{{Otheruses}}{{pp-semi-protected|small=yes}}{{Otheruses}}{{pp-semi-protected|small=yes}}
Ellesmere Island is part of the Qikiqtaaluk Region of the
CanadianCanada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
territory of
NunavutNunavut is the largest and newest federal territory of Canada; it was separated officially from the Northwest Territories on April 1, 1999 via the Nunavut Act and the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement Act, though the actual boundaries had been established in 1993...
. Lying within the
Canadian Arctic ArchipelagoThe Canadian Arctic Archipelago, also known as just the Arctic Archipelago, is an archipelago north of the Canadian mainland in the Arctic...
it is considered part of the
Queen Elizabeth IslandsThe Queen Elizabeth Islands are the northernmost cluster of islands in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, split between Nunavut and Northwest Territories in Northern Canada.-Geography:...
, with
Cape ColumbiaCape Columbia is the northernmost point of land of Canada, located on Ellesmere Island in the Qikiqtaaluk Region of Nunavut. It marks the westernmost coastal point of Lincoln Sea in the Arctic Ocean. It is the world's northernmost point of land outside Greenland and the distance to the North Pole is...
being the most northerly point of land in Canada. It comprises an area of {{convert|196235|km2|abbr=on}}, making it the
world's tenth largest island and
Canada's third largest island. The
Arctic CordilleraThe Arctic Cordillera is a vast, deeply dissected chain of mountain ranges extending along the northeastern flank of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago from Ellesmere Island to the northeasternmost part of the Ungava Peninsula in northern Labrador and northern Quebec, Canada...
mountain system covers much of Ellesmere Island, making it the most mountainous in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. The Arctic willow is the only woody species to grow on Ellesmere Island.
History
The first human inhabitants of Ellesmere Island were small bands drawn to the area for
Peary caribouThe Peary Caribou is a caribou subspecies found in the high Arctic islands of Canada's Nunavut and Northwest territories. They are the smallest of the North American caribou, with the females weighing an average of 60 kg and the males 110 kg...
, muskox, and
marine mammalMarine mammals are a diverse group of roughly 120 species of mammal that are primarily ocean-dwelling or depend on the ocean for food. They include the cetaceans , the sirenians , the pinnipeds , and several otters...
hunting about 2000–1000 BC.
As was the case for the
DorsetThe Dorset culture was a Paleo-Eskimo culture that preceded the Inuit culture in Arctic North America. Inuit legends mention the Tuniit or Sivullirmiut , who were driven away by the Inuit...
(or Palaeoeskimo) hunters and the pioneering Neoeskimos, the Post-Ruin Island and
Late ThuleThe Thule or proto-Inuit were the ancestors of all modern Inuit. They developed in coastal Alaska by AD 1000 and expanded eastwards across Canada, reaching Greenland by the 13th century. In the process, they replaced people of the earlier Dorset culture that had previously inhabited the region...
culture
InuitInuit is a general term for a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic regions of Canada, Greenland, and Alaska...
used the
Bache PeninsulaBache Peninsula is a geological formation in Canada, on Ellesmere Island in Nunavut. The peninsula is considered a cape, meaning that it is a headland that dramatically affects the ocean currents...
region extensively both summer and winter until environmental, ecological and possibly social circumstances caused the area to be abandoned. It was the last region in the Canadian High Arctic to be depopulated during the "
Little Ice AgeThe Little Ice Age was a period of cooling that occurred after a warmer era known as the Medieval Warm Period. While not a true ice age, the term was introduced into scientific literature by François E. Matthes in 1939...
", attesting to its general economic importance as part of the
Smith SoundSmith Sound is an uninhabited Arctic sea passage between Greenland and Canada's northernmost island, Ellesmere Island. It links Baffin Bay with Kane Basin and forms part of the Nares Strait....
culture sphere of which it was occasionally a part and sometimes the principal settlement component.
VikingA Viking is one of the Norse explorers, warriors, merchants, and pirates who raided and colonized wide areas of Europe from the late eighth to the early eleventh century. These Norsemen used their famed longships to travel as far east as Constantinople and the Volga River in Russia, and as far...
s from the
GreenlandGreenland is an autonomous constituent country within the Kingdom of Denmark located between the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago...
colonies reached Ellesmere Island,
Skraeling IslandSkraeling Island lies off the east coast of Ellesmere Island in the Canadian territory of Nunavut.-History:The Norse referred to the indigenous peoples they encountered in Greenland and the New World as skræling , and the sagas make it clear that the Norse considered the natives...
and Ruin Island during hunting expeditions and trading with the Inuit groups. Unusual structures on Bache peninsula may be the remains of a late-period Dorset stone longhouse.
The first European to sight the island after the height of the "Little Ice Age" was
William BaffinWilliam Baffin was an English navigator and explorer. Nothing is known of his early life, but it is conjectured that he was born in London of humble origin, and gradually raised himself by his diligence and perseverance...
, in 1616; said "Age" lasted until roughly 1850. Ellesmere Island was named in 1852 by
Edward InglefieldSir Edward Augustus Inglefield was a Royal Naval officer who led one of the searches for the missing Arctic explorer John Franklin during the 1850s. In doing so, his expedition charted previously unexplored areas along the northern Canadian coastline, including Baffin Bay, Smith Sound and...
's expedition after
Francis Egerton, 1st Earl of EllesmereFrancis Egerton, 1st Earl of Ellesmere KG PC , known as Lord Francis Leveson-Gower until 1833, was a British politician, writer, traveller and patron of the arts.-Background and education:...
. The
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
expedition led by
Adolphus GreelyAdolphus Washington Greely , born in Newburyport, Massachusetts, was an American Polar explorer, a United States Army officer and a recipient of the Medal of Honor.-Early military career:...
in 1881 crossed the island from east to west. 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 SverdrupOtto Neumann Sverdrup was a native of Bindal, Nordland county, Norway, known for his achievements within the areas of Arctic science and exploration.-Early life:...
's 2nd Norwegian Polar Expedition.
The
Ellesmere Ice ShelfThe former Ellesmere Ice Shelf was the largest ice shelf in the Arctic, encompassing about of the north coast of Ellesmere Island, Nunavut, Canada. The ice shelf was first documented by the British Arctic Expedition of 1875-76, in which Lieutenant Pelham Aldrich's party went from Cape Sheridan ...
was documented by the
British Arctic ExpeditionThe British Arctic Expedition of 1875-1876, led by Sir George Strong Nares, was sent by the British Admiralty to attempt to reach the North Pole via Smith Sound. Two ships, HMS Alert and HMS Discovery , sailed from Portsmouth on 29 May 1875...
of 1875–76, in which Lieutenant
Pelham AldrichPelham Aldrich was a sailor and explorer who became Admiral Superintendent of Portsmouth Docks.He was born in Mildenhall, Suffolk, the son of Dr Pelham Aldrich and Elizabeth Frances Aldrich and married Edith Caroline Issacson in 1875...
's party went from
Cape SheridanCape Sheridan is on the northeastern coast of Ellesmere Island, Canada situated on the Lincoln Sea in the Arctic Ocean. It is one of the closest points of land to the geographic North Pole, approx to the north, Cape Columbia is however some closer to the Pole.Cape Sheridan was the wintering site...
({{coord|82|28|N|61|30|W|display=inline,title|type:landmark_scale:500000_region:CA-NU|name=Cape Sheridan (Ellesmere Island)}}) west to Cape Alert ({{coord|82|16|N|85|33|W|display=inline,title|type:landmark_scale:600000_region:CA-NU|name=Cape Alert (Ellesmere Island)}}), including the
Ward Hunt Ice ShelfThe Ward Hunt Ice Shelf is the largest ice shelf in the Arctic, located on the north coast of Ellesmere Island, Nunavut, Canada. During the 20th century the Ellesmere Ice Shelf broke up into six separate shelves, the largest being Ward Hunt...
. In 1906
Robert PearyRobert Edwin Peary was an American explorer who claimed to have been the first person, on April 6, 1909, to reach the geographic North Pole...
led an expedition in northern Ellesmere Island, from Cape Sheridan along the coast to the western side of
Nansen SoundNansen Sound is an uninhabited strait in Qikiqtaaluk, Nunavut, Canada. It lies between western Grant Land on Ellesmere Island and Axel Heiberg Island.-References:...
(93°W). During Peary's expedition, the Ice Shelf was continuous; a modern estimate is that it covered {{convert|8900|km2|abbr=on}}.
Geography
Protected areas
More than one-fifth of the island is protected as
Quttinirpaaq National ParkQuttinirpaaq National Park is a Canadian national park. Located on the northeastern corner of Ellesmere Island in the Qikiqtaaluk Region of Nunavut, the most northerly extent of Canada, it is the second most northerly park on Earth after Northeast Greenland National Park. In Inuktitut, Quttinirpaaq...
(formerly Ellesmere Island National Park Reserve), which includes seven
fjordGeologically, a fjord is a long, narrow inlet with steep sides, created in a valley carved by glacial activity.-Formation:Fjords are formed when a glacier cuts a v-shaped valley by abrasion of the surrounding bedrock. Many such valleys were formed during the recent ice age...
s and a variety of
glacierA glacier is a perennial mass of ice which moves over land. A glacier forms in locations where the mass accumulation of snow and ice exceeds ablation over many years...
s, as well as
Lake HazenLake Hazen is often called the northernmost lake of Canada, in the northern part of Ellesmere Island, Nunavut, but detailed maps show several smaller lakes up to more than farther north on Canada's northernmost island. Turnabout Lake is immediately northeast of the northern end of Hazen lake...
, North America's largest lake north of the
Arctic CircleThe Arctic Circle is one of the five major circles of latitude that mark maps of the Earth. In , it is the parallel of latitude that runs approximately 66° 33′ 39″ north of the Equator. The region north of this circle is known as the Arctic, and the zone just to the south is called the Northern...
.
Barbeau PeakBarbeau Peak is a mountain in Qikiqtaaluk, Nunavut, Canada. Located on Ellesmere Island within Quttinirpaaq National Park, it is the highest mountain in Nunavut. The mountain was named in 1969 for Dr...
, the highest mountain in Nunavut ({{convert|2616|m|abbr=on}}) is located in the
British Empire RangeThe British Empire Range is a mountain range on Ellesmere Island in Nunavut, Canada. The range is one of the most northern ranges in 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...
on Ellesmere Island. The most northern
mountain rangeA mountain range is a chain of mountains bordered by highlands or separated from other mountains by passes or valleys. Individual mountains within the same mountain range do not necessarily have the same geology, though they often do; they may be a mix of different orogeny, for example volcanoes,...
in the world, the
Challenger MountainsThe Challenger Mountains are a mountain range on Ellesmere Island in Nunavut, Canada. The range is the most northern range in the world and of the Arctic Cordillera. The highest mountain in the range is Commonwealth Mountain...
, is located in the northeast region of the island. The northern lobe of the island is called
Grant LandGrant Land is the northern lobe of Ellesmere Island, Nunavut, Canada. Situated on the north coast, Cape Columbia, is the northernmost point of Canada, only 770 km from the North Pole, and was used as the final point on land for Peary's North Pole expedition in 1909.At its highest point, it is ...
.
In July 2007, a study noted the disappearance of habitat for waterfowl, invertebrates, and algae on Ellesmere Island. According to John P. Smol of
Queen's UniversityQueen's University, generally referred to simply as Queen's, is a coeducational, non-sectarian, research intensive, public university located in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. In 2008, Queen's maintained its status as one of the top universities in Canada.The Church of Scotland established Queen's...
in
Kingston, OntarioKingston, Ontario is a Canadian city located in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario, where Lake Ontario runs into the St. Lawrence River and the Thousand Islands begin.Kingston is the county seat of Frontenac County...
, and Marianne S. V. Douglas of the
University of AlbertaThe University of Alberta is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford, the first premier of Alberta and Henry Marshall Tory, its first president, it is widely recognized as one of the top universities in Canada...
in
EdmontonEdmonton is the capital of the Canadian province of Alberta. The city is located on the North Saskatchewan River in the central region of the province, an area with some of the most fertile farmland on the prairies...
, warming conditions and evaporation have caused low water levels 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."
Glaciers and ice caps
Large portions of Ellesmere Island are covered with glaciers and ice, with Manson Icefield and Sydkap in the south; Prince of Wales Icefield and
Agassiz Ice CapAgassiz Ice Cap is an ice cap on the northern coast of Ellesmere Island, Nunavut, Canada....
along the central-east side of the island, along with substantial ice cover in Northern Ellesmere Island. The northwest coast of Ellesmere Island was covered by a massive, {{convert|500|km|abbr=on}} long
ice shelfAn ice shelf is a thick, floating platform of ice that forms where a glacier or ice sheet flows down to a coastline and onto the ocean surface. Ice shelves are found in Antarctica, Greenland and Canada only. The boundary between the floating ice shelf and the grounded ice that feeds it is called...
until the 20th century. The Ellesmere Ice Shelf was reduced by 90 percent in the twentieth century due to
global warmingGlobal warming is the increase in the average temperature of the Earth's near-surface air and oceans since the mid-20th century and its projected continuation. Global surface temperature increased 0.74 ± 0.18 °C during the last century...
, leaving the separate Alfred Ernest, Ayles, Milne, Ward Hunt, and
MarkhamThe Markham Ice Shelf was one of five major ice shelves in Canada, all located on the northern coast of Ellesmere Island, Nunavut. The ice shelf broke off from the coast in early August 2008, becoming adrift in the Arctic Ocean. At the time, the 4,500 year old ice shelf was in size, nearly the...
Ice Shelves. A 1986 survey of Canadian ice shelves found that {{convert|48|km2|abbr=on}} {{convert|3.3|km3|abbr=on}} of ice calved from the
MilneThe Milne Ice Shelf, a fragment of the former Ellesmere Ice Shelf, is located in Qikiqtaaluk Region, Nunavut, Canada. It is the second largest ice shelf in the Arctic Ocean. Situated on the north-west coast of Ellesmere Island, it is located about 270 km west of Alert, Nunavut.It was one of...
and
AylesThe Ayles Ice Shelf was one of six major ice shelves in Canada, all located on the northern coast of Ellesmere Island, Nunavut. The ice shelf broke off from the coast on August 13, 2005, forming a giant ice island thick and measuring around by in size...
ice shelves between 1959 and 1974. 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 {{convert|600|km|abbr=on}} of ice in a massive calving in 1961-1962. It further decreased by 27% in thickness ({{convert|13|m|abbr=on}}) between 1967 and 1999.
The breakup of the Ellesmere Ice Shelves has continued in the 21st century: the Ward Ice Shelf experienced a major breakup during summer 2002; the Ayles Ice Shelf calved entirely on August 13, 2005; the largest breakoff of the ice shelf in 25 years, it may pose a threat to the oil industry in the
Beaufort SeaThe Beaufort Sea is the portion of the Arctic Ocean located north of the Northwest Territories, the Yukon, and Alaska and west of Canada's Arctic islands. Its northwestern boundary is defined by a line connecting Point Barrow, Alaska, and Lands End, Prince Patrick Island. It is about...
. The piece is {{convert|66|km2|abbr=on}}. In April 2008, it was discovered that the Ward Hunt shelf was fractured into dozens of deep, multi-faceted cracks and in September 2008 the Markham shelf (50 km
2 / 20 square miles) completely broke off to become floating sea-ice.
Paleontology
Schei and later
NathorstAlfred Gabriel Nathorst was a Swedish Arctic explorer, geologist and palaeobotanist. Nathorst was born in Väderbrunn outside Nyköping and died in Stockholm....
described the
PaleoceneThe Paleocene or Palaeocene, the "early recent", is a geologic epoch that lasted from 65.5 ± 0.3 Ma to 55.8 ± 0.2 Ma . It is the first epoch of the Palaeogene Period in the modern Cenozoic era...
-
EoceneThe Eocene epoch, lasting from 55.8 ± 0.2 to 33.9 ± 0.1 Ma , is a major division of the geologic timescale and the second epoch of the Palaeogene period in the Cenozoic era. The Eocene spans the time from the end of the Paleocene epoch to the beginning of the Oligocene epoch. The start of the...
(ca. 55 Ma)
fossilFossils are the preserved remains or traces of animals, plants, and other organisms from the remote past. The totality of fossils, both discovered and undiscovered, and their placement in fossiliferous rock formations and sedimentary layers is known as the fossil record...
forest in the Stenkul Fiord sediments. The Stenkul Fiord site represents a series of
deltaic swampA delta is a landform that is created at the mouth of a river where that river flows into an ocean, sea, estuary, lake, reservoir, flat arid area, or another river. Deltas are formed from the deposition of the sediment carried by the river as the flow leaves the mouth of the river...
and
floodplain||-||-||-||-||-||-||-||}A floodplain, or flood plain, is flat or nearly flat land adjacent to a stream or river that experiences occasional or periodic flooding...
forests. The trees stood for at least 400 years. Individual stumps and stems of >1 m (>3 ft) diameter were abundant. Abundance of
MetasequoiaMetasequoia is a fast-growing, deciduous tree, and the sole living species, Metasequoia glyptostroboides, is one of three species of conifers known as redwoods. It is native to the Sichuan-Hubei region of China. Although shortest of the redwoods, it grows to at least 200 feet in height...
and possibly
GlyptostrobusGlyptostrobus pensilis, also known as Chinese Swamp Cypress, is the sole living species in the genus Glyptostrobus. It is native to subtropical southeastern China, from Fujian west to southeast Yunnan, and also very locally in northern Vietnam.It is a medium-sized to large tree, reaching tall and...
trees.
In 2006,
University of ChicagoThe University of Chicago is a private, coeducational research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by oil magnate and benefactor John D...
paleontologistPaleontology
[from Greek: παλαιός "old, ancient", ὄν, ὀντ- "being, creature", and λόγος "speech, thought"] is the study of prehistoric life, including organisms' evolution and interactions with each other and their environments...
Neil H. Shubin reported the discovery of the fossil of a
PaleozoicThe Paleozoic or Palaeozoic Era is the earliest of three geologic eras of the Phanerozoic eon...
(ca. 375 Ma) fish, named
Tiktaalik roseaeTiktaalik is a genus of extinct sarcopterygian fish from the late Devonian period, with many features akin to those of tetrapods . It is an example from several lines of ancient sarcopterygian fish developing adaptations to the oxygen-poor shallow-water habitats of its time, which led to the...
, in the former
stream bedA stream bed is the channel bottom of a stream, river or creek; the physical confine of the normal water flow. The lateral confines or channel margins, during all but flood stage, are known as the stream banks or river banks. In fact, a flood occurs when a stream overflows its banks and flows onto...
s of Ellesmere Island. The fossil exhibits many characteristics of fish, but also indicates a
transitionalTransitional fossils are the fossilized remains of intermediary forms of life that illustrate an evolutionary transition. They can be identified by their retention of certain primitive traits in comparison with their more derived relatives, as they are defined in the study of cladistics...
creature that may be a predecessor of
amphibianAmphibians , such as frogs, toads, salamanders, newts, and caecilians, are ectothermic animals that metamorphose from a juvenile water-breathing form, to an adult air-breathing form. Though amphibians typically have four limbs, the Caecilians are notable for being limbless. Unlike other land...
s,
reptileReptiles, or members of the class Reptilia, are air-breathing, generally "cold-blooded" amniotes that generally have skin covered in scales or scutes. They are tetrapods and lay amniote eggs, whose embryos are surrounded by the amnion membrane...
s,
dinosaur{{Otheruses}}{{pp-semi-protected|small=yes}}{{Otheruses}}{{pp-semi-protected|small=yes}}{{Taxobox|name = Dinosaurs|fossil_range = {{Fossil range|230|65|earliest=230|latest=0|PS=
Descendant taxon Aves survives to present.}}|image = field_dinos_2.jpg...
s,
mammalMammals are a class of vertebrate animals whose females are characterized by the possession of mammary glands while both males and females are characterized by sweat glands, hair, three middle ear bones used in hearing, and a neocortex region in the brain.Mammals are divided into three main...
s, and eventually
humanHumans are bipedal primates belonging to the species Homo sapiens in Hominidae, the great ape family. They are the only surviving member of the genus Homo. Humans have a highly developed brain, capable of abstract reasoning, language, introspection, and problem solving...
s.
Insect ecology
Ellesmere Island is noted as being the northernmost occurrence of
eusocialEusociality is a term used for the highest level of social organization in a hierarchical classification....
insects; specifically, the
bumblebeeA bumblebee is any member of the bee genus Bombus, in the family Apidae. There are over 250 known species, existing primarily in the Northern Hemisphere....
Bombus polarisBombus polaris is an Arctic bumblebee species.-Distribution:The bumblebee has a circumpolar distribution, found in Canada, arctic Alaska, Arctic islands , northern Scandinavia and Russia .-Characteristics:The bumblebee has dense fur that slows heat loss...
. There is a second species of bumblebee occurring there,
Bombus hyperboreusBombus hyperboreus is an Arctic bumblebee species with a circumpolar distribution, found in arctic Canada, Alaska, Greenland, northern Scandinavia and Russia....
, which is a parasite in the nests of
B. polaris.
Population
In 2006, the population of Ellesmere Island was recorded as 146. There are three settlements on Ellesmere Island including
AlertAlert, in the Qikiqtaaluk Region, Nunavut, Canada, is the northernmost permanently inhabited place in the world. It is only from the North Pole. It takes its name from HMS Alert, which wintered east of the present station off what is now Cape Sheridan, Nunavut in 1875-1876.Alert was reported to...
(pop. 5),
EurekaEureka is a small research base on Fosheim Peninsula, Ellesmere Island, Qikiqtaaluk Region, in the Canadian territory of Nunavut. It is located on the north side of Slidre Fiord, which enters Eureka Sound farther west. It is the second-northernmost permanent research community in the world. The...
(pop. 0), and
Grise FiordGrise Fiord, is a small Inuit hamlet, Qikiqtaaluk Region in the territory of Nunavut, Canada. Despite its low population , it is the largest community on Ellesmere Island...
(pop. 141). Politically, it is part of the Qikiqtaaluk Region.
Canadian Forces Station (CFS) AlertCanadian Forces Station Alert, also CFS Alert, is a Canadian Forces signals intelligence intercept facility located in Alert, Nunavut on the northeastern tip of Ellesmere Island, at ....
is the
northernmost settlementSome of the northernmost settlements in the world are:-Larger cities north of the Arctic circle:-See also:*Southernmost settlements*Extreme points of the world*The world's most northern bagpipe orchestra, city, capital, zoo etc....
in the world. With the end of the
Cold WarThe Cold War was the continuing state of political conflict, military tension, and economic competition existing after World War II , primarily between the USSR and its satellite states, and the powers of the Western world, including the United States...
and the advent of new technologies allowing for remote interpretation of data, the overwintering population has been reduced to 50.
Eureka, which is the second northernmost settlement in the world, consists of three areas, "Eureka Airport" which includes "Fort Eureka" (the quarters for military personnel maintaining the island's communications equipment), the
Environment CanadaEnvironment Canada , legally incorporated as the Department of the Environment under the Department of the Environment Act Environment Canada (EC), legally incorporated as the Department of the Environment under the Department of the Environment Act Environment Canada (EC), legally incorporated as...
Weather Station and the Polar Environmental Atmospheric Research Laboratory (PEARL), formally the Arctic Stratospheric Ozone (AStrO) Observatory.
External links
{{GeoGroupTemplate}}
Further reading
{{commons|Ellesmere Island}}
{{Queen Elizabeth Islands}}
{{Arctic Cordillera}}
{{Islands of the Qikiqtaaluk Region}}