Umivik Bay

Umivik Bay Umiivik
Map of Greenland section showing Umivik Bay
Umivik Bay Location in Greenland
Location	Arctic
Coordinates	64°14′N 40°36′W / 64.233°N 40.600°W / 64.233; -40.600Coordinates: 64°14′N 40°36′W / 64.233°N 40.600°W / 64.233; -40.600
Ocean/sea sources	North Atlantic Ocean
Basin countries	Greenland
Max. length	50 km (31 mi)
Max. width	25 km (16 mi)

Umivik Bay (Danish: Umivik Bugt), also known as Umiivik and Umerik, is a bay in King Frederick VI Coast, southeastern Greenland. It is part of the Sermersooq municipality.

Unlike the jagged and forbidding appearance of most fjord systems in East Greenland, the Umivik area has a relatively gentle shape. Here the massive Greenland ice sheet comes down to the shore in smooth, even undulations and the landscape looks unbroken, with only few glimpses of bare rock. Owing to this smoothness, Umivik Bay was chosen as launching point for westward overland crossings, including the pioneering 1888 Greenland venture by Fridtjof Nansen.

Umivik Bay is located between the Fridtjof Nansen Peninsula to the north and the Odinland Peninsula to the south. It includes a sound and a fjord and has a few large islands, the largest of which is Upernattivik (Upernarsuak) lying squarely in the middle of the inner part of the bay. Other significant islands in the bay are Treflodigheden, Terne Island and Tre Lover in the inner bay, as well as Pikiitsi further east off the shore. The innermost part of the bay, by the terminus of the glaciers is known as Qíngua.

The northern side of the bay includes three sounds, the Dietrichson Sound between Treflodigheden and the mainland, the Torsukattak Sound between Upernattivik and the mainland —both about 800 metres (2,625 feet) wide, and the Sverdrup Sound between both islands. At the bay's northeastern end there is the small Jensen Bay, as well as numerous islets and rocks with intricate channels.

The Umiiviip Kangertiva (Gyldenløve Fjord) is located on the southern side of the bay, between Upernattivik and the mainland shore and Vikingevig is a small bay in the fjord, in the northern shore of Odinland. Umivik Bay's mouth is located between Cape Colberger Helde and Cape Lovelorn in the Denmark Strait area of the Atlantic Ocean.