Misplaced Pages

#835164

79-641: The waters around the peninsula are that of Baffin Bay . To the south and southwest the peninsula is bounded by Disko Bay , an inlet of Baffin Bay. It is separated from Qeqertarsuaq Island by Sullorsuaq Strait , known in Danish as Vaigat Strait, which connects Disko Bay with Baffin Bay. To the northeast, it is bounded by the Uummannaq Fjord system. The peninsula is mountainous, with the highest summit reaching 2,144 metres (7,034 ft). The spinal range splits in two to

158-413: A boreal forest have been reported from Strathcona Fiord . In 2006, University of Chicago paleontologist Neil Shubin and Academy of Natural Sciences paleontologist Ted Daeschler reported the discovery of the fossil of a Paleozoic (ca. 375 Ma) fish, named Tiktaalik roseae , in the former stream beds of Ellesmere Island. The fossil exhibits many characteristics of fish, but also indicates

237-457: A transitional creature that may be a predecessor of amphibians , reptiles , birds, and mammals , including humans. In 2011, Jason P. Downs and co-authors described the sarcopterygian Laccognathus embryi from specimens collected from the same locality that Tiktaalik was found. The ecosystems of the High Arctic are considered to be young and underdeveloped, having only emerged since

316-661: A 42% loss in surface area. Schei and later Alfred Gabriel Nathorst described the Paleocene - Eocene (ca. 55 Ma) fossil forest in the Stenkul Fiord sediments. The Stenkul Fiord site represents a series of deltaic swamp and floodplain forests. The trees stood for at least 400 years. Individual stumps and stems of >1 m (>3 ft) diameter were abundant, and are identified as Metasequoia and possibly Glyptostrobus . Well preserved Pliocene peats containing abundant vertebrate and plant macrofossils characteristic of

395-543: A Norse trader in the region. The Norse artefacts date from c. 1250 to 1400 CE. Between 1400 and 1600 CE, the Little Ice Age developed and conditions for hunting became increasingly difficult, forcing the Thule to withdraw from Ellesmere and the other northern islands of the archipelago. The Thule who remained in northern Greenland became isolated, specialized at hunting a diminishing number of game animals, and lost

474-464: A massive calving in 1961–1962. Five large ice islands which resulted account for 79% of the calved material. It further decreased by 27% in thickness (13 m (43 ft)) between 1967 and 1999. A 1986 survey of Canadian ice shelves found that 48 km (19 sq mi) or 3.3 km (0.79 cu mi) of ice calved from the Milne and Ayles ice shelves between 1959 and 1974. The breakup of

553-636: A need for mobility to follow the herds. There is evidence at Lake Hazen of a trade network c.  1500–1000 BCE , including soapstone lamps from Greenland and incised lance heads from cultures to the south. The Thule moved into the High Arctic at the time of a warming trend, c. 1000 CE. Their major population centre was the Smith Sound area (on both the Ellesmere and Greenland sides) due to its proximity to polynyas and its position on transportation routes. From settlements at Smith Sound,

632-524: A result of mixing of Arctic and Atlantic waters; their temperature is about −0.5 °C (31.1 °F) and salinity is 34.5 ‰. In winter, 80% of the bay is covered with continuous ice, floating ice and fast ice . In some winters, the continuous ice stretches from shore to shore. The ice is most abundant in March and least in August–September. In summer, drifting ice remains in the central and western parts of

711-520: A town was built at Nanisivik to support lead and zinc production at the Nanisivik Mine —the first Canadian mine in the Arctic. The mine was closed in 2002 due to declining resources and metal prices. Whereas the town still has a functional seaport and an airport, as of the 2006 census , it has an official population of zero. Baffin Bay was the epicenter of a 7.3 magnitude earthquake in 1933 . This

790-655: Is Canada's northernmost and third largest island , and the tenth largest in the world. It comprises an area of 196,236 km (75,767 sq mi), slightly smaller than Great Britain , and the total length of the island is 830 km (520 mi). Lying within the Arctic Archipelago , Ellesmere Island is considered part of the Queen Elizabeth Islands . Cape Columbia at 83°06′41″N 069°57′13″W  /  83.11139°N 69.95361°W  / 83.11139; -69.95361  ( Cape Columbia )

869-404: Is believed that each of the pre-contact peoples who migrated through the High Arctic approached Ellesmere Island from the south and west. They were able to travel along Ellesmere's coasts or overland to Nares Strait, and some of them crossed the strait to populate Greenland. The archaeological record of past Arctic cultures is quite complete, as artefacts deteriorate very slowly. Items exposed to

SECTION 10

#1732855401836

948-438: Is exceeded in this regard only by neighbouring Greenland , which extends about 60 km (37 mi) closer to the north pole. Ellesmere's northernmost point, Cape Columbia (at 83°06′41″N 69°57′13″W  /  83.11139°N 69.95361°W  / 83.11139; -69.95361  ( Cape Columbia ) ), is less than 800 km (500 mi) from the north pole, while its southern coasts at 77°N are well within

1027-533: Is less than 1,000 m (3,300 ft) deep near the coast, where the sea bottom is covered with gravel, crushed stone and sand. In the centre, there is a deep pit called the Baffin Basin , reaching 2,136 m (7,008 ft) (see depth map ), which is mostly covered in silt . Currents form a cyclonic circulation . On the eastern periphery, in summer, the West Greenland Current transports water from

1106-727: Is located in the British Empire Range on Ellesmere Island. The most northern mountain range in the world, the Challenger Mountains , is located in the northeast region of the island. The northern lobe of the island is called Grant Land . The Arctic willow is the only woody species to grow on Ellesmere Island. In July 2007, a study noted the disappearance of habitat for waterfowl , invertebrates , and algae on Ellesmere Island. According to John Smol of Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario , and Marianne S. V. Douglas of

1185-672: Is part of the Franklinian mobile belt, a zone of Cretaceous volcanic and intrusive rock. South of this is the Greely-Hazen Plateau, a large tableland composed of sedimentary and volcanic rocks. Covering most of the island, the coastal sedimentary plateau is a succession of highly eroded sedimentary peaks which are part of the Franklinian Shield with an extension of the Canadian Shield (Precambrian igneous and metamorphic rocks) in

1264-502: Is the journey of Qitlaq, who led a group of Inuit families from Baffin Island to northwestern Greenland, via Ellesmere Island, in the 1850s. This journey reestablished contact between Inuit who had been separated for two centuries and reintroduced vital technologies to the Inughuit. Other groups followed and by the 1870s Inuit were living on Ellesmere Island and had regular contact with those on

1343-454: Is the largest known earthquake north of the Arctic Circle . It caused no damage because of its offshore location and the small number of the nearby onshore communities. The northwestern part of the bay remains one of the most seismically active regions in eastern Canada. Five earthquakes of magnitude 6 have occurred here since 1933. The latest strong earthquake occurred on 15 April 2010 and had

1422-567: Is the largest polynya of the Canadian Arctic and covers the Smith Sound between the Ellesmere Island and Greenland. This polynya has a stable position and existed for at least 9,000 years. It was first described in 1616 by William Baffin and was named North Water by whalers of the 18–19th centuries. The North Water provides air to ice algae and zooplankton and is characterized by abundant fauna. Of about 20,000 beluga whales living in

1501-533: Is the most northerly point of land in Canada and one of the most northern points of land on the planet (the most northerly point of land on Earth is the nearby Kaffeklubben Island of Greenland). The Arctic Cordillera mountain system covers much of Ellesmere Island, making it the most mountainous in the Arctic Archipelago. More than one-fifth of the island is protected as Quttinirpaaq National Park . In 2021,

1580-463: The Bache Peninsula , including pieces of chain mail. It is uncertain if Ellesmere Island was directly visited by Norse Greenlanders who sailed from the south or if the items were traded through a network of middlemen. It is also possible the items may have been taken from a shipwreck. A bronze set of scales discovered in western Ellesmere Island has been interpreted as indicating the presence of

1659-596: The British Arctic Territories were transferred to Canada. Canada did little to solidify its legal possession of the islands until prompted by foreign action in 1902–03: Otto Sverdrup claimed three islands west of Ellesmere for Norway, the Alaska boundary dispute was settled against Canada's interests, and Roald Amundsen set out to sail the Northwest Passage. To establish an official government presence in

SECTION 20

#1732855401836

1738-743: The Greenland authorities have offered a large number of off-shore concessions for potential hydrocarbon (oil and gas) extraction. The largest concession-areas are located in seas west of Greenland; primarily in Baffin Bay and the Davis Strait , but with several smaller concessions in the Greenland Sea in the east also. Ellesmere Island Ellesmere Island ( Inuktitut : ᐅᒥᖕᒪᒃ ᓄᓇ , romanized :  Umingmak Nuna , lit.   'land of muskoxen '; French : île d'Ellesmere )

1817-543: The University of Alberta in Edmonton , warming conditions and evaporation have caused low water levels and changes in the chemistry of ponds and wetlands in the area. The researchers noted that "In the 1980s they often needed to wear hip waders to make their way to the ponds...while by 2006 the same areas were dry enough to burn." Ellesmere Island has a tundra climate ( Köppen ET ) and an ice cap climate ( Köppen EF ) with

1896-477: The Ward Hunt Ice Shelf . In 1906 Robert Peary led an expedition in northern Ellesmere Island, from Cape Sheridan along the coast to the western side of Nansen Sound (93°W). During Peary's expedition, the ice shelf was continuous; it has since been estimated to have covered 8,900 km (3,400 sq mi). The ice shelf broke apart in the 20th century, presumably due to climate change . In 1880,

1975-457: The ice cover and high density of floating ice and icebergs in the open areas. However, a polynya of about 80,000 km (31,000 sq mi), known as the North Water , opens in summer on the north near Smith Sound . Most of the aquatic life of the bay is concentrated near that region. The International Hydrographic Organization defines the limits of Baffin Bay as follows: On

2054-648: The 10th and 15th centuries. The English explorer John Davis was the first recorded European to enter the bay, arriving in 1585. In 1612, a group of English merchants formed the "Company of Merchants of London , Discoverers of the North-West Passage ". Their governor Thomas Smythe organized five expeditions to explore the northern coasts of Canada in search of a maritime passage to the Far East . Henry Hudson and Thomas Button explored Hudson Bay , William Gibbons Labrador , and Robert Bylot Hudson Strait and

2133-593: The 20th century in order to preserve the wildlife population. For example, the quota for polar bears in the bay area is 105 per year. There are about 400 plant and tree species on the bay shores, including birch , willow , alder and plants adapted to salty soils , as well as lyme grass , mosses, and lichens. These serve as food for caribou and rodents, such as lemming . Resident fish species include polar cod , Arctic flounder ( Pleuronectidae , Liopsetta ), four-horned sculpin and capelin , whereas cod , haddock , herring , halibut , and rattail migrate from

2212-491: The Arctic Circle. Ellesmere has the highest and longest mountain ranges in eastern North America and is the most mountainous island in the Arctic Archipelago. It has over half of the archipelago's ice cover, with ice caps and glaciers across 40% of its surface. Its extensive coastline includes some of the world's longest fiords. To the west, Ellesmere is separated from Axel Heiberg Island by Nansen and Eureka Sounds ,

2291-599: The Atlantic Ocean to the North. In its western part, the Baffin Island Current brings the Arctic waters to the south. The climate is Arctic with frequent storms, especially in winter. Average January temperatures are −20 °C (−4 °F) in the south and −28 °C (−18 °F) in the north. In July, the average temperature is 7 °C (45 °F). The annual precipitation is 100–250 mm (3.9–9.8 in) on

2370-601: The Atlantic. The birds are represented by the little auk , snowy owl , willow ptarmigan , rock ptarmigan , gyrfalcon , Arctic redpoll and guillemots . Most of them migrate to the south during the winter. The US Geological Survey has estimated that at least 13% of the world's undiscovered oil deposits and 30% of the world's undiscovered gas pockets are located in the Arctic, with the seas around Greenland potentially holding large amounts of natural gas and lesser amounts of crude oil and natural-gas liquids . Accordingly,

2449-485: The Baffin Bay, some 15,000 are concentrated at the North Water. Other abundant animals of the region include walrus , narwhal , harp seal , bearded seal , ringed seal , bowhead whale , rorquals and polar bear . All aquatic mammals crucially depend on the availability of open water; they have very limited ability to maintain breathing holes in ice and are all vulnerable to attacks by the polar bear when breathing at

Nuussuaq Peninsula - Misplaced Pages Continue

2528-625: The East Coast to Cape Sherard (Cape Osborn) ( 74°35′N 80°30′W  /  74.583°N 80.500°W  / 74.583; -80.500 ) and across to Cape Liverpool, Bylot Island ( 73°44′N 77°50′W  /  73.733°N 77.833°W  / 73.733; -77.833 ); down the East coast of this island to Cape Graham Moore , its southeastern point, and thence across to Cape Macculloch ( 72°29′N 75°08′W  /  72.483°N 75.133°W  / 72.483; -75.133 ) and down

2607-628: The East coast of Baffin Island to East Bluff, its Southeastern extremity, and thence the Eastern limit of Hudson Strait ]. The area of the bay has been inhabited since c.  500  BC. Around AD 1200, the initial Dorset settlers were replaced by the Thule (the later Inuit ) peoples. Recent excavations also suggest that the Norse colonization of the Americas reached the shores of Baffin Bay sometime between

2686-701: The Ellesmere Ice Shelves has continued in the 21st century: the Ward Ice Shelf experienced a major breakup during the summer of 2002; the Ayles Ice Shelf calved entirely on 13 August 2005; the largest breakoff of the ice shelf in 25 years, it may pose a threat to the oil industry in the Beaufort Sea . The piece is 66 km (25 sq mi). In April 2008, it was discovered that the Ward Hunt shelf

2765-584: The Eureka Upland and the Hazen Plateau. Six different small-tool cultures have been identified at the Smith Sound region: Independence I, Independence I / Saqqaq , Pre-Dorset , Saqqaq, early Dorset, and late Dorset. They chiefly hunted muskoxen : more than three-quarters of their known archeological sites on Ellesmere are located in the island's interior and their winter dwellings were skin tents, suggesting

2844-729: The Far North – involved more than forty expeditions to the High Arctic over two decades, and represented the peak period of Euro-American Arctic exploration. Edward Augustus Inglefield led an 1852 expedition which surveyed the coastlines of Baffin Bay and Smith Sound, being stopped by ice in Nares Strait. He named Ellesmere Island for the president of the Royal Geographical Society (1849–1852), Francis Egerton, 1st Earl of Ellesmere . The Second Grinnell expedition (1853–1855) made slightly further progress before becoming trapped in

2923-548: The Far North, the North-West Mounted Police (NWMP) were sent on sovereignty patrols. A NWMP detachment sailed to the Arctic whaling stations in 1903, where they forbade whalers from killing muskox or trading skins, in order to prevent overhunting and protect the Inuit's ability to sustain themselves. In 1904 a NWMP detachment sailed to Cape Herschel at the east end of Sverdrup Pass, where they could intercept hunters accessing

3002-461: The Greenland side and about twice as much near Baffin Island. The water temperature at the surface is below −1 °C (30 °F) in winter. In summer, it varies from 4–5 °C (39–41 °F) in the south-east to 0 °C (32 °F) and below at north-west. The salinity exceeds 34‰ (parts per thousand) in winter. In summer, it is 32‰ on the east and 30–31‰ on the west. Deep waters are formed as

3081-478: The June thaw. The seasonal shift in daylight is also extreme. The polar night lasts from four-and-a-half months in the north to about three months in the south. Ellesmere's Arctic marine climate is strongly affected in the north by Arctic Ocean currents and the polar vortex, while the climate of the southeastern coast is influenced by the warm Atlantic water of the West Greenland Current . Interior regions shielded by

3160-1002: The North. A line from Cape Sheridan , Grant Land ( 82°35′N 60°45′W  /  82.583°N 60.750°W  / 82.583; -60.750 ) to Cape Bryant , Greenland. On the East. The West Coast of Greenland. On the South. The parallel of 70° North between Greenland and Baffin Land. On the West. The Eastern limits of the North-West Passages [The East Coast of Ellesmere Island between C. Sheridan and Cape Norton Shaw ( 76°29′N 78°30′W  /  76.483°N 78.500°W  / 76.483; -78.500 ), thence across to Phillips Point ( Coburg Island ) through this Island to Marina Peninsula ( 75°55′N 79°10′W  /  75.917°N 79.167°W  / 75.917; -79.167 ) and across to Cape Fitz Roy ( Devon Island ) down

3239-477: The Thule culture, which had diverged during the isolation imposed by the Little Ice Age.) Knowledge of Ellesmere persisted in the oral histories of the Inuit of Baffin Island and the Inughuit of northern Greenland, who each called it Umingmak Nuna ( Inuktitut for 'land of muskoxen '). The search for Franklin's lost expedition – also searching for the Northwest Passage and to establish claims to

Nuussuaq Peninsula - Misplaced Pages Continue

3318-509: The Thule sent summer hunting parties to harvest marine mammals in Nansen Strait. Their summer camps are evidenced by tent rings as far north as Archer Fiord, with clusters of stone dwellings around Lady Franklin Bay and at Lake Hazen which suggest semi-permanent occupations. The Thule genetically and culturally completely replaced the Dorset people some time after 1300 CE. The Thule displaced

3397-587: The ability to make boats. Thus, the waters around Ellesmere were not navigated again until the arrival of large European vessels after 1800. Much of the initial phase of European exploration of the North American Arctic was centred on a search for the Northwest Passage and undertaken by Britain. The 1616 expedition of William Baffin were the first Europeans to record sighting the then-unnamed Ellesmere Island (Baffin named Jones and Smith Sounds on

3476-404: The area which became known as Baffin's Bay after his pilot William Baffin . Aboard Discovery , Baffin charted the area and named Lancaster , Smith , and Jones Sounds after members of his company. By the completion of his 1616 voyage, Baffin held out no hope of an ice-free passage and the area remained unexplored for another two centuries. Over time, his account came to be doubted until it

3555-399: The bay. Numerous icebergs are formed in this period and are brought, together with ice, to the Atlantic Ocean near Newfoundland . The tides are semidiurnal , with an average height of 4 m (13 ft) and the maximum of 9 m (30 ft). Their speed varies between 1 and 3.7 km/h (0.62 and 2.30 mph) hour and the direction by as much as 180°. This variability results in

3634-470: The central-east side of the island, and the Northern Ellesmere icefields (24,400 km (9,400 sq mi)). The northwest coast of Ellesmere Island was covered by a massive, 500 km (310 mi) long ice shelf until the 20th century. The Ellesmere Ice Shelf shrank by 90 per cent in the 20th century due to warming trends in the Arctic, particularly in the 1930s and 1940s, a period when

3713-408: The cold, dry winds become naturally freeze-dried while items that become buried are preserved in the permafrost. Artefacts are in a similar condition to when they were left or lost, and settlements abandoned thousands of years ago can be seen much as they were the day their inhabitants left. From these sites and artefacts, archaeologists have been able to construct a history of these cultures. However,

3792-504: The collision and crushing of fresh, old, and pack ice. Winds are predominantly north-western through the whole year. South-eastern and eastern winds are common in July and August. Between May and July (sometimes April), a significant portion of navigable open water ( polynya ) forms at the extreme north of the bay, presumably due to the relatively warm Greenland Current. With an area of about 80,000 km (31,000 sq mi) in summer, it

3871-525: The government amended the Northwest Game Act to prohibit the killing of muskoxen except for Native inhabitants who otherwise faced starvation. In 1920, the government learned that Inughuit from Greenland had been annually visiting Ellesmere Island for polar bear and muskox hunting – in violation of Canadian law – selling the skins at Knud Rasmussen 's trading post at Qaanaaq , formerly known as Thule. The Danish government stated that North Greenland

3950-432: The holes. The seals and walrus occupy areas of fast ice, which is essential for giving birth and raising the pups. Bearded seals feed near the bottom of the bay and therefore are restricted to the shallow waters. Ringed seal is the most common meal of the polar bear. It is also an occasional prey of the walrus and Arctic fox . Most large animals of the bay are being traditionally hunted, but the hunting has been restricted in

4029-425: The ice. Over two winters the expedition charted both sides of Kane Basin to about 80°N, from where Elisha Kent Kane claimed to have sighted the conjectured Open Polar Sea . During this period, as the Little Ice Age abated and the hunting of marine mammals became more feasible again, Aboriginal peoples began to return to Ellesmere Island. The most well-known of these migrations in both Inuit and European accounts

SECTION 50

#1732855401836

4108-533: The interior of Ellesmere. While the fur trade was brought under control, American exploration parties to the Far North had acted with autonomy and intensively hunted terrestrial mammals to sustain their expeditions. Peary's parties had heavily hunted muskoxen on Ellesmere and had nearly brought the extinction of caribou in northern Greenland; the Crocker Land Expedition (1913–1916) also extensively hunted muskoxen. In response to these and other trespasses,

4187-483: The interior. At Lake Hazen, Peary's expedition recorded daytime temperatures of −53 °C (−64 °F) in February ;1900, and a Defence Research Board party recorded temperatures as low as −56.2 °C (−69.2 °F) in the winter of 1957–58. Nonetheless, there are archaeological remains of winter dwellings of both Independence and Thule cultures in the interior. A paleolimnological study of algae in

4266-833: The island from east to west, establishing Fort Conger in the northern part of the island. The Greely expedition found fossil forests on Ellesmere Island in the late 1880s. Stenkul Fiord was first explored in 1902 by Per Schei, a member of Otto Sverdrup 's 2nd Norwegian Polar Expedition. The Ellesmere Ice Shelf was documented by the British Arctic Expedition of 1875–76, in which Lieutenant Pelham Aldrich 's party went from Cape Sheridan ( 82°28′N 061°30′W  /  82.467°N 61.500°W  / 82.467; -61.500  ( Cape Sheridan ) ) west to Cape Alert ( 82°16′N 85°33′W  /  82.267°N 85.550°W  / 82.267; -85.550  ( Cape Alert (Ellesmere Island) ) ), including

4345-576: The island's high mountain ranges experience distinctive quasi-continental microclimates . The highest precipitation is on the northern coast, averaging 80 to 100 mm (3.1 to 3.9 in). On the south side of the Grant Land mountains, only 20 mm (0.79 in) reaches the Hazen Plateau. The average number of snow-free days varies from 45 days on the north coast to 77 days in the Eureka–Tanquary corridor. Winters are considerably colder in

4424-468: The island's south and southeast coasts). However, the onset of the Little Ice Age interrupted the progress of explorations for two centuries. In 1818, an ice jam in Baffin Bay broke, allowing European vessels access to the High Arctic ( whalers had been active in Davis Strait , about 1,000 km [620 mi] southeast of Ellesmere, since 1719). Baffin Bay was then navigable in the summers due to

4503-687: The island's southeastern corner. In addition, there are syntectonic clastics which comprise the Ellesmere Island Volcanics of the Sverdrup Basin Magmatic Province . A period of uplift and faulting prior to the Pleistocene epoch (>2.6 Ma ) established the overall features of the island. Additional uplift occurred due to isostatic rebound following the last glacial period. Land features were then shaped by erosion from glacial ice, meltwaters, and scouring by sea ice. It

4582-455: The largest ice islands (the 520 km (200 sq mi) T1 and the 780 km (300 sq mi) T2 ice islands) were formed leaving the separate Alfred Ernest , Ayles, Milne, Ward Hunt, and Markham Ice Shelves. The Ward Hunt Ice Shelf , the largest remaining section of thick (>10 m, >30 ft ) landfast sea ice along the northern coastline of Ellesmere Island, lost almost 600 km (230 sq mi) of ice in

4661-641: The latter of which narrows to 13 km (8.1 mi). Devon Island is to the south across Jones Sound ; at the west end of the sound, they are separated by North Kent Island and two channels which narrow to 4 and 10 km (2.5 and 6.2 mi). Greenland is to the east across Nares Strait ; the strait narrows to 46 km (29 mi) at Cape Isabella on Smith Sound and further north narrows to 19 km (12 mi) at Robeson Channel . These channels and straits typically freeze over in winter, though winds and currents leave pockets of open water (temporary leads and persistent polynyas ) in Nares Strait. To

4740-622: The magnitude of 5.1. Baffin Bay is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean bounded by the Baffin Island in the west, Greenland in the east, and Ellesmere Island in the north. It connects to the Atlantic through the Davis Strait, and to the Arctic through several narrow channels of Nares Strait. It is a northwestern extension of the North Atlantic and Labrador Sea. It can also be viewed as a long strait separating Baffin Island and Greenland. The bay

4819-804: The major air systems strengthen towards their annual peak in winter, the Arctic and Atlantic air masses collide in autumn to produce severe storms at Ellesmere. The storm season peaks in October and persists until the sea freezes. The polar vortex strengthens during the polar night and gives rise to easterly winds which are major hazards for populations, especially given the very low temperatures. January winds have been recorded at 104 km/h (65 mph) with gusts to 130–145 km/h (81–90 mph) at Fort Conger and 65–80 km/h (40–50 mph) at Lake Hazen. Very cold temperatures continue until April and no month passes without experiencing freezing temperatures. Snowfall begins in late August and does not melt until

SECTION 60

#1732855401836

4898-662: The neighbouring islands. Contact between Inuit and Europeans or Americans was often indirect, as the Inuit happened upon shipwrecks or abandoned base camps which provided wood and metal resources. European goods were also obtained through inter-group trade. Long-term contact began in the 1800s through whaling stations and trading posts, which frequently relocated. Euro-American expeditions employed Inughuit, Inuit and west Greenlander guides, hunters and labourers, gradually blending their knowledge with European technology to conduct effective exploration. British and United States Arctic expeditions had been interrupted for some years due to

4977-547: The north of Ellesmere is the Arctic Ocean , with Lincoln Sea to the northeast. More than one-fifth of the island is protected as Quttinirpaaq National Park (formerly Ellesmere Island National Park Reserve), which includes seven fjords and a variety of glaciers , as well as Lake Hazen , North America's largest lake north of the Arctic Circle . Barbeau Peak , the highest mountain in Nunavut (2,616 m [8,583 ft])

5056-461: The northwest of the base of the peninsula, with the southern arm forming the coastal range, the central arm almost entirely glaciated, and continuing northwest the entire length of the peninsula. The two arms are dissected by a deep Kuussuaq Valley , partially filled in the center with Sarqap Tassersuaq , a glacial, emerald lake. The peninsula is administered as part of the Avannaata municipality. The main settlements are Qaarsut and Niaqornat on

5135-523: The northwestern shore, Saqqaq on the southeastern shore, at the foot of the Livets Top mountain (1,150 metres (3,773 ft)), and Qeqertaq on a small island just off the southern shore, at the base of the peninsula. Archaeological excavations in Qilakitsoq on the southwestern shore revealed the existence of an ancient Arctic culture later named the Saqqaq culture that inhabited the area of west-central Greenland between 2500 BCE and 800 BCE. The world's largest fossil mollusk, Inoceramus steenstrup ,

5214-399: The population of Ellesmere Island was recorded at 144. There are three settlements: Alert , Eureka , and Grise Fiord . Ellesmere Island is administered as part of the Qikiqtaaluk Region in the Canadian territory of Nunavut . Ellesmere Island has three major geological regions. The Grant Land Highlands is a large belt of fold mountains which dominate the northern face of the island. It

5293-430: The presence of an ice dam in Smith Sound, which prevented Arctic drift ice from flowing south. The other channels of the archipelago remained congested with ice. That year, John Ross led the first recorded European expedition to Cape York , at which time there were reportedly only 140 Inughuit . (The Inughuit of North Greenland, the Kalaallit of West Greenland, and Inuit of the archipelago are descendants of

5372-415: The priorities of the Crimean War and the American Civil War , respectively. By about 1860, the focus of Arctic exploration had shifted to the North Pole . As earlier attempts at the pole via Svalbard or eastern Greenland had reached impasses, numerous expeditions came to Ellesmere Island to pursue the route through Nares Straight. The United States expedition led by Adolphus Greely in 1881 crossed

5451-433: The research is incomplete and only a small proportion of the details of excavations have been published. The Arctic small tool tradition peoples ( a.k.a. Paleo-Eskimos ) in the High Arctic had small populations organized as hunting bands, spread from Axel Heiberg Island to the northern extremity of Greenland, where the Independence I culture was active from 2700 BCE. On Ellesmere, they chiefly hunted in

5530-492: The sediments of shallow ponds on Cape Herschel (which faces Smith Sound on Ellesmere's eastern coast ) found that the ponds had been permanent and relatively stable for several millennia until experiencing ecological changes associated with warming, beginning around 1850 and accelerating in the early 2000s. During the 23-year study period, an ecological threshold was crossed as several of the study ponds had completely desiccated while others had very reduced water levels. In addition,

5609-499: The small-tool cultures, having a number of technological advantages which notably included effective weapons, kayaks and umiaks for hunting marine mammals, and sled dogs for surface transport and pursuit. The Thule also had an extensive trade network, evidenced by meteoritic iron from Greenland which was exported through Ellesmere Island to the rest of the archipelago and to the North American mainland. More than fifty Norse artefacts have been found in Thule archeological sites on

5688-755: The temperature being cold year-round. Two semi-permanent air systems dominate the weather: the high-pressure northern polar vortex and a low-pressure area which forms in different sites between Baffin Bay and the Labrador Sea. Prevailing winds on Ellesmere are northwesterly, cold, and of low humidity due to ice cover over the Arctic Ocean. Seasonal shifts on Ellesmere are sudden and striking: winters are long and harsh, summers short and relatively abundant, with spring and autumn being brief intervals of transition. Fog regularly occurs near open water in September. While

5767-600: The west coast of Greenland , is defined by the International Hydrographic Organization as a marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean . It is sometimes considered a sea of the North Atlantic Ocean . It is connected to the Atlantic via Davis Strait and the Labrador Sea . The narrower Nares Strait connects Baffin Bay with the Arctic Ocean . The bay is not navigable most of the year because of

5846-526: The western side of Ellesmere. In addition to intercepting illegal hunting and fur-trading, the RCMP conducted patrols and encouraged the Inuit to maintain their traditional lifestyle. The posts were closed in the mid-1930s, after the sovereignty issues had been settled. Ellesmere Island is the northernmost island of the Arctic Archipelago in Canada's Far North and one of the world's northernmost land masses . It

5925-442: The wetlands surrounding the ponds were severely affected and dried vegetation could be easily burned. Large portions of Ellesmere Island are covered with glaciers and ice, with Manson Icefield (6,200 km (2,400 sq mi)) and Sydkap (3,700 km (1,400 sq mi)) in the south; Prince of Wales Icefield (20,700 km (8,000 sq mi)) and Agassiz Ice Cap (21,500 km (8,300 sq mi)) along

6004-407: Was a "no man's land" outside their administration and Rasmussen, as the de facto sole authority, refused to stop the trade which the Inughuit needed to support themselves. In response, Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) detachments were established on Ellesmere Island at Craig Harbour in 1922 and at Bache Post in 1926, positioned to guard the coastal and overland routes to the hunting grounds on

6083-482: Was confirmed by John Ross 's 1818 voyage. More advanced scientific studies followed in 1928, in the 1930s and after World War II by Danish, American and Canadian expeditions. Currently, there are a few Inuit settlements on the Canadian coast of the bay, including Arctic Bay (population 690), Pond Inlet (1,315) and Clyde River (820). Those settlements are accessed and supplied by air and annual sealifts . In 1975,

6162-580: Was found in 1952 in Qilakitsoq Valley on the peninsula. Major landslides have occurred along the southern coast of the peninsula since prehistoric times, sometimes generating tsunamis or megatsunamis in Sullorsuaq Strait: Baffin Bay Baffin Bay ( Inuktitut : Saknirutiak Imanga ; Greenlandic : Avannaata Imaa ; French : Baie de Baffin ; Danish : Baffinbugten ), located between Baffin Island and

6241-503: Was fractured, with dozens of deep, multi-faceted cracks and in September 2008 the Markham shelf (50 km (19 sq mi)) completely broke off to become floating sea ice . A 2018 study measured a 5.9% reduction in area amongst 1,773 glaciers in Northern Ellesmere island in the 16-year period 1999–2015 based on satellite data. In the same period, 19 out of 27 ice tongues disintegrated to their grounding lines and ice shelves suffered

#835164