Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jul 22, 2026

Murchison Sound

The Murchison Sound is a sound in the Avannaata municipality, NW Greenland. It was named after Scottish geologist Roderick Murchison.

Last revised
Jul 22, 2026
Read time
≈ 1 min
Length
227 w
Citations
3
Source
Murchison Sound
Uummannaq
Murchison Sound
Location within Greenland
LocationNW Greenland
Coordinates77°20′N 71°30′W / 77.333°N 71.500°W / 77.333; -71.500
Part ofArctic Ocean
Ocean/sea sources
Baffin Bay
Inglefield Gulf
Basin countriesGreenland
Max. length50 km (31 mi)
Max. width14 km (8.7 mi)
FrozenMost of the year
IslandsKiatak (Northumberland Island) and Qeqertarsuaq (Herbert Island)

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).

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 source ↗
19th century map of the Inglefield Gulf. source ↗
References

References

  1. GoogleEarth
  2. "Inglefield Bredning". Mapcarta. Retrieved 15 May 2019.
  3. Prostar Sailing Directions 2005 Greenland and Iceland Enroute, p. 88
External links