A fjord is a long, deep, narrow body the water the reaches much inland. Fjords room often collection in a U-shaped valley with steep walls of absent on either side.
Fjords are uncovered mainly in Norway, Chile, new Zealand, Canada, Greenland, and also the U.S. State the Alaska. Sognefjorden, a fjord in Norway, is an ext than 160 kilometers (nearly 100 miles) long.Fjords were produced by glaciers. In the Earth"s last ice age, glaciers covered just about everything. Glaciers move very slowly over time, and can greatly alter the landscape as soon as they have actually moved through an area. This process is referred to as glaciation.Glaciation carves deep valleys. This is why fjords have the right to be countless meters deep. Fjords room usually deepest furthermore inland, where the glacial pressure was strongest. Some attributes of fjords incorporate coral reefs and also rocky islands dubbed skerries.Some of the biggest coral reefs are discovered at the bottom the fjords in Norway. Lock are residence to several species of fish, plankton and also sea anemones. Part coral reefs are also found in new Zealand. Scientists know much less around these deep, cold-water reefs than they do about tropical coral reefs. However they have actually learned that the living points in cold-water reefs prefer total darkness. Organisms in cold-water reefs have also adapted to life under high pressure. In ~ the bottom that a fjord, the water pressure deserve to be hundreds or also thousands that kilograms per square meter. Couple of organisms deserve to survive in this cold, dark habitat.Skerries are additionally found about fjords. A skerry is a small, rocky island created through glaciation. Many of the Scandinavian shore is reduced into thousands of tiny blocks that land. These jagged bits of coast are skerries. The U.S. States of Washington and Alaska additionally have skerries.Even though skerries can be tough to get around in a boat, fjords are normally calm and also protected. This provides them renowned harbors for ships.