A fjord (pronounced FEE-ord or fyord, SAMPA: ['fi:3:d] or ['faI3:d]; sometimes
written fiord) is a glacially overdeepened valley, usually narrow and steep-sided, extending below sea level
and filled with salt water.
Characteristics
Fjords are found in locations where current or past glaciation extended below current sea level. A fjord is formed when a
glacier retreats, after carving its typical U-shaped valley, and the sea fills the resulting valley floor. This forms a narrow,
steep sided inlet (sometimes as deep as 1300m) connected to the sea. The terminal moraine pushed down the valley by the glacier is left underwater at the fjord's entrance, causing the water at the
neck of the fjord to be shallower than the main body of the fjord behind it.
This shallow threshold and the protection afforded by the valley's sides generally means that fjords are excellent natural
harbours. Consequently fjords often provide a home-port to fishing fleets, and in industrialised locations have come to be used
for fish farming and shipbuilding.
As late as 2000, some of the world's largest coral reefs were discovered along the bottoms of the Norwegian fjords.
These reefs were found in fjords all the way from the north of Norway to the south. The marine life on the reefs is believed to
be one of the most important reasons why the Norwegian coastline is such a generous fishing ground. Since this discovery is
fairly new, little research has yet been done. So far, only the deep sea diver who discovered the first reef at 60 meters has
visited it, and even he has only been down three times. The reefs are host to thousands of lifeforms such as plankton, coral,
anemonies, fish, several species of sharks, and many more one would expect to find on a reef. However most are specially adapted
to life under the greater pressure of the water column above it, and the total darkness of the deep sea.
New Zealand's fiords are also host to deep sea corals, but a surface layer of dark fresh water allows these corals to grow in
much shallower water than usual. An underwater observatory in Milford
Sound allows tourists to view them without diving.
Locations
Fjords are found all along the coast of:
The longest fjords in the world are:
- Scoresby Sund on Greenland, (350 km)
- Sognefjord in Norway (203 km)
- Hardangerfjord in Norway (179 km)
The long fjord-like bays of the New England coast are sometimes referred
to as "fiards".
The Lim bay in Istria, Croatia, is sometimes called "Lim fjord" although it's not actually a fjord created by glaciation but instead
an estuary created by the erosive forces of the river Pazinčica.
Linguistic notes
The word fjord comes from the Scandinavian
languages, and is cognate to firth. In Scandinavia, fjord is used for narrow
inlets in Norway, Denmark and western
Sweden, whereas the name Fjärd is used in a synonymous manner for narrow
inlets on Sweden's Baltic Sea coast, and in most Swedish lakes. This latter
term is also used for bodies of water off the coast of Finland where Swedish is spoken. Note that the uses for the words
fjord and especially for the eastern form fjärd are more general in the Scandinavian languages, than in English. Fjord in the English sense is taken from a type
of fjord found in Norway and in parts of Sweden.
Fjords in literature and popular culture
External links
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