fjord

fjord or fiord (fyôrd), steep-sided inlet of the sea characteristic of glaciated regions. Fjords probably resulted from the scouring by glaciers of valleys formed by any of several processes, including faulting and erosion by running water. When the regions occupied by these glaciers subsided, the valleys were drowned by the sea. The fjord coast lines of Norway, Scotland, Greenland, Alaska, British Columbia, S Chile, S New Zealand, and Antarctica are examples. A fjord differs from most estuaries in its sheer, parallel walls, often extending far below the water surface, and in its many branches of similar form. Often shallow at the mouth, fjords are frequently very deep farther inland. Sognafjord (Norway) is 4,000 ft (1,220 m) deep and over 100 mi (160 km) long. Loch Moran, Scotland (1,017 ft/310 m), is a typical fjord but is separated from the sea. Norwegian fjords are noted for their grandeur.

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fjord

 or fiord

Bradshaw Sound, Fiordland, west coast of South Island, New Zealand

(credit: Courtesy of the New Zealand Geological Survey; photograph, T. Ulyatt)

Long, narrow arm of the sea, often extending well inland, that results from marine inundation of a glaciated valley. Many fjords are remarkably deep; it is assumed that the huge glaciers that formed in these valleys were so heavy that they eroded the bottoms of the valleys far below sea level. After the glaciers melted, the waters of the sea invaded the valleys.