Majorqaq
Encyclopedia
Majorqaq is a 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...

 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...

. It is one of the widest rivers in western Greenland, draining 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...

.

Geography

Majorqaq is approximately 71 km (44.1 mi) long. The river source at 65°41′30"N 50°32′00"W is an outflow glacier draining the Greenland ice sheet, in the far inland region of the country. Majorqaq retains approximately the same width for the entire length of the river flow, from its source to its large delta, carrying large quantities 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...

. The river flow is variable, with large patches of 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...

s across its entire length, particularly near the delta. The river empties into Isortoq Fjord
Isortoq Fjord
Isortoq Fjord is a fjord in the Qeqqata municipality in western Greenland. The fjord to the east of Maniitsoq, emptying into Davis Strait. Majorqaq, one of the widest rivers in western Greenland draining the Greenland ice sheet, empties into the fjord head....

 at 65°35′30"N 51°54′00"W.

Hunting

While the water from the river is not drinkable due to silt, the highland region around the river is used for game hunting. Due to considerable isolation of the region near the ice sheet, there is a large number of reindeer
Reindeer
The reindeer , also known as the caribou in North America, is a deer from the Arctic and Subarctic, including both resident and migratory populations. While overall widespread and numerous, some of its subspecies are rare and one has already gone extinct.Reindeer vary considerably in color and size...

 and muskox in the region.

Hydropower

There are advanced plans for the Alcoa
Alcoa
Alcoa Inc. is the world's third largest producer of aluminum, behind Rio Tinto Alcan and Rusal. From its operational headquarters in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Alcoa conducts operations in 31 countries...

 aluminium smelting
Aluminium smelting
Aluminium smelting is the process of extracting aluminium from its oxide alumina, generally by the Hall-Héroult process. Alumina is extracted from the ore Bauxite by means of the Bayer process at an alumina refinery....

 plant 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. Maniitsoq
Maniitsoq
Maniitsoq is a town in the Qeqqata municipality in western Greenland. With 2,784 inhabitants as of 2010, it is the sixth-largest town in Greenland...

, the second-largest town in the municipality, is one of the proposed locations, alongside the municipal center in Sisimiut
Sisimiut
Sisimiut is a town in central-western Greenland, located on the coast of Davis Strait, approximately north of Nuuk. It is the administrative center of the Qeqqata Municipality and the second-largest town in Greenland, with a population of 5,460 people as of 2010. The site of the present-day town...

. The plant would provide employment for 600–700 people, or more than 10 percent of the population. As it is a vital decision for the town, wide public consultations were carried out in 2008–2010 by both the town authorities and the Government of Greenland in order to address potential environmental and social concerns.

A hydroelectric power plant at the river source would yield an estimated energy output of 1,000 gigawatts per year. Combined with the second plant near Kangerlussuatsiaq Fjord
Kangerlussuatsiaq Fjord
Kangerlussuatsiaq Fjord is a fjord in the Qeqqata municipality in western Greenland. Taking its source in the tidewater glaciers draining the Maniitsoq ice sheet, the fjord flows in a deep canyon through a mountainous, uninhabited region, emptying into Davis Strait near the settlement of...

with 3,170 gigawatts per year, the energy would be sufficient to power the aluminium plant near Maniitsoq. The ultimate decision as to the location of the plant has not yet been taken.
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