Sullorsuaq Strait (old spelling: Suvdlorssuaq , Danish : Vaigat ) is a strait on the western coast of Greenland .
7-455: The strait separates Nuussuaq Peninsula in the northeast from Qeqertarsuaq Island in the southwest. 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
14-513: A deep Kuussuaq Valley , partially filled in the center with Sarqap Tassersuaq , a glacial, emerald lake. The peninsula is administered as part of the Avannaata municipality. The main settlements are Qaarsut and Niaqornat on the northwestern shore, Saqqaq on the southeastern shore, at the foot of the Livets Top mountain (1,150 metres (3,773 ft)), and Qeqertaq on a small island just off
21-450: Is a large (180 by 48 kilometres (112 mi × 30 mi)) peninsula in western Greenland . The waters around the peninsula are that of Baffin Bay . To the south and southwest the peninsula is bounded by Disko Bay , an inlet of Baffin Bay. It is separated from Qeqertarsuaq Island by Sullorsuaq Strait , known in Danish as Vaigat Strait, which connects Disko Bay with Baffin Bay. To
28-517: The confluence with Disko Bay. 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. Archaeological excavations in Qilakitsoq on
35-477: The northeast, it is bounded by the Uummannaq Fjord system. The peninsula is mountainous, with the highest summit reaching 2,144 metres (7,034 ft). The spinal range splits in two to the northwest of the base of the peninsula, with the southern arm forming the coastal range, the central arm almost entirely glaciated, and continuing northwest the entire length of the peninsula. The two arms are dissected by
42-725: 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. Major landslides have struck Sullorsuaq Strait since prehistoric times, sometimes generating tsunamis or megatsunamis : 70°12′N 53°00′W / 70.200°N 53.000°W / 70.200; -53.000 Nuussuaq Peninsula Nuussuaq Peninsula ( Greenlandic pronunciation: [nuːsːuɑq] , old spelling: Nûgssuaq )
49-507: The southern shore, at the base of the peninsula. Archaeological excavations in Qilakitsoq on the southwestern shore revealed the existence of an ancient Arctic culture later named the Saqqaq culture that inhabited the area of west-central Greenland between 2500 BCE and 800 BCE. The world's largest fossil mollusk, Inoceramus steenstrup , was found in 1952 in Qilakitsoq Valley on the peninsula. Major landslides have occurred along
#558441