It is best known for the presence of hundreds of pillars of the metastable mineral ikaite, which was named after the fjord, and is found in Ikka in dramatic formations unknown to exist elsewhere.

[1][2] Local legend held that the tufa columns of the fjord were the remains of drowned Norsemen who had fallen through the ice, and who had been standing on the bottom ever since.

[2] Ikka Fjord was first scientifically investigated in collaboration between Arctic researchers and Danish Navy frogmen stationed in Grønnedal in 1962.

[1] Ikka Fjord is the remains of a narrow glacial valley, and is flanked by cliffs 500 meters (1,600 ft) tall composed of gneiss from the Precambrian.

A resulting chemical reaction then produces the tufa pillars, which are further fortified by coralline red algae of the genera Lithothamnion and Clathromorphum encrusting the bases.