The Innuitian Mountains are a mountain range in Nunavut and the Northwest Territories , Canada. They are part of the Arctic Cordillera and are largely unexplored, due to the hostile climate. They are named after the northern indigenous people, the Inuit . In some locations the Innuitian Mountains measure over 2,500 m (8,202 ft) in height, and 1,290 km (802 mi) in length. The highest point is Barbeau Peak on Ellesmere Island at 2,616 m (8,583 ft). There are no trees and minimal wildlife in the Innuitian Mountains due to the harsh cold climate as well as being located north of the Arctic tree line . This region is mostly barren with vast areas of permafrost . There are metallic mineral resources including iron and zinc and fossil fuel resources such as coal .
4-682: The Innuitian Mountains consist of numerous smaller mountain ranges. Some of these are the British Empire Range , the Princess Margaret Range and the United States Range , which is the world's second most northerly mountain range after the Challenger Mountains . The Innuitian Mountains were first seen by European explorers in 1882 by the explorer Adolphus Greely from Lake Hazen . The Innuitian Mountains' present form
8-504: The cost of developing such a remote region while cheaper alternatives are available elsewhere. The amount of resources in the Arctic Region is estimated to have 13% of all the world's oil and 30% of the world's gas reserves. British Empire Range The British Empire Range is a mountain range on Ellesmere Island in Nunavut , Canada. The range is one of the most northern ranges in
12-588: The world and the Arctic Cordillera , surpassed only by the Challenger Mountains which lies immediately to the northwest and the United States Range slightly further east. The highest mountain in the range is Barbeau Peak . The range was named by Gordon Noel Humphreys during the Oxford University Ellesmere Land Expedition . Edward Shackleton , also a member of the party, claimed, in 1937, that Humphreys had done so because he
16-812: Was shaped during the Innuitian orogeny in the middle of the Mesozoic Era when the North American Plate moved northward. The Innuitian Mountains contain igneous and metamorphic rocks , but for the most part are composed of sedimentary rock . They are younger than the Appalachians , so erosion has not yet rounded them significantly. The Innuitian Mountains resemble the Appalachian Mountains in composition and contain similar types of minerals . The mineral resources have not been greatly exploited, due to
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