The underwater world of Ikka Fjord
in southwestern Greenland is like
no other, for it contains a forest
of remarkable mineral columns growing
on the seabed. Although first described
35 years ago, research began in 1995
determined that the towers are made
of a form of calcium carbonate, called
ikaite.[2]
The Ikka Project is an multinational,
multidisciplinary group studying ikaite
and in particular the remarkable submarine
columns formed from ikaite found growing
on the bed of Ikka Fjord southwest
Greenland. In Ikka Fjord ikaite columns
up to 20m high are found growing over
submarine springs over a 2km stretch
of the fjordbed. Over 700 such columns
have been mapped in Ikka fjord and
this area has been named 'The Ikka
Column Garden' by the Ikka Project.
The Ikka Project is a group of scientists
from a number of institutions, namely:
The Geological Institute, The Botanical
Institute and The Zoological Museum
of the University of Copenhagen, Imperial
College of Science, Technology and
Medicine, London and The School of
Earth and Ocean Sciences, University
of Victoria, BC, Canada.
In Ikka Fjord ikaite precipitation
from a reaction between the water
from submarine springs and seawater
has led to the development of hundreds
of ikaite tufa columns, some of which
which reach heights of up to 20m.
Ikka Fjord and its beautiful ikaite
'Column Garden' has become the focus
of research for a multi-national,
multi-disciplined group of scientists
of The Ikka Project working from a
common base at The Geological Institute,
The University of Copenhagen. In Ikka
fjord ikaite precipitation is favoured
by an ideal spring chemistry and the
physical conditions in the fjord.
The ikaite precipitates from springs
rich in bicarbonate ions reacting
with calcium ions from the seawater
that fills the fjord (Buchardt, et
al. 1997). Calcite, the normal calcium
carbonate mineral expected to form
in such a geological system, is inhibited
from forming by the levels of phosphate
present in the springs and the cold
water environment of the fjord make
conditions favourable for ikaite precipitation.
The submarine spring system is connected
to a carbonatite intrusion that straddles
the fjord and it is the passage of
the groundwater through this complex
that enriches it in the bicarbonate
ions and phosphate required for ikaite
formation. This relationship is clearly
demonstrated by the fact that in Ikka
fjord ikaite columns are only found
within the outcrop of the intrusive
complex.[3]
Hundreds of mysterious
columns grow out of a seabed deep inside
a fjord in southern Greenland. They
are formed by one of the rarest minerals
in earth, ikkait, which is stable only
in cold Arctic water.
