule people

External links

70.2°N -53°W

Notes and References

1. Nuussuaq, Saga Map, Tage Schjøtt, 1992
2. Qeqertarsuup Tunua, Saga Map, Tage Schjøtt, 1992
3. http://www.natmus.dk/sw18632.asp The Greenland Research Centre
4. Web site: Giant mid-Holocene landslide-generated tsunamis recorded in lake sediments from Saqqaq, West Greenland . Korsgaard . Niels J. . Svennevig . Kristian . Søndergaard . Anne S. . Luetzenburg . Gregor . Oksman . Mimmi . Larsen . Nicolaj K. . 13 March 2023 . copernicus.org . European Geosciences Union . 12 October 2023 .
5. Web site: Uncovering a 70-year-old permafrost degradation induced disaster in the Arctic, the 1952 Niiortuut landslide-tsunami in central West Greenland . Svennevig . Kristian. Keiding . Marie . Korsgaard . Niels Jákup . Lucas . Antoine . Owen . Matthew . Poulsen . Majken Djurhuus . Priebe . Janina . Sørensen . Erik Vest . Morino . Costanza . 10 February 2023 . sciencedirect.com . Science Direct . 13 October 2023 .
6. Web site: Landslide and Tsunami 21 November 2000 in Paatuut, West Greenland . Dahl-Jensen . Trine. Larsen . Lotte . Pedersen . Stig . Pedersen . Jerrik . Jepsen . Hans . Pedersen . Gunver . Nielsen . Tove . Pedersen . Asger . Von Platen-Hallermund . Frants . Weng . Willy . 2004 . repec.org . Ideas . 14 October 2023 .
7. Web site: Svennevig . Kristian . Hermanns . Reginald L.. Keiding . Marie. Binder . Daniel. Citterio . Michelle . Dahl-Jensen . Trine. Mertl . Stefan. Sørensen . Erik Vest. Voss . Peter H. . 23 July 2022. A large frozen debris avalanche entraining warming permafrost ground—the June 2021 Assapaat landslide, West Greenland. springer.com. Springer Link. 14 October 2023.