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59-410: An escarpment (or scarp) is a type of cliff formed by the movement of a geologic fault , a landslide, or sometimes by rock slides or falling rocks which change the differential erosion of the rock layers. Most cliffs have some form of scree slope at their base. In arid areas or under high cliffs, they are generally exposed jumbles of fallen rock. In areas of higher moisture, a soil slope may obscure

118-520: A strike-slip fault brings a piece of high ground adjacent to an area of lower ground. Earth is not the only planet where escarpments occur. They are believed to occur on other planets when the crust contracts , as a result of cooling. On other Solar System bodies such as Mercury , Mars , and the Moon , the Latin term rupes is used for an escarpment. When sedimentary beds are tilted and exposed to

177-753: A Senior Scientist at the National Museum of Natural History , wrote that there is insufficient published evidence to support Sutherland's claims, and that the Dorset were using spun cordage by the 6th century. In 1992, Elizabeth Wayland Barber wrote that a piece of three-ply yarn that dates to the Paleolithic era, that ended about 10,000 BP, was found at the Lascaux caves in France. This yarn consisted of three s-twist strands that were z-plied, much like

236-399: A given slope is a cliff or not and also about how much of a certain slope to count as a cliff. For example, given a truly vertical rock wall above a very steep slope, one could count just the rock wall or the combination. Listings of cliffs are thus inherently uncertain. Some of the largest cliffs on Earth are found underwater. For example, an 8,000 m drop over a 4,250 m span can be found at

295-497: A large snow bank where they dig a den in which to spend the winter and later give birth. The polar bear population here is one of 19 genetically distinct demes of the circumpolar region . Red foxes can be found predominantly in the southernmost areas of Baffin Island, away from the harshest of winter weather, though some individuals may forage and explore elsewhere. The Arctic foxes can usually be found where polar bears venture on

354-489: A moon of Uranus. The following is an incomplete list of cliffs of the world. Above Sea Above Land Several big granite faces in the Arctic region vie for the title of 'highest vertical drop on Earth', but reliable measurements are not always available. The possible contenders include (measurements are approximate): Mount Thor , Baffin Island , Canada; 1,370 m (4,500 ft) total; top 480 m (1600 ft)

413-520: A ridge sitting inside the Kermadec Trench . According to some sources, the highest cliff in the world, about 1,340 m high, is the east face of Great Trango in the Karakoram mountains of northern Pakistan. This uses a fairly stringent notion of cliff, as the 1,340 m figure refers to a nearly vertical headwall of two stacked pillars; adding in a very steep approach brings the total drop from

472-666: A temporary mining community there. Baffin Island is home to the Dewey Soper Migratory Bird Sanctuary and the Bowman Bay Wildlife Sanctuary . The Dewey Soper Migratory Bird Sanctuary, named for J. Dewey Soper , is located on the western side of Baffin Island from Bowman Bay to the Koukdjuak River . It is an 8,159 km (3,150 sq mi) area that was classified a wetland of international importance via

531-518: A variety of plants and animals, whose preferences and needs are suited by the vertical geometry of this landform type. For example, a number of birds have decided affinities for choosing cliff locations for nesting, often driven by the defensibility of these locations as well as absence of certain predators. Humans have also inhabited cliff dwellings . The population of the rare Borderea chouardii , during 2012, existed only on two cliff habitats within western Europe. Escarpment An escarpment

590-626: A whole. This lower percentage of Indigenous peoples on Baffin Island results from Iqaluit being 59.29 per cent Indigenous and 40.65 per cent non-Indigenous. Of the total population 72.17 per cent are Inuit , 0.92 per cent are First Nations , and 0.73 per cent are Métis . Except for a few First Nations people in Arctic Bay all non-Inuit Indigenous peoples live in Iqaluit. The hamlets of Kinngait (population: 1,396 ) and Qikiqtarjuaq (population: 593 ) do not lie on Baffin Island proper. Kinngait

649-666: Is Mount Asgard , located in Auyuittuq National Park , with an elevation of 2,011 m (6,598 ft). Mount Thor , with an elevation of 1,675 m (5,495 ft), is said to have the greatest purely vertical drop (a sheer cliff face) of any mountain on Earth, at 1,250 m (4,100 ft). The two largest lakes on the island lie in the south-central part of the island: Nettilling Lake (5,542 km ; 2,140 sq mi) and Amadjuak Lake (3,115 km ; 1,203 sq mi) further south. Baffin Island has been inhabited for over 3,000 years, first by

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708-433: Is a ridge which has a gentle slope on one side and a steep scarp on the other side. More loosely, the term scarp also describes a zone between a coastal lowland and a continental plateau which shows a marked, abrupt change in elevation caused by coastal erosion at the base of the plateau . Scarps are generally formed by one of two processes: either by differential erosion of sedimentary rocks , or by movement of

767-435: Is a steep slope or long cliff that forms as a result of faulting or erosion and separates two relatively level areas having different elevations . The terms scarp and scarp face are often used interchangeably with escarpment . Some sources differentiate the two terms, with escarpment referring to the margin between two landforms , and scarp referring to a cliff or a steep slope. In this usage an escarpment

826-679: Is at a similar latitude. Sea ice surrounds the island for most of the year and only disappears completely from the north coast for short, unpredictable periods from mid- to late June until the end of September. Most of Baffin Island lies north of the Arctic Circle —all communities from Pangnirtung northwards have polar night in winter and midnight sun in summer. The eastern community of Clyde River has twilight instead of night from April 26 until May 13, continuous sunlight for 2 1 ⁄ 2 months from May 14 to July 28, then twilight instead of night from July 29 until August 16. This gives

885-563: Is often considered the highest at 1370 m (4500 ft) high in total (the top 480 m (1600 ft) is overhanging), and is said to give it the longest vertical drop on Earth at 1,250 m (4,100 ft). However, other cliffs on Baffin Island, such as Polar Sun Spire in the Sam Ford Fjord , or others in remote areas of Greenland may be higher. The highest cliff in the solar system may be Verona Rupes , an approximately 20 km (12 mi) high fault scarp on Miranda ,

944-588: Is one of the major nesting destinations from the Eastern and Mid-West flyways for many species of migrating birds . Waterfowl include eiders , Canada goose , snow goose , cackling goose , and brant goose (brent goose). Shore birds include the phalarope , various waders (commonly called sandpipers ), murres including Brünnich's guillemot , and plovers . Gull species also nest on Baffin Island and they include Sabine's gull , glaucous gull , herring gull and ivory gull . Long-range travellers include

1003-502: Is overhanging. This is commonly regarded as being the largest vertical drop on Earth [1] ot:leapyear at 1,250 m (4,100 ft). of Baffin Island , rises 4,300 ft above the flat frozen fjord, although the lower portion of the face breaks from the vertical wall with a series of ledges and buttresses. Other notable cliffs include: Above Sea Above Land Above Sea Above Land Submarine Above Sea Above Land Cliff landforms provide unique habitat niches to

1062-554: Is situated on Dorset Island , which is located a few kilometres from the south eastern tip of the Foxe Peninsula . Similarly, Qikiqtarjuaq is situated on Broughton Island , which is located near the northern coast of the Cumberland Peninsula . The Mary River Mine , an iron ore mine with an estimated 21-year life, at Mary River , may include building a railway and a port to transport the ore. This may create

1121-845: Is thought to have been a trading post. The Saga of Erik the Red , 1880 translation into English by J. Sephton from the original Icelandic Eiríks saga rauða : They sailed away from land; then to the Vestribygd and to Bjarneyjar (the Bear Islands). Thence they sailed away from Bjarneyjar with northerly winds. They were out at sea two half-days. Then they came to land, and rowed along it in boats, and explored it, and found there flat stones, many and so great that two men might well lie on them stretched on their backs with heel to heel. Polar-foxes were there in abundance. This land they gave name to, and called it Helluland (stone-land). In September 2008,

1180-716: Is written as ᕿᑭᖅᑖᓗᒃ . This name is used for the administrative region the island is part of ( Qikiqtaaluk Region ), as well as in multiple places in Nunavut and the Northwest Territories , such as some smaller islands: Qikiqtaaluk in Baffin Bay and Qikiqtaaluk in Foxe Basin . Norse explorers referred to it as Helluland ("stone land"). In 1576, English seaman Martin Frobisher made landfall on

1239-593: The Nunatsiaq News , a weekly newspaper, reported that Patricia Sutherland , who worked at the Canadian Museum of Civilization , had found archaeological remains of yarn and cordage [string] , rat droppings, tally sticks , a carved wooden Dorset culture face mask depicting Caucasian features, and possible architectural remains, which indicated that European traders and possibly settlers had been on Baffin Island not later than 1000 CE. What

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1298-674: The 2021 Canadian census was 13,039 giving a population density of 0.03/km (0.07/sq mi). The population accounts for 67.37 per cent of the 19,355 people in the Qikiqtaaluk Region, 56.51 per cent of the population of the Arctic Archipelago , and 35.38 per cent of the population of Nunavut. As of the 2016 Canadian census the majority, 74.06 per cent, were Indigenous peoples and 25.83 per cent were non-Indigenous. This compares to 88.85 per cent and 14.12 per cent Indigenous and non-Indigenous people for Nunavut as

1357-491: The 2021 Canadian census ; and it is located at 68°N 70°W  /  68°N 70°W  / 68; -70  ( Baffin Island ) . It also contains the city of Iqaluit (with a population of around 7,000), which is the capital of Nunavut. The Inuktitut name for the island is Qikiqtaaluk , which means "very big island" ( qikiqtaq "island" + -aluk "very big") and in Inuktitut syllabics

1416-411: The Arctic tern , which migrates from Antarctica every spring. The varieties of water birds that nest here include coots , loons , mallards , and many other duck species. In the water (and under the ice), the main year-round species is the ringed seal subspecies, the Arctic ringed seal . It lives offshore within 8 km (5.0 mi) of land. In winter, it makes a number of breathing holes in

1475-562: The Baffin Island wolf , a grey wolf subspecies, are also year-round residents of Baffin Island. Unlike the grey wolf in southern climes, Arctic wolves often have smaller social networks, due to the barren landscape and minimal resources, thus resulting in unique hierarchies when compared with wolves found further south. For example, Arctic wolves often do not hunt in packs, although a male-female pair may hunt together. Nesting birds are summer land visitors to Baffin Island. Baffin Island

1534-469: The Earth's crust at a geologic fault . The first process is the more common type: the escarpment is a transition from one series of sedimentary rocks to another series of a different age and composition. Escarpments are also frequently formed by faults. When a fault displaces the ground surface so that one side is higher than the other, a fault scarp is created. This can occur in dip-slip faults , or when

1593-595: The Gulf of Boothia and Lancaster Sound separate Baffin Island from the rest of the Arctic Archipelago to the west and north. The Baffin Mountains run along the northeastern coast of the island and are a part of the Arctic Cordillera . The highest peak is Mount Odin , with an elevation of at least 2,143 m (7,031 ft), although some sources say 2,147 m (7,044 ft). Another peak of note

1652-484: The International Union for Conservation of Nature . Baffin Island has both year-round and summer visitor wildlife. On land, examples of year-round wildlife are barren-ground caribou , polar bear , Arctic fox , red fox , Arctic hare , lemming , and Baffin Island wolf . Barren-ground caribou herds migrate in a limited range from northern Baffin Island down to the southern part in winter, even to

1711-589: The Ramsar Convention on May 24, 1982. It is home of the world's largest goose colony and supports a large number of barren-ground caribou . The Bowman Bay Wildlife Sanctuary is also located on the western side of Baffin Island near Bowman Bay in the Great Plain of the Koukdjuak . It is 1,079 km (417 sq mi) and is classified as Category IV (Habitat/Species Management Area) under

1770-472: The bowhead whale . Found throughout the Arctic range, one group of bowhead whales is known to migrate to the Foxe Basin, a bay on the western side of Baffin Island. Baffin Island lies in the path of a generally northerly airflow all year round, so, like much of northeastern Canada, it has an extremely cold climate. This brings very long, cold winters and foggy, cloudy summers, which have helped to add to

1829-437: The fast ice close to land in their search for seals. Arctic foxes are scavengers and often follow polar bears to get their leavings. They also are known to take ground-nesting birds and their eggs and chicks, such as ducks, geese, ptarmigan, seagulls, shorebirds and even snowy owls, on occasion. On Baffin Island, Arctic foxes are sometimes trapped by Inuit , but there is no longer a robust fur industry . The Arctic wolf and

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1888-630: The pre-Dorset , followed by the Dorset , and then by the Thule people , ancestors of the Inuit , who have lived on the island for the last thousand years. The Thule people genetically and culturally completely replaced the Dorset people some time after 1300 CE. In about 986, Erik Thorvaldsson, known as Erik the Red , formed three settlements near the southwestern tip of Greenland. In late 985 or 986, Bjarni Herjólfsson , sailing from Iceland to Greenland,

1947-412: The talus . Many cliffs also feature tributary waterfalls or rock shelters . Sometimes a cliff peters out at the end of a ridge, with mushroom rocks or other types of rock columns remaining. Coastal erosion may lead to the formation of sea cliffs along a receding coastline. The British Ordnance Survey distinguishes between around most cliffs (continuous line along the topper edge with projections down

2006-467: The East Face precipice to the nearby Dunge Glacier to nearly 2,000 m. The location of the world's highest sea cliffs depends also on the definition of 'cliff' that is used. Guinness World Records states it is Kalaupapa, Hawaii , at 1,010 m high. Another contender is the north face of Mitre Peak , which drops 1,683 m to Milford Sound , New Zealand. These are subject to a less stringent definition, as

2065-703: The English name for Frobisher Bay on which it is located, named for Martin Frobisher . That year the community voted to restore the Inuktitut name. To the south lies Hudson Strait , separating Baffin Island from mainland Quebec . South of the western end of the island is the Fury and Hecla Strait , which separates the island from the Melville Peninsula on the mainland. To the east are Davis Strait and Baffin Bay , with Greenland beyond. The Foxe Basin ,

2124-568: The Frobisher Bay peninsula, next to Resolution Island , then migrating back north in the summer. In 2012, a survey of caribou herds found that the local population was only about 5,000, a decrease of as much as 95% from the 1990s. Arctic hares are found throughout Baffin Island. Their fur is pure white in winter and moults to a scruffy dark grey in summer. Arctic hares and lemmings are an important food source for Arctic and red foxes and Arctic wolves. Lemmings are also found throughout

2183-624: The Isortoq River. Although in the 1970s parts of Baffin Island failed to have the usual ice-free period in the summer. Climate tables from south to north The Hall Peninsula of southern Baffin Island includes the Chidliak Kimberlite Province , which had been found to include kimberlite pipes of diamond -bearing kimberlite . The Mary River iron ore mine began operating in 2015, and shipped 4.2 million tonnes of iron ore in 2023. The White Dawn

2242-684: The ancient Arctic people, the Dorset and Thule, needed to be taught how to spin yarn: "It's a pretty intuitive thing to do." ...the date received on Sample 4440b from Nanook clearly indicates that sinew was being spun and plied at least as early, if not earlier, than yarn at this site. We feel that the most parsimonious explanation of this data is that the practice of spinning hair and wool into plied yarn most likely developed naturally within this context of complex, indigenous, Arctic fiber technologies, and not through contact with European textile producers. [...] Our investigations indicate that Paleoeskimo (Dorset) communities on Baffin Island spun threads from

2301-560: The average slope of these cliffs at Kaulapapa is about 1.7, corresponding to an angle of 60 degrees, and Mitre Peak is similar. A more vertical drop into the sea can be found at Maujit Qaqarssuasia (also known as the ' Thumbnail ') which is situated in the Torssukátak fjord area at the very tip of South Greenland and drops 1,560 m near-vertically. Considering a truly vertical drop, Mount Thor on Baffin Island in Arctic Canada

2360-525: The community just over 3 1 ⁄ 2 months without true night. In the winter, the sun sets on November 22 and does not rise again until January 19 of the next year. Pond Inlet has civil twilight from December 16 to December 26. However, there is twilight for at least 4 hours per day, unlike places such as Eureka . Like most of Nunavut and the Canadian Arctic , Baffin Island has a tundra climate ( Köppen climate classification ET ), although

2419-690: The elements. Baffin Island Baffin Island (formerly Baffin Land ), in the Canadian territory of Nunavut , is the largest island in Canada , the second-largest island in the Americas (behind Greenland ), and the fifth-largest island in the world . Its area is 507,451 km (195,928 sq mi) with a population density of 0.03/km ; the population was 13,039 according to

Cliff - Misplaced Pages Continue

2478-524: The face) and outcrops (continuous lines along lower edge). Cliff comes from the Old English word clif of essentially the same meaning, cognate with Dutch, Low German, and Old Norse klif 'cliff'. These may in turn all be from a Romance loanword into Primitive Germanic that has its origins in the Latin forms clivus / clevus ("slope" or "hillside"). Given that a cliff does not need to be exactly vertical, there can be ambiguity about whether

2537-544: The feeding grounds in the Davis Strait between Greenland and Baffin Island, or into the Hudson Strait or any of the bays and estuaries in between. Usually travelling in pods of two or more, they can often be found very close to shore (100 m [330 ft] or less). They come up to breathe every 30 seconds or so as they make their way along the coastline eating crustaceans. Narwhals , which are known for

2596-753: The hair and also from the sinews of native terrestrial grazing animals, most likely musk ox and arctic hare , throughout the Middle Dorset period and for at least a millennium before there is any reasonable evidence of European activity in the islands of the North Atlantic or in the North American Arctic. A long-running debate disputes whether the Vikings taught indigenous peoples in the Canadian Arctic how to spin yarn when

2655-537: The highest ice caps have an ice cap climate ( EF ). The sea is frozen for most of the year, and only a few months are above freezing. There can be seasonal lag in spring. The Barnes Ice Cap , in the middle of the island, has been retreating since at least the early 1960s, when the Geographical Branch of the then Department of Mines and Technical Surveys sent a three-man survey team to the area to measure isostatic rebound and cross-valley features of

2714-415: The ice hardens further and further out to sea. As winter progresses, they will always remain where there is open water free of ice. When the ice melts, they move in to land and can be found basking on rocks close to shore. One of the largest walrus herds can be found in the Foxe Basin on the western side of Baffin Island. Beluga or white whales migrate along the coast of Baffin Island; some head north to

2773-440: The ice, up to 2 m (6 ft 7 in) thick. It visits each one often to keep the hole open and free from ice. In March, when a female is ready to whelp, she will enlarge one of the breathing holes that has snow over it, creating a small " igloo " where she whelps one or two pups. Within three weeks the pups are in the water and swimming. In summer, some ringed seals keep to a narrow territory about 3 km (1.9 mi) along

2832-581: The invaders arrived in the region around 1,000 years ago. The team found that some of the spun yarn dates back at least 2,000 years, long before the Vikings arrived in the area. This shows that the indigenous peoples in the Canadian Arctic developed yarn-spinning technologies without any help from the Vikings, the scientists said. William W. Fitzhugh , Director of the Arctic Studies Center at the Smithsonian Institution , and

2891-596: The island and are a major food source for foxes, wolves and the snowy owl . In the winter, lemmings dig complicated tunnel systems through the snow drifts to get to their food supply of dry grasses and lichens . Polar bears can be found all along the coast of Baffin Island but are most prevalent where the sea ice takes the form of pack ice , where their major food sources— ringed seals (jar seal) and bearded seals —live. Polar bears mate approximately every year, bearing one to three cubs around March. Female polar bears may travel 10–20 km (6.2–12.4 mi) inland to find

2950-483: The island, naming it "Queen Elizabeth's Foreland" and Frobisher Bay is named after him. The island is named after English explorer William Baffin , who, in 1616, came across the island while trying to discover the Northwest Passage . It was also formerly known as James Island . Iqaluit , the capital of Nunavut, is located on the southeastern coast. Until 1987, the town was called Frobisher Bay, after

3009-399: The males' long, spiralling single tusk, can also be found along the coast of Baffin Island in the summer. Much like their beluga cousins, they may be found in pairs or even in a large pod of ten or more males, females and newborns. They also can be often found close to the shoreline, gracefully pointing their tusks skyward as they come up for air. The largest summer visitor to Baffin Island is

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3068-496: The possibility that as "remote as it may seem," these finds may represent evidence of contact with Europeans prior to the Vikings' arrival in Greenland. Sutherland's research eventually led to a 2012 announcement that whetstones had been found with remnants of alloys indicative of Viking presence. In 2018, Michele Hayeur Smith of Brown University , who specialises in the study of ancient textiles , wrote that she does not think

3127-624: The remoteness of the island. Spring thaw arrives much later than normal for a position straddling the Arctic Circle : around early June at Iqaluit in the south-east but around early- to mid-July on the north coast where glaciers run right down to sea level. Snow, even heavy snow, can occur at any time of the year, although it is least likely in July and early August. Average annual temperatures at Iqaluit are around −9.5 °C (14.9 °F), compared with around 5 °C (41 °F) in Reykjavík , which

3186-443: The same time, then dive and swim up to 1–2 km (0.62–1.24 mi) before surfacing again. They migrate in large pods consisting of a hundred or more seals to within 1–8 km (0.62–4.97 mi) of the shoreline, which they then follow, feeding on crustaceans and fish. Walruses , which do not migrate far off land in the winter. They merely follow the fast ice , or ice that is solidly attached to land, and stay ahead of it as

3245-447: The shoreline but may move out into the open water. In the spring they spend more time on the surface of the ice. Water species that visit Baffin Island in the summer are: Harp seals (or saddle-backed seals), which migrate from major breeding grounds off the coast of Labrador and the southeast coast of Greenland to Baffin Island for the summer. Migrating at speeds of 15–20 km/h (9.3–12.4 mph), they all come up to breathe at

3304-506: The source of this Old World contact may have been is unclear and controversial; the newspaper article states: Dating of some yarn and other artifacts, presumed to be left by Vikings on Baffin Island, have produced an age that predates the Vikings by several hundred years. So, as Sutherland said, if you believe that spinning was not an indigenous technique that was used in Arctic North America, then you have to consider

3363-417: The surface, erosion and weathering may occur. Escarpments erode gradually and over geological time . The mélange tendencies of escarpments results in varying contacts between a multitude of rock types. These different rock types weather at different speeds, according to Goldich dissolution series so different stages of deformation can often be seen in the layers where the escarpments have been exposed to

3422-601: The way a three-ply yarn is made now, the Baffin Island yarn was a simple two-ply yarn. The eight sod buildings and artifacts found in the 1960s at L'Anse aux Meadows , located on the northern tip of Newfoundland Island , remains the only confirmed Norse site in North America outside of those found in Greenland. Baffin Island is part of the Qikiqtaaluk Region . The population of Baffin Island at

3481-502: Was blown off course and sighted land southwest of Greenland. Bjarni appears to be the first European to see Baffin Island, and the first European to see North America beyond Greenland. It was about 15 years later that the Norse Greenlanders , led by Leif Erikson , a son of Erik the Red, started exploring new areas around the year 1000. Baffin Island is thought to be Helluland , and the archaeological site at Tanfield Valley

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