Torsuut Tunoq
Encyclopedia
Torsuut Tunoq is a sound
Sound (geography)
In geography a sound or seaway is a large sea or ocean inlet larger than a bay, deeper than a bight and wider than a fjord; or it may be defined as a narrow sea or ocean channel between two bodies of land ....

 on the southeastern coast of 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...

. It is an inner waterway of the North Atlantic.

Geography

The sound separates Kulusuk Island
Kulusuk Island
Kulusuk Island is an island in the Sermersooq municipality on the southeastern shore of Greenland. It is an outlying island in the Ammassalik archipelago of islands on the coast of the North Atlantic. The island is home to Kulusuk, the fourth-largest settlement on the entire eastern coast of...

 in the south from Apusiaajik Island
Apusiaajik Island
Apusiaajik Island is an uninhabited island in the Sermersooq municipality on the southeastern shore of Greenland. It is an outlying island in the Ammassalik archipelago of islands on the coast of the North Atlantic....

 in the northeast, and from the small Akinaaq island and smaller skerries
Skerry
A skerry is a small rocky island, usually defined to be too small for habitation. It may simply be a rocky reef. A skerry can also be called a low sea stack....

 in the northwest. The strait waterway connects Ammassalik Fjord in the northwest with the North Atlantic in the southeast, through the Ikaasaartik Strait
Ikaasaartik Strait
Ikaasaartik Strait is a strait in the Sermersooq municipality, on the southeastern coast of Greenland.- Geography :The strait separates Kulusuk Island in the southwest from Apusiaajik Island in the northeast...

.

During winter pack ice and small iceberg
Iceberg
An iceberg is a large piece of ice from freshwater that has broken off from a snow-formed glacier or ice shelf and is floating in open water. It may subsequently become frozen into pack ice...

s pushed forth by the East Greenland Current
East Greenland Current
The East Greenland Current is a cold, low salinity current that extends from Fram Strait to Cape Farewell . The current is located off the eastern coast of Greenland along the Greenland continental margin. The current cuts through the Nordic Seas and through the Denmark Strait...

 ram against the northeastern coast, blocking the narrow Ikaasaartik Strait and facilitating the freeze of the much wider Torsuut Tunoq sound. The tidewater Apusiaajik Glacier
Apusiaajik Glacier
Apusiaajik Glacier is a tidewater glacier on the uninhabited Apusiaajik Island in the Sermersooq municipality on the southeastern shore of Greenland.- Tourism :...

 drains into the sound in its northernmost part.

Settlement

Kulusuk
Kulusuk
Kulusuk is a settlement in the Sermersooq municipality in southeastern Greenland, located on an island of the same name. The settlement population of 286 is quite uncommon for an Inuit settlement in Greenland with many Danes choosing to live there, due to the airport...

 is the only settlement in the area, located on an island of the same name on the southern coast of the sound.

Transport

The inhabitants of Kulusuk use snowmobile
Snowmobile
A snowmobile, also known in some places as a snowmachine, or sled,is a land vehicle for winter travel on snow. Designed to be operated on snow and ice, they require no road or trail. Design variations enable some machines to operate in deep snow or forests; most are used on open terrain, including...

s and traditional dogsleds
Dog sled
A dog sled is a sled pulled by one or more sled dogs used to travel over ice and through snow. Numerous types of sleds are used, depending on their function. They can be used for dog sled racing.-History:...

 as additional means of transport during wintertime−families arriving at the Kulusuk Airport
Kulusuk Airport
Kulusuk Airport is an airport in Kulusuk, a settlement on an island of the same name off the shore of the North Atlantic in the Sermersooq municipality in southeastern Greenland.- Airlines and destinations :- Bottlenecks :...

 are ferried to the settlement on both, using the frozen waterway.

In the summer, the cargo boats of Royal Arctic Line
Royal Arctic Line
Royal Arctic Line A/S or Royal Arctic is a freight company in Greenland, formed in 1992 and headquartered in Nuuk. It has 650 employees and is owned by the Government of Greenland...

 connect Kulusuk and Tasiilaq
Tasiilaq
Tasiilaq is a town in the Sermersooq municipality in southeastern Greenland. With 1,930 inhabitants as of 2010, it is the most populous community on the eastern coast, and the seventh-largest town in Greenland...

, providing an ad-hoc alternative for the helicopter flights of Air Greenland
Air Greenland
Air Greenland A/S is the flag carrier airline of Greenland, jointly owned by the government of Greenland, the SAS Group, and the government of Denmark...

. Polar cruises bound for, or returning from the coastal voyages in the Kangertittivaq fjord and the shores of Northeast Greenland National Park
Northeast Greenland National Park
Northeast Greenland National Park is the largest national park in the world, with an area of , making the park larger than 163 countries. It is the only national park in Greenland, and the most northerly national park in the world, its most northerly point reaching slightly further than the most...

often visit the area on their way from/to Tasiilaq, albeit without anchoring in the harbour due to the shallowness of the coastal waters in the sound.
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