Sanningasoq is a large oligotroph

Oligotroph

An oligotroph is an organism that can live in an environment that offers very low levels of nutrients. They may be contrasted with copiotrophs, which prefer nutritionally rich environments...

ic twin lake

Lake

A lake is a body of relatively still fresh or salt water of considerable size, localized in a basin, that is surrounded by land. Lakes are inland and not part of the ocean and therefore are distinct from lagoons, and are larger and deeper than ponds. Lakes can be contrasted with rivers or streams,...

 in central-western Greenland

Greenland

Greenland is an autonomous country within the Kingdom of Denmark, located between the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Though physiographically a part of the continent of North America, Greenland has been politically and culturally associated with Europe for...

, in the Qeqqata

Qeqqata

Qeqqata is a new municipality in western Greenland, operational from 1 January 2009. The municipality was named after its location in central-western part of the country. Its population is 9,677 as of January 2010. The administrative center of the municipality is in Sisimiut...

 municipality. It is located approximately 9 km (5.6 mi) northeast of Kangerlussuaq

Kangerlussuaq

Kangerlussuaq is a settlement in western Greenland in the Qeqqata municipality, located at the head of a fjord of the same name. It is Greenland's main air transport hub, being the site of Greenland's largest commercial airport....

. It is characteristic in that it is composed of two lakes connected via a narrow water passage through a broken isthmus

Isthmus

An isthmus is a narrow strip of land connecting two larger land areas usually with waterforms on either side.Canals are often built through isthmuses where they may be particularly advantageous to create a shortcut for marine transportation...

. Its northwestern shore is at 67°05′15"N 50°39′50"W and its southeastern shore at 67°04′00"N 50°28′53"W.

Geography

The 2x10 km twin lake is separated from the Akuliarusiarsuup Kuua

Akuliarusiarsuup Kuua

Akuliarusiarsuup Kuua is a river and valley of the same name in the Qeqqata municipality in central-western Greenland. Its source is the meltwater outflow from Russell Glacier, an outflow of the Greenland ice sheet. The river is a tributary of Qinnguata Kuussua, the main river in the Kangerlussuaq...

 valley and Kangerlussuaq in the south by a low tundra

Tundra

In physical geography, tundra is a biome where the tree growth is hindered by low temperatures and short growing seasons. The term tundra comes through Russian тундра from the Kildin Sami word tūndâr "uplands," "treeless mountain tract." There are three types of tundra: Arctic tundra, alpine...

 ridge − part of the Kangaamiut dike swarm. To the east lies a sibling Aajuitsup Tasia

Aajuitsup Tasia

Aajuitsup Tasia is a large lake in central-western Greenland, in the Qeqqata municipality. It is located approximately northeast of Kangerlussuaq. It is of elongated oval shape, with its western shore at and its eastern shore at...

 lake, separated from Sanningasoq by a low marshland itshmus of little relief. To the north-east lies the 549 m (1,801.2 ft) Maniitsoq hill in the wide highland of Isunngua

Isunngua

Isunngua is a highland in the Qeqqata municipality in central-western Greenland, located immediately west of the Greenland Ice Sheet edge. In large part it is covered by the tundra, although in the immediate vicinity of the Sermersuaq ice sheet it gradually becomes exposed, barren, and largely...

. The wide Tarajornitsut

Tarajornitsut

Tarajornitsut is an uninhabited tundra highland in the Qeqqata municipality in central-western Greenland, within the bounds of Kangaamiut dike swarm. The highland has many lakes, shallow valleys, hills, and wetlands, with plentiful wildlife, such as arctic geese. It is also a major calving ground...

 tundra highland lies to the west of the lake.

The surface of Sanningasoq is almost level with the surface of the neighboring Aajuitsup Tasia, both being in the ancient outflow path of Russell Glacier

Russell Glacier

Russell Glacier is a glacier in the Qeqqata municipality in central-western Greenland. It flows from the Greenland ice sheet in the western direction. The front of the glacier is located east of Kangerlussuaq...

, and by extension, Sermersuaq, the Greenland Ice Sheet

Greenland ice sheet

The Greenland ice sheet is a vast body of ice covering , roughly 80% of the surface of Greenland. It is the second largest ice body in the world, after the Antarctic Ice Sheet. The ice sheet is almost long in a north-south direction, and its greatest width is at a latitude of 77°N, near its...

. The local depression part of which is occupied by the lake continues for several dozen kilometers in the west-north-western direction towards Sarfannguit

Sarfannguit

Sarfannguit is a settlement in the Qeqqata municipality in central-western Greenland. Its population is 126 as of 2010...

 and Sisimiut

Sisimiut

Sisimiut is a town in central-western Greenland, located on the coast of Davis Strait, approximately north of Nuuk. It is the administrative center of the Qeqqata Municipality and the second-largest town in Greenland, with a population of 5,460 people as of 2010. The site of the present-day town...

.

External links

• Underwater photography in the sibling Aajuitsup Tasia at Tropica Aquarium Plants