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21-801: Narsarsuaq is located within the Eastern Settlement of the Greenlandic Norse ; the Brattahlíð farm of Erik the Red established in 985 was located on the opposite bank of Tunulliarfik Fjord , where the modern settlement of Qassiarsuk is situated. In 1941 the United States built an air base at Narsarsuaq code-named Bluie West One (BW1). ( Bluie was the Allied military code name for Greenland.) Thousands of planes used BW1 as

42-605: A moderate amount of precipitation per year (which could also be considered quite high by Greenlandic standards). Due to the fair climatic conditions, Narsarsuaq is the site of Greenland's only botanical garden, the "Greenlandic Arboretum". On the lower slopes of the Mellemlandet ridge, close to Narsarsuaq Airport, there is a unique 'botanical garden of the Arctic', called the Greenlandic Arboretum . The goal

63-512: A sea port where passenger boats and cruise ships can moor. It is located 2.4 kilometres (1.5 mi) south of the terminal building, so bus transfers are arranged. A 26 kilometres (16 mi) gravel road is maintained between Qassiarsuk and Narsarsuaq around the fjord. It has two river crossings without bridges but off-road vehicles ford them, although boat is also used. There is also a regular boat service to Qaqortoq , 85 kilometres (53 mi; 46 nmi), almost hours. The population of

84-523: A spiral around the branch and needles on older wood borne in clusters of 15-40 needles on short spurs. It is most easily distinguished from the closely related European larch by the shoots being downy (hairless in European larch). The leaves are needle-like, light green, 2–5 cm long, and turn bright yellow before they fall in the autumn, leaving the pale yellow-buff shoots bare until the next spring. The male and female cones are borne separately on

105-612: A stepping stone on their way from the aircraft factories in North America to the battlegrounds of Europe. A 600-bed hospital was built in order to deal with casualties from the Normandy landings . After the end of the war, BW1 continued to be developed, and was a major hospital site during the Korean War , with the military hospital expanded to 1,000 beds. However, it was rendered surplus by the advent of mid-air refueling and

126-430: A trunk up to 1 m diameter. The crown is conic when young, becoming broad with age; the main branches are level to upswept, with the side branches often pendulous. The shoots are dimorphic, with growth divided into long shoots (typically 10–50 cm long) and bearing several buds , and short shoots only 1–2 mm long with only a single bud. It has bimorphic needles, with needles on new growth borne singly and arranged in

147-411: Is due to several factors. Its geographical position is extremely sheltered from harsh subpolar winds by multiple layers of tall mountains to the west, and there is a heavy oceanic influence that results in a rather stable and steady amount of precipitation year-round. The oceanic influence can be observed in the occasional Atlantic storms that often pound the region (resulting in a fairly wet climate) and

168-856: Is no sign of a conflagration. Other explanations have also been offered, including soil erosion due to overgrazing and the effects of the Black Death . Major parts of the Eastern Settlement, including Brattahlíð , the homestead of Erik the Red , were included on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2017 as Kujataa Greenland: Norse and Inuit Farming at the Edge of the Ice Cap . 61°00′N 45°25′W  /  61.000°N 45.417°W  / 61.000; -45.417 Larix sibirica Larix sibirica ,

189-602: Is to establish a live collection of trees and bushes native to both the arctic and the alpine tree-lines of the entire Northern Hemisphere. Founded in 1988, it encompasses 15 hectares and it shelters 110 plant species, mostly varieties of boreal taiga trees, such as Siberian larch , lodgepole pine , white spruce , Sitka spruce , and various bushes. Many individual trees are tagged or otherwise marked. The plantation currently has more than 50,000 trees of various provenances. Eastern Settlement The Eastern Settlement ( Old Norse : Eystribygð [ˈœystreˌbyɣð] )

210-617: The Siberian larch or Russian larch , is a frost-hardy tree native to western Russia , from close to the Finnish border east to the Yenisei valley in central Siberia , where it hybridises with the Dahurian larch L. gmelinii of eastern Siberia; the hybrid is known as Larix × czekanowskii . It is a medium-size to large deciduous coniferous tree reaching 20–50 m tall , with

231-532: The Eastern Settlement was more south than east of its companion and, like the Western Settlement, was located on the southwestern tip of Greenland at the head of long fjords such as Tunulliarfik Fjord or Eiriksfjord, Igaliku or Einarsfjord, and Sermilik Fjord . Approximately 500 groups of ruins of Norse farms are found in the area, with 16 church ruins, including Brattahlíð , Dyrnæs , Garðar , Hvalsey and Herjolfsnes . The Vatnahverfi district to

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252-660: The Norse settlements has found that fishing played an increasing role towards the end of the settlement's life. While the diet of the first settlers consisted of 80% agricultural products and 20% marine food, from the 14th century the Greenland Norsemen had 50–80% of their diet from the sea. In the Greenlandic Inuit oral tradition , there is a legend about why the Norse population of Hvalsey died out and why their houses and churches are in ruins. According to

273-559: The construction of the larger Thule Air Base in northern Greenland. In 1951, it was agreed that Denmark and the United States would jointly oversee the airbase. Although it closed in 1958, it was reopened the following year by the Danish government after the loss of the vessel Hans Hedtoft and all crew south off Cape Farewell . The hospital was destroyed by a fire in 1972, although the ruins remain. Narsarsuaq Airport serves as

294-571: The legend, the reason was a blood feud between local Norse chieftain Ungortoq and a young but determined Inuit warrior named K'aissape. In revenge for Ungortoq's slaying of his younger brother, Inuit warriors under K'aissape approached Hvalsey by sea while disguised as an iceberg and then burned down the Norse settlers inside their houses, but Ungortoq escaped with his family. K'aissape finally hunted down and slew Ungortoq and his whole family near Cape Farewell . According to archaeological studies, there

315-429: The northern United States to a limited extent, first cultivated there in 1806. It was also introduced to Iceland and Greenland. It is faster-growing than many other coniferous trees in cold regions, but requires full sunlight. When grown in plantations it should be kept widely spaced, and intensive thinning is required. Resin of siberian larch (as well as of siberian cedar ) is used as a natural chewing gum , which

336-720: The principal airfield in southwestern Greenland, with seasonal international flights from Iceland operated by Icelandair . It has also commuter helicopter flights from communities of southern Greenland operated by Air Greenland. Small planes crossing the Atlantic sometimes replicate the North Atlantic Ferry Route, stopping at Narsarsuaq Airport and other World War II airfields, including Goose Bay, Newfoundland in Canada and Reykjavík in Iceland. Narsarsuaq has

357-478: The same tree; pollination is in early spring. The male cones are solitary, yellow, globose to oblong, 4–8 mm diameter, and produce wingless pollen. The mature female cones are erect, ovoid-conic, 2–5 cm long, with 30-70 erect or slightly incurved (not reflexed) and downy seed scales; they are green variably flushed red when immature, turning brown and opening to release the winged seeds when mature, 4–6 months after pollination. The old cones commonly remain on

378-474: The settlement is strictly tied to the traffic dynamics at the local airport. Narsarsuaq experiences boundary subarctic climate ( Köppen : Dfc ), which with a 1.1 °C (1.98 °F) margin escapes being classified as polar climate that is typical for the rest of Greenland. Despite its rather chilly temperatures, Narsarsuaq is one of the few places in Greenland with abundant naturally growing trees. This

399-504: The southeast of Einarsfjord had some of the best pastoral land in the colony, and boasted 10% of all the known farm sites in the Eastern Settlement. The economy of the medieval Norse settlements was based on livestock farming – mainly sheep and cattle, with some seal hunting. A Little Ice Age in the 14th century may have increased the demand for winter fodder and at the same time decreased productivity of hay meadows . Isotope analysis of bones excavated at archaeological investigations in

420-609: The tree for many years, turning dull grey-black. The minimum seed-bearing age is 10–15 years. Because of its rot resistance, larch wood is especially valuable for posts, poles, railroad tie sleepers , and mine props . It is also used in many velodromes around the world as the track surface including the Manchester Velodrome and the Velodrome Krylatskoye in Moscow . It is grown in Canada and

441-482: Was the first and by far the larger of the two main areas of Norse Greenland , settled c.  AD 985  – c.  AD 1000 by Norsemen from Iceland . At its peak, it contained approximately 4,000 inhabitants. The last written record from the Eastern Settlement is of a wedding in Hvalsey in 1408, placing it about 50–100 years later than the end of the more northerly Western Settlement . Despite its name,

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