伊路利萨特冰湾位于格陵兰岛西岸，北极圈以北约250公里。该冰湾是少数几个通过格陵兰冰冠入海的冰河（SermeqKujalleq）出海口之一，也是世上最活跃的冰川之一。它以每年35000立方米的速度增长，也就是相当于每年增长所有格陵兰岛冰的10%，比南极洲以外的任何其他冰河都多。巨大的冰床和迅速移动的冰川发出独特的声音，又被冰山所覆盖，形成一个令人敬畏的自然现象。
Brief Description
Located on the west coast of Greenland, 250-km north of the Arctic Circle,
Greenland’s Ilulissat Icefjord (40,240-ha) is the sea mouth of Sermeq
Kujalleq, one of the few glaciers through which the Greenland ice cap
reaches the sea. Sermeq Kujalleq is one of the fastest (19-m per day)
and most active glaciers in the world. Its annual calving of over 35
cubic kilometres of ice, i.e. 10% of the production of all Greenland
calf ice and more than any other glacier outside Antarctica. Studied
for over 250 years, it has helped develop our understanding of climate
change and icecap glaciology. The combination of a huge ice-sheet and
the dramatic sounds of a fast-moving glacial ice-stream calving into
a fjord covered by icebergs makes for a dramatic and awe-inspiring natural
phenomenon.
Justification for Inscription
Criterion (i): The Ilulissat Icefjord is an outstanding example of a stage in the Earth’s history: the last ice age of the Quaternary Period. The ice-stream is one of the fastest (19m per day) and most active in the world. Its annual calving of over 35 cu. km of ice accounts for 10% of the production of all Greenland calf ice, more than any other glacier outside Antarctica. The glacier has been the object of scientific attention for 250 years and, along with its relative ease of accessibility, has significantly added to the understanding of ice-cap glaciology, climate change and related geomorphic processes.
Criterion (iii): The combination of a huge ice sheet and a fast moving
glacial ice-stream calving into a fjord covered by icebergs is a phenomenon
only seen in Greenland and Antarctica. Ilulissat offers both scientists
and visitors easy access for close view of the calving glacier front
as it cascades down from the ice sheet and into the ice-choked fjord.
The wild and highly scenic combination of rock, ice and sea, along with
the dramatic sounds produced by the moving ice, combine to present a
memorable natural spectacle.