Murchison Sound

The Murchison Sound (Danish: Murchison Sund; Greenlandic: Uummannaq) is a sound in the Avannaata municipality, NW Greenland.^[1] It was named after Scottish geologist Roderick Murchison (1792 – 1871).

Murchison Sound
Uummannaq
Murchison Sound
Location	NW Greenland
Coordinates	77°20′N 71°30′W
Part of	Arctic Ocean
Ocean/sea sources	Baffin Bay Inglefield Gulf
Basin countries	Greenland
Max. length	50 km (31 mi)
Max. width	14 km (8.7 mi)
Frozen	Most of the year
Islands	Kiatak (Northumberland Island) and Qeqertarsuaq (Herbert Island)

Geography

It is a broad channel that runs roughly from northwest to southeast between the mouth of the Inglefield Fjord and Baffin Bay. It is 51.8 km wide between Cape Robertson and Hakluyt Island and its minimum width is 14 km.^[2]

The Murchison Sound separates Prudhoe Land and Piulip Nuna —part of the Greenland mainland— to the north from Kiatak (Northumberland Island) and Qeqertarsuaq (Herbert Island) to the south with Cape Cleveland on the northern shore. On the south side of the islands the Whale Sound leads from the Baffin Bay to the Inglefield Fjord.^[3]

The Robertson Fjord and the MacCormick Fjord have their mouths on the northern side of the sound.

Map of Northwestern Greenland

19th century map of the Inglefield Gulf.