Akuliarusiarsuup Kuua is a river

River

A river is a natural watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, a lake, a sea, or another river. In a few cases, a river simply flows into the ground or dries up completely before reaching another body of water. Small rivers may also be called by several other names, including...

 and valley

Valley

In geology, a valley or dale is a depression with predominant extent in one direction. A very deep river valley may be called a canyon or gorge.The terms U-shaped and V-shaped are descriptive terms of geography to characterize the form of valleys...

 of the same name in the Qeqqata

Qeqqata

Qeqqata is a new municipality in western Greenland, operational from 1 January 2009. The municipality was named after its location in central-western part of the country. Its population is 9,677 as of January 2010. The administrative center of the municipality is in Sisimiut...

 municipality in central-western Greenland

Greenland

Greenland is an autonomous country within the Kingdom of Denmark, located between the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Though physiographically a part of the continent of North America, Greenland has been politically and culturally associated with Europe for...

. Its source is the meltwater outflow from Russell Glacier

Russell Glacier

Russell Glacier is a glacier in the Qeqqata municipality in central-western Greenland. It flows from the Greenland ice sheet in the western direction. The front of the glacier is located east of Kangerlussuaq...

, an outflow of the Greenland ice sheet

Greenland ice sheet

The Greenland ice sheet is a vast body of ice covering , roughly 80% of the surface of Greenland. It is the second largest ice body in the world, after the Antarctic Ice Sheet. The ice sheet is almost long in a north-south direction, and its greatest width is at a latitude of 77°N, near its...

. The river is a tributary of Qinnguata Kuussua

Qinnguata Kuussua

Qinnguata Kuussua is a river in a valley of the same name in the Qeqqata municipality in central-western Greenland. Its source is a large meltwater outflow from Russell Glacier flowing from the Greenland Ice Sheet. It is the main river in the Kangerlussuaq area. For most of its run, the river is...

, the main river in the Kangerlussuaq area. For most of its run, the river flows very slowly through the sandur

Sandur

A sandur is a glacial outwash plain formed of sediments deposited by meltwater at the terminus of a glacier.- Formation :Sandar are found in glaciated areas, such as Svalbard, Kerguelen Islands, and Iceland...

 basin of the valley, forming meanders

Meander

A meander in general is a bend in a sinuous watercourse. A meander is formed when the moving water in a stream erodes the outer banks and widens its valley. A stream of any volume may assume a meandering course, alternately eroding sediments from the outside of a bend and depositing them on the...

 amongst large fields of glacial silt

Silt

Silt is granular material of a size somewhere between sand and clay whose mineral origin is quartz and feldspar. Silt may occur as a soil or as suspended sediment in a surface water body...

 quicksand

Quicksand

Quicksand is a colloid hydrogel consisting of fine granular matter , clay, and water.Water circulation underground can focus in an area with the optimal mixture of fine sands and other materials such as clay. The water moves up and then down slowly in a convection-like manner throughout a column...

. The climate is polar continental

Polar climate

Regions with a polar climate are characterized by a lack of warm summers . Regions with polar climate cover over 20% of the Earth. The sun shines 24 hours in the summer, and barely ever shines at all in the winter...

, with the area receiving very little rainfall.

Geography

Several meltwater

Meltwater

Meltwater is the water released by the melting of snow or ice, including glacial ice and ice shelfs over oceans. Meltwater is often found in the ablation zone of glaciers, where the rate of snow cover is reducing...

 outflow streams from the base of the Russell Glacier (67°05′48"N 50°14′50"W) form the Akuliarusiarsuup Kuua river. The valley is 30 km (18.6 mi) long, oriented east-north-east to west-south-west. From the north it is bounded by a low-lying (300-400m) ridge − part of the Kangaamiut dike swarm − separating it from large glacial lakes of Aajuitsup Tasia

Aajuitsup Tasia

Aajuitsup Tasia is a large lake in central-western Greenland, in the Qeqqata municipality. It is located approximately northeast of Kangerlussuaq. It is of elongated oval shape, with its western shore at and its eastern shore at...

 and Sanningasoq

Sanningasoq

Sanningasoq is a large oligotrophic twin lake in central-western Greenland, in the Qeqqata municipality. It is located approximately northeast of Kangerlussuaq. It is characteristic in that it is composed of two lakes connected via a narrow water passage through a broken isthmus...

. On the southern side the boundary is formed by an exposed, barren, and flattened ridge

Ridge

A ridge is a geological feature consisting of a chain of mountains or hills that form a continuous elevated crest for some distance. Ridges are usually termed hills or mountains as well, depending on size. There are several main types of ridges:...

 of Akuliarusiarsuk.

The lower part of the valley narrows down in the gorge between Akuliarusiarsuk ridge in the south and lone-standing Sugar Loaf mountain in the north, forming waterfalls. In the immediate vicinity of Kangerlussuaq

Kangerlussuaq

Kangerlussuaq is a settlement in western Greenland in the Qeqqata municipality, located at the head of a fjord of the same name. It is Greenland's main air transport hub, being the site of Greenland's largest commercial airport....

 at approximately 67°01′10"N 50°39′20"W the river empties into a larger river, Qinnguata Kuussua, again amongst wide fields of quicksands. The narrow estuary of the latter at the end of Kangerlussuaq Fjord

Kangerlussuaq Fjord

Kangerlussuaq Fjord is a long fjord in the Qeqqata municipality in central-western Greenland. The fjord is long and between and wide, flowing from the estuary of Qinnguata Kuussua river to the southwest, and emptying into Davis Strait...

 was referred to as Watson River during American occupation of the Bluie West Eight air base at what is today Kangerlussuaq.