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68-784: The Endicott Mountains are a range of mountains , part of the Brooks Range in northern Alaska . They are located in the middle of the Brooks range and run some 151 miles (243 km) east–west. To the east are the Philip Smith Mountains and to the west are the Schwatka Mountains. The Endicott Mountains are separated from the Philip Smith Mountains by the Middle Fork of the Koyukuk River ,

136-649: A 1 250  m ( 4 101  ft), 105° cliff face. The Torngat Mountains National Park Reserve , located on the Labrador Peninsula , covers much of the southern end of the Arctic Cordillera. It protects many species of Arctic wildlife, such as caribou , polar bears , peregrine falcons and golden eagles . The park was established on January 22, 2005, making it the first national park to be created in Labrador. The drier northern section of

204-517: A government presence intended to curb foreign whaling and other activity. Much of Bylot Island is covered by the Arctic Cordillera. At 11,067 km (4,273 sq mi) it is ranked 71st largest island in the world and Canada's 17th largest. While there are no permanent settlements on Bylot, Inuit from Pond Inlet regularly travel to it. More than one-fifth of Ellesmere Island is protected as Quttinirpaaq National Park (formerly Ellesmere Island National Park), which includes seven fjords and

272-472: A maximum thickness of more than 789 m (2,589 ft) on northwestern Axel Heiberg to a zero edge near the southern shore of the island. Tholeiitic icelandite basalt flows are the main constituent of the formation with pyroclastic conglomerates, sandstones , mudrocks and rare coal seams also present. The lava flows range in thickness from 6 to 60 m (20 to 197 ft) and subaerial flows predominate. Both pahoehoe and aa lava types are common and

340-627: A mix of different orogenic expressions and terranes , for example thrust sheets , uplifted blocks , fold mountains, and volcanic landforms resulting in a variety of rock types . Most geologically young mountain ranges on the Earth's land surface are associated with either the Pacific Ring of Fire or the Alpide belt . The Pacific Ring of Fire includes the Andes of South America, extends through

408-667: A variety of glaciers , as well as Lake Hazen , the world's largest lake north of the Arctic Circle . Barbeau Peak, the highest mountain in Nunavut at 2 616  m ( 8 583  ft), 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 northwest region of the island. The northern lobe of the island

476-792: Is Barbeau Peak on Ellesmere Island at 2,616 m (8,583 ft), which is the highest point in eastern North America . The system is also one of Canada's three mountain systems, the others being the Western Cordillera of Western Canada and the Canadian extension of the Appalachian Mountains into the Gaspé Peninsula and Atlantic Provinces . The landscape is dominated by massive polar ice fields, alpine glaciers, inland fjords, and large bordering bodies of water, distinctive of many similar arctic regions in

544-534: Is a rare alkaline suite that formed as a result of submarine rifting during the Paleoproterozoic period. The lavas of the volcanic belt display geochemical characteristics similar to modern ocean-island-basalt groups. The range from moderately to intensely fractionated. Rare-earth-element profiles are similar to those from tholeiitic basalts and extremely alkaline lavas in Hawaii . Several ranges of

612-415: Is a species of least concern because of habitat loss and deforestation from the spruce budworm moth . In the Arctic Cordillera however, the black spruce population is in good health, and is slowly gaining habitat through the retreat of polar ice. Another species that is of great importance to this ecoregion is the endangered Bowhead whale ( Balaena mysticetus ). Five total stocks of this species exist in

680-554: Is a terrestrial ecozone in northern Canada characterized by 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 Labrador Peninsula in northern Labrador and northern Quebec , Canada. It spans most of the eastern coast of Nunavut with high glaciated peaks rising through ice fields and some of Canada's largest ice caps, including

748-571: Is a widespread bird in this region. Typical birds of prey include the gyrfalcon and snowy owl . Some of the more widespread shore- and seabirds are the thick-billed murre , black-legged kittiwake , ruddy turnstone , red knot , black guillemot , widespread ringed plover , little ringed plover and northern fulmar . Songbirds found in the Arctic Cordillera include the hoary redpoll , common redpoll , snow bunting , and Lapland longspur . The snow goose , common and king eider , and red-throated loon are some species of waterfowl that live in

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816-405: Is about 200 mm, which usually falls down as snow or ice. Huge ice caps dominate the landscape, and they spawn large glaciers that are pushed down steep fjords and into the sea. When the temperature gets above freezing for an extended period time a little amount of runoff is created, which is generally under 200 mm annually. The northern portion of the Arctic Cordillera was uplifted during

884-538: Is at work while the mountains are being uplifted until the mountains are reduced to low hills and plains. The early Cenozoic uplift of the Rocky Mountains of Colorado provides an example. As the uplift was occurring some 10,000 feet (3,000 m) of mostly Mesozoic sedimentary strata were removed by erosion over the core of the mountain range and spread as sand and clays across the Great Plains to

952-577: Is called Grant Land . 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 University in Kingston, Ontario , and Marianne S. V. Douglas of the University of Alberta in Edmonton, warming conditions and evaporation have caused low-water-level changes in the chemistry of ponds and wetlands in

1020-444: Is dominated by massive polar icefields, alpine glaciers, inland fjords, and large bordering bodies of water, distinctive of many similar arctic regions in the world. Although the terrain is infamous for its unforgiving conditions, humans maintained an established population of 1000 people – 80% of which were Inuit . In addition, the landscape is 75% covered by ice or exposed bedrock, with a continuous permafrost that persists throughout

1088-466: Is encountered in the future. The polar bear is one of the most notably affected species in the Arctic Cordillera, mainly due to their heavy reliance on arctic ice for hunting and bedding grounds. Habitat loss, caused by global warming, has led to many dangerous behavioural changes including a new behaviour called long swims. These are swims lasting as long as ten days performed by mother bears to attempt to find food for their cubs, which generally lead to

1156-752: Is largely absent in this area due to permanent ice and snow. The Arctic Cordillera is a narrow ecozone compared to other Canadian ecozones. The majority of this ecozone borders the Northern Arctic , while the small segment within Labrador borders the Taiga Shield . While the Arctic Cordillera mountain system includes most of the Arctic islands and regions such as Bathurst Island , Cornwall Island , Amund Ringnes Island , Ellef Ringnes Island , Ellesmere Island, Baffin Island, Bylot Island and Labrador,

1224-555: Is surface soil present. The remaining soil is hidden beneath deep snow and ice, and is kept in a constant state of permafrost. Mountains of volcanic rock range in age from 1.2 billion to 65 million years old. The Late Cretaceous Ellesmere Island Volcanics has been uncertainly associated to both the early volcanic activity of the Iceland hotspot and the Alpha Ridge . Even though these volcanics are about 90 million years old,

1292-551: The Annamite Range . If the definition of a mountain range is stretched to include underwater mountains, then the Ocean Ridge forms the longest continuous mountain system on Earth, with a length of 65,000 kilometres (40,400 mi). The position of mountain ranges influences climate, such as rain or snow. When air masses move up and over mountains, the air cools, producing orographic precipitation (rain or snow). As

1360-852: The Dalton Highway , and Atigun Pass . The Endicott Mountains are separated from the Schwatka Mountains by Walker Lake , the upper reaches of the West Fork of the Kobuk River (Kaluluktok Creek), Akabluak Pass, and the Noatak River . The Endicott Mountains are separated from the mountains north of the Schwatka by Lucky Six Creek, Gull Pass, Gull Creek, a portion of the Alatna River and the Killik River . From south to north

1428-776: The IUCN Red List since 1984. One of the most important conservation efforts for this species is "legal" protection by the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling , which came into force in 1935. This convention was further strengthened and ratified by Canada in 1977 to support the International Whaling Commission ’s (IWC) recommendation for full protection of the bowhead whale. Further conservation efforts have involved more physically demanding solutions, including

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1496-726: The Innuitian orogeny when the North American Plate moved northward during the mid- Mesozoic . It contains igneous and metamorphic rocks , but for the most part is composed of sedimentary rocks . Mountains on Axel Heiberg Island consist mainly of long ridges of folded mid-Mesozoic and Palaeozoic strata with minor igneous intrusions . The Arctic Cordillera is younger than the Appalachians , and so erosion has not had time to reduce it to rounded hills . The mountains are also barren because trees can neither survive

1564-464: The Milne and Ayles ice shelves between 1959 and 1974. The Ward Hunt Ice Shelf , the largest remaining section of thick (greater than 10 m [33 ft]) landfast sea ice along the northern coastline of Ellesmere Island, lost 600 km (370 mi) of ice in a massive calving in 1961–1962. It further decreased by 27% in thickness (13 m, 43 ft) between 1967 and 1999. The breakup of

1632-465: The Mississippian (early Carboniferous) . It is believed to have formed a huge delta almost 500 miles (800 km) long and 30 miles (48 km) wide. Mountain range Mountain ranges are usually segmented by highlands or mountain passes and valleys . Individual mountains within the same mountain range do not necessarily have the same geologic structure or petrology . They may be

1700-580: The Mithrim Montes and Doom Mons on Titan, and Tenzing Montes and Hillary Montes on Pluto. Some terrestrial planets other than Earth also exhibit rocky mountain ranges, such as Maxwell Montes on Venus taller than any on Earth and Tartarus Montes on Mars . Jupiter's moon Io has mountain ranges formed from tectonic processes including the Boösaule , Dorian, Hi'iaka and Euboea Montes . Arctic Cordillera The Arctic Cordillera

1768-848: The North American Cordillera , the Aleutian Range , on through Kamchatka Peninsula , Japan , Taiwan , the Philippines , Papua New Guinea , to New Zealand . The Andes is 7,000 kilometres (4,350 mi) long and is often considered the world's longest mountain system. The Alpide belt stretches 15,000 km across southern Eurasia , from Java in Maritime Southeast Asia to the Iberian Peninsula in Western Europe , including

1836-764: The Penny Ice Cap on Baffin Island . It is bounded to the east by Baffin Bay , Davis Strait and the Labrador Sea while its northern portion is bounded by the Arctic Ocean . The geographic range is composed along the provinces of Labrador: including Eastern Baffin , Devon Island , Ellesmere , Bylot Island , the Torngat Mountains , and some parts of the Northeastern fringe. The landscape

1904-483: The crystalline basement PreCambrian and Paleozoic sediments that have undergone partial metamorphosis . Above these are middle Cambrian sediments and the well documented Kanayuk Conglomerate. The Kanayuk Conglomerate is a fluvial deposit, made by a river in its flood plain, and can be up to 8,000 feet (2,400 m) thick. The Kanayuk Conglomerate began to be deposited in the Devonian and continued through into

1972-522: The world's tenth largest island and Canada's third largest island . The first inhabitants of Ellesmere Island were small bands of Inuit drawn to the area for Peary caribou , muskox , and marine mammal hunting about 1000–2000 BC. Axel Heiberg Island is one of the several members of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago and the largest of the Sverdrup Islands , having an area of 43,178 km (16,671 sq mi). It has been inhabited in

2040-800: The Arctic Cordillera Ecozone only covers Ellesmere Island, Baffin Island, Axel Heiberg Island , Bylot Island and Labrador. The Arctic Cordillera is geographically diverse. Much of Ellesmere Island is covered by the Arctic Cordillera, making it the most mountainous in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. It is considered part of the Queen Elizabeth Islands , with Cape Columbia being the most northerly point of land in Canada. It encompasses an area of 196,235 km (75,767 sq mi), making it

2108-713: The Arctic Cordillera Mountain Range is most similar (in composition and age) to the Appalachian Mountain Range of the United States. However, as the Appalachian Mountains are slightly older, their cliffs have been eroded, and are less jagged than those of the Arctic Cordillera.This ecoregion is also home to very limited amounts of exposed soil. Only in extremely sheltered places – such as that of caves –

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2176-411: The Arctic Cordillera have official names: Not much can grow in the severe environment, where killing frost can come at any time during the year and even soil is rare. Three-quarters of the land is bare rock , and even lichen have a hard time of it. Trees are hardly noticeable. Plants that do grow in the region are mostly tiny species that often grow in thick Insulating mats to protect themselves from

2244-498: The Arctic Cordillera is largely covered with ice caps while glaciers are more common at the more humid southern end. 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 Cap along the central-east side of the island; and substantial ice cover in Northern Ellesmere Island. The northwest coast of Ellesmere Island

2312-729: The Baffin Island and has been in retreat since at least the early 1960s when the Geographical Branch of the then Department of Mines & Technical Surveys sent a three-man survey team to the area to measure isostatic rebound and cross-valley features of the Isortoq River . Nearly 75% of the land within this ecoregion is exposed bedrock or ice. The majority of the water is locked up in frozen ice and snow, therefore there are very few named rivers or other bodies of water within this region. The annual amount precipitation

2380-653: 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 break-off 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]). The Barnes icecap is found in the central part of

2448-688: The Endicott Mountains present long, broad glaciated valleys with rounded hills between rising in the center of the range to steep tors and aretes. The northern slopes of the Endicotts are steeper and more heavily incised, before they give way to the Arctic Coastal Plain. Peaks in the Endicott Mountains include the Arrigetch Peaks , and highest to lowest: as well as a number of unnamed peaks over 7000 ft. Above

2516-627: The air descends on the leeward side, it warms again (following the adiabatic lapse rate ) and is drier, having been stripped of much of its moisture. Often, a rain shadow will affect the leeward side of a range. As a consequence, large mountain ranges, such as the Andes, compartmentalize continents into distinct climate regions . Mountain ranges are constantly subjected to erosional forces which work to tear them down. The basins adjacent to an eroding mountain range are then filled with sediments that are buried and turned into sedimentary rock . Erosion

2584-573: The area. The researchers noted, "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." Sirmilik National Park in northern Baffin Island harbours large populations of thick-billed murres , black-legged kittiwakes and greater snow geese . The park comprises three areas: Bylot Island, Oliver Sound and the Borden Peninsula . Auyuittuq National Park , located on Baffin Island's Cumberland Peninsula , features

2652-582: The cold or are covered in thick hairs that help to insulate and to protect them from the harsh wind. Some of the plant species found are Arctic black spruce , Arctic willow , cottongrass , crustose lichens, kobresia , moss species, wood rush , wire rush, purple saxifrage , Dryas species such as mountain avens , sedges , Diapensia lapponica , Arctic poppy , mountain sorrel , river beauty, moss campion , bilberry , and Arctic white heather . The conditions here are far too severe for reptiles and amphibians to survive; insects are also rare in

2720-403: The death of the cub. Because of their stature and aggressiveness, direct conservation practices are not very useful to the polar bear. Instead, scientific observation to better understand these animals is the largest form of traditional conservation. The Arctic black spruce is an example of a plant native to the Arctic Cordillera that is considered to be in ecological decline. The black spruce

2788-485: The east. This mass of rock was removed as the range was actively undergoing uplift. The removal of such a mass from the core of the range most likely caused further uplift as the region adjusted isostatically in response to the removed weight. Rivers are traditionally believed to be the principal cause of mountain range erosion, by cutting into bedrock and transporting sediment. Computer simulation has shown that as mountain belts change from tectonically active to inactive,

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2856-506: The eastern edge of the Canadian Shield, which covers much of Canada's landscape. Precambrian rock is the major component of the bedrock . The Arctic Cordillera is dominated by vast mountain ranges stretching for thousands of miles, virtually untouched by man. These mountains were formed millions of years ago during the mid- Mesozoic when the North American Plate moved northward, pushing earth and rock upwards. The mountains of

2924-548: The expansion of commercial whaling in the 16th and 17th century, this species was exploited to dangerously low numbers. Commercial hunting of bowheads was officially ended in 1921, when moratoria were established to protect the remaining 3,000 individuals left in the wild. Today, those same moratoria are still in effect, but the Bowhead population has been reinstated to a manageable population of between 7,000 and 10,000 individuals. Nonetheless, these whales have been (and remain) on

2992-747: The extremely cold winter temperatures, nor grow during the short summers. Vast areas are covered by permanent ice and snow. The Arctic Cordillera resembles the Appalachians in composition and contain similar types of minerals . The mineral resources have not been greatly exploited, however, because the region's remote location makes development too costly when cheaper alternatives exist further south. Mountains on southeastern Ellesmere Island are principally made of granitic gneiss , magmatic, undifferentiated intrusive and volcanic rocks. They are typified by being highly eroded , with conspicuous deep vertical fissures and narrow ledges. The Arctic Cordillera form

3060-529: The fifth largest in the world, with an area of 507,451 km (195,928 sq mi). Devon Island is the largest uninhabited island on Earth . With an area of 55,247 km (21,331 sq mi), it is the second-largest of the Queen Elizabeth Islands, the 27th largest in the world and Canada's 6th largest. An outpost was established at Dundas Harbour in August 1924 as part of

3128-480: The ground, and use of other plant masses for extra insulation. Due to the harsh environments and extremely low temperatures that encompass the Arctic Cordillera, there is not a large variety of plants and animals that are able to survive and exist as a population. However, some animal species, both herbivores and carnivores, are able to survive the extreme weather and terrain. Among these animals are wolves , polar bears , Arctic foxes , musk-oxen , and caribou . For

3196-406: The ice as well as its extremely intelligent hunting tactics. No other predatory animal defines the Arctic Cordillera as well as the large white polar bear and that is why when people think about arctic animals, they think about the polar bear. As long as the polar bear exists, it will be the keystone species of the Arctic Cordillera. However, this existence relies solely on the degree of ice melt that

3264-400: The many terrains of Arctic wilderness such as fjords, glaciers, and ice fields . In Inuktitut —the language of Nunavut's Aboriginal people, Inuit— Auyuittuq means "the land that never melts." Although Auyuittuq was established in 1976 as a national park reserve, it was upgraded to a full national park in 2000. Well-known peaks in the park include Mount Asgard and Mount Thor , with

3332-438: The most part, the large carnivores are the dominant species in the ecoregion, mainly the polar bear. It is the keystone species for the area due to many of its habits, including its diet and hunting strategies. In addition, the life history of the 22,000 polar bears in the Arctic clearly defines its current existence in the Arctic Cordillera. The large carnivorous species defines the ecoregion due to its intimate relationship with

3400-440: The north contain metamorphic and igneous rock, and are predominantly sedimentary rock. On the other hand, the southern mountains are greater, composed of granite gneiss and magmatic volcanic rock. These mountains are characterized as being highly erodible with very steep and jagged cliffs with narrow ledges. The highest peak in the Arctic Cordillera mountain range is Barbeau Peak – standing almost nine thousand feet tall. In general,

3468-499: The past by Inuit, but was uninhabited by the time it was named by Otto Sverdrup , who explored it around 1900. In 1959, scientists from McGill University explored Expedition Fiord in central Axel Heiberg Island. This resulted in the establishment of the McGill Arctic Research Station , constructed 8 km (5 mi) inland from Expedition Fjord in 1960. Baffin Island is the largest island in Canada and

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3536-403: The plant cover is more extensive, consisting of herbaceous and shrub-type communities. Stream-banks and coastlines are the most biologically productive areas here. The plants in this region have a history of being survivors and stress tolerant to high winds, low temperatures, few available macronutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus. Plants have adaptations such as fluffy seed masses, staying low to

3604-434: The populations being 820, 473 and 1,315 respectively in 2006. Most of the people who live in the region survive by hunting , fishing , and trapping . The Arctic Cordillera is a cold, harsh environment making plant life and animal-life sparse; even soil is rare in this ecoregion. Moss, cottongrass , and Arctic heather are examples of plant life that can be found in valleys. Meanwhile, polar bears, seals, and walruses roam

3672-494: The process. It was not always as cold as it is today. Tree stumps were discovered in 1985 on Axel Heiberg Island dating back 40 million years, indicating this northerly part of the cordillera was warmer and wetter than its present-day climate, with much more biodiversity . Only about 2,600 people live in the region, found primarily in the communities of Clyde River , Qikiqtarjuaq (formerly known as Broughton Island), and Pond Inlet . These communities are rather small, with

3740-619: The ranges of the Himalayas , Karakoram , Hindu Kush , Alborz , Caucasus , and the Alps . The Himalayas contain the highest mountains in the world, including Mount Everest , which is 8,848 metres (29,029 ft) high. Mountain ranges outside these two systems include the Arctic Cordillera , Appalachians , Great Dividing Range , East Siberians , Altais , Scandinavians , Qinling , Western Ghats , Vindhyas , Byrrangas , and

3808-516: The rate of erosion drops because there are fewer abrasive particles in the water and fewer landslides. Mountains on other planets and natural satellites of the Solar System, including the Moon , are often isolated and formed mainly by processes such as impacts, though there are examples of mountain ranges (or "Montes") somewhat similar to those on Earth. Saturn 's moon Titan and Pluto , in particular, exhibit large mountain ranges in chains composed mainly of ices rather than rock. Examples include

3876-550: The recommended funding of specialized technical machines that have the capability to remove debris that commonly kills these whales due to entanglement and accidental indigestion. The Arctic Cordillera has one of Canada's most inhospitable climates. The weather is generally very cold and dry with a few weeks of sun and rain in the summer. Snow is the most common form of precipitation in the Cordillera. The region only gets 20−60 centimeters of precipitation annually. The temperature in this ecoregion averages around 4 degrees Celsius during

3944-432: The region within the arctic oceans and adjacent seas: the Spitsbergen stock, Baffin Bay/Davis Strait, stock and Hudson Bay/Foxe Basin Stock, Sea of Okhotsk Stock, and the Bering/Chukchi/Beaufort Stock. Historically, these whales have served as a cultural icon, and an important source of food and fuel to the Inuit. At this point in time, their populations were estimated between 30,000 and 50,000 individuals. However, with

4012-418: The region. The Arctic Cordillera is a very high stress environment for plants to try and grow and regenerate. Vegetation is largely absent due to permanent ice and snow. Due to the extremely cold, dry climate, along with the ice-fields and lack of soil materials, the high and mid-elevations are largely devoid of significant populations of plants. In the warmer valleys at low elevations and along coastal margins,

4080-492: The region. Muskoxen and barren-ground caribou are the only large herbivores in this environment, while polar bears and the Arctic wolf are the only large carnivores to be found in the region. Smaller herbivores include the Arctic hare and the collared lemming . Arctic foxes and stoats are some of the smaller carnivores found in the region. Marine mammals include narwhals , beluga whales , walrus along with ringed and bearded seals . The furry-legged rock ptarmigan

4148-432: The shores and survive off the thriving marine ecosystem. Fish, clams, and shrimp are just a few of the resources the local Inuit communities of Nunavut use in the highly productive waters to support their economy. Nunavut's government is also investing in exploration of mineral resources; Breakwater Resources , for example, has Nanisivik Mine , a zinc-lead mine in Arctic Bay that just reopened in April 2003 after closing

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4216-466: The summer. Winter is very dark and long, when temperatures average at −35 °C (−31 °F), although it is somewhat milder and more humid in its southernmost portions. A polar cell is a system of winds that influence the climate of the Cordillera. It is made up of the Westerlies , which are winds that blow warm air east to west from 30 to 60 degrees latitude up to the poles, and the Polar Easterlies , which blow cold air back south where it will repeat

4284-561: The volcanic pile accumulated mostly by the quiet effusion of lavas. The pyroclastic lithologies become more common near the southern and eastern edges of the formation and represent lahars and beach to shallow marine reworked deposits. The formation contains flood basalts , which are found on western Axel Heiberg Island at Dragon Cliff , 300 m (980 ft) tall. It contains columnar jointing units that are usually 1 to 3 m (3 ft 3 in to 9 ft 10 in) in diameter. The Bravo Lake Formation in central Baffin Island

4352-447: The volcanoes and cinder can still be seen. The Late Cretaceous Strand Fiord Formation is interpreted to represent the craton-ward extension of the Alpha Ridge, a volcanic ridge that was active during the formation of the Amerasian Basin . The formation is part of the thick Sverdrup Basin succession and immediately precedes the final basin foundering event. The Strand Fiord volcanics are encased in marine strata and thin southward from

4420-456: The world. Although the terrain is infamous for its unforgiving conditions, humans maintained an established population of 1000 people – 80% of whom were Inuit. In addition, the landscape is 75% covered by ice or exposed bedrock, with a continuous permafrost that persists throughout the year, making plant and animal life somewhat scarce. The temperature of the Arctic Cordillera ranges from 6 °C in summer down to −16 °C in winter. Vegetation

4488-408: The year before due to declining resources. Climate change is the strongest human influence in the Arctic Cordillera. Rising temperatures in the Arctic are causing ice shelves, and the habitats they provide, to shrink from year to year. Researchers of global warming also express concern for the economic, political, and social consequences of the resulting decline in fisheries stocks expected because of

4556-494: The year, making plant and animal life somewhat scarce. The temperature of the Arctic Cordillera ranges from 6 °C in summer, down to −16 °C in winter. Vegetation is largely absent in this area due to permanent ice and snow. The range is mostly located in Nunavut but extends southeast into the northernmost tip of Labrador and northeastern Quebec. The system is divided into a series of ranges, with mountains reaching heights of more than 2,000 m (6,562 ft). The highest

4624-422: Was covered by a massive, 500 km (310 mi) long ice shelf until the 20th century. The Ellesmere ice shelf reduced by 90 percent in the twentieth century due to global warming , leaving the separate Alfred Ernest, Ayles, Milne, Ward Hunt, and Markham Ice Shelves. A 1986 survey of Canadian ice shelves found that 48 km (19 sq mi), involving 3.3 km (0.79 cu mi) of ice, calved from

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