Fjords

Geographically, Fjords are an elongated, thin bay with cliffs or steep sides, formed due to glacial erosion. The word Fjord comes from Icelandic or Norwegian to English, in several cases to mention any extended narrow water body, except the more exact meaning it has in English. There are several fjords on the coastlines of Norway, Greenland, Iceland, Kerguelen Islands, Alaska, British Columbia, Washington, Nunavut, and Chile. The Norwegian meaning of "fjord" mentions any channel or inlet, which varies from that of English.

Creation of fjords

A fjord is created while a glacier incises a U-shaped gorge by means of ice isolation and abrasion of the neighboring bedrock. Glacial thawing is escorted by means of the rebounding of the crust of the earth while the ice load and the worn sediment are detached. In a few cases this rebound is quicker than ocean level increase. Nearly all fjords are profounder than the neighboring ocean. For example, the Norwegian fjord, the Sognefjord, attains as much as 4,265 feet (1,300 m) below sea level. Generally, Fjords have a shoal or a sill at their entrance caused by the condensed corrosion rate and the terminal moraine of the earlier glacier. In several cases this sill results in extreme currents and great saltwater rapids that are drowned valleys swamped by the rising ocean.

Features and distinctions of fjords

A few coral reefs were found along the bottoms of the Norwegian fjords as late as 2000. These reefs were discovered in fjords from the north to the south of Norway. The maritime life on the reefs is supposed to be one among the most significant reasons for the Norwegian coast is such a liberal fishing ground. As this finding is quite new, modest research has been made. The reefs are the horde to thousands of organisms, like plankton, anemones, coral, fish, numerous varieties of shark, etc. Most organisms are specially tailored to life under the great water pressure column over it, and the entire darkness of the ocean.

In a few places close to the seaward margins of regions with fjords, the ice-battered canals are so abundant and assorted in the direction that the rock-strewn coast is split into a number of island blocks, some huge and hilly, whereas other fjords are just rock reefs or rock-strewn points, menacing steering. These fjords are known as Skerries. The word Skerry is originated from the expression Old Norse sker, which denotes a rock in the ocean.

Locations of fjords

The principal hilly regions where fjords have created are in the elevated middle latitudes and the elevated latitudes attaining to 80 degree N, where, during the glacial episode, several valley glaciers moved down towards the then-lower marine level. The fjords build up best in mountain collections against which the current westerly sea winds are orographically lifted above the hilly areas, causing plentiful snowfall to nourish the glaciers. Hence, coastlines that are having the most distinct fjords comprise the North American western coastline from Puget Sound to Alaska, the western coastline of Norway, the west and to southwestern coastlines of South America, and the southwest coastline of New Zealand.