King William Island
King William Iceland (formerly King William Land; Inuktitut: Qikiqtaq ) is a facility located in the arctic north of Canada large and sparsely populated island.
Geography
Location
The King William Iceland is located in the territory of Nunavut ( Kitikmeot Region ) and is part of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago -. It is located 250 km well above the Arctic Circle in the southern Arctic Ocean.
From the nearest part of the North American continent, the southern neighbor Adelaide Peninsula, the island through the Simpson Strait ( at the narrowest point only about five kilometers wide ) separated and the Storis passage. To the east of King William Iceland is the large peninsula Boothia, from which it is separated by the Rae Strait and the James Ross Strait. In the West, Victoria Strait, beyond which the Victoria Island is the island surrounds. In contrast, the northern coast of King William Iceland borders not to a strait or street but on a larger area of open sea ( McClintock Channel ), which is completed by the 150 km further north Prince of Wales Island ( s. map).
Off the coasts of King William Islands are numerous smaller islands and groups of islands, among which include the Royal Geographical Society Islands and Iceland Matty and Tennent Iceland to the most important.
Geology
King William Iceland is generally considered geologically as part of the Canadian Shield, but partly also a separate geological province " Arctic Platform" impute. The bedrock of the island comes from the geological periods Ordovician and Silurian in the age of the Paleozoic; so it is about 400 to 500 million years old.
The surface shape of King William Island is a result of the Würm glaciation ( in North America called " Wisconsineiszeit " ) which ended about 10,000 years ago. The island was then - as virtually all of today's Canada - completely under glacial ice. Their myriad formed by the meltwater lakes particular, but also clearly recognizable moraines, glacial troughs and Oser ( formed by glacier water embankments ) attest to anywhere from this period. It is also noteworthy that the area of the island at times was during the last glaciation due to the enormous weight of the weighing on him ice more than 200 m lower than today, and has slowly lifted only after the glaciers retreated. Prior to this enhancement, the island was completely below sea level, and is thus geologically considered relatively young.
Topography
King William Iceland covers an area of 13,111 km ², which is slightly larger than the Tyrol or slightly less than Schleswig -Holstein. The island is from east to west about 175 km and from the northernmost to the southernmost point about 160 km. The total length of the coastline of the island is 1,300 km. The terrain is mostly gently undulating - its highest point is only 137 m above sea level - and interspersed with numerous lakes. In addition, the large amounts of melt water of the short Arctic summer has created a network of countless rivers and streams. Just as the interior of the island is dominated by the constant contrast of land and inland waters, including the coasts are highly structured by a permanent series of peninsulas (such as the Gibson Peninsula, the easternmost part of King William Iceland ) and headlands, inlets (eg, more than 25 km deep in the island cut Collinson Inlet) and bays.
Climate
King William Iceland is located in the zone of polar tundra climate ( Köppen classification according to the developed ). The climate is characterized by cool summers and extremely cold winters and generally very dry. Temperatures below freezing can occur in any month of the year; only July and August are largely free from frost. The island is usually in the second half of September on solid snow that remains until early summer. In the bottom permafrost. The sea around Iceland is King William in late summer frozen except for a few weeks throughout the year.
The average maximum temperature ( measured in Gjoa Haven ) is in July 23.9 ° C and -23.3 ° C in January, the average low temperature is in July at 7.2 ° C and -49.4 ° C in January The average annual rainfall is only 84 mm.
Flora and Fauna
King William Iceland is attributed to the ecoregion " Northern Arctic " ( according to the Canadian classification). This type of habitat is characterized by the extremely cold and very dry climate, snow almost throughout the year, almost 24 hours of daylight in the summer months compared to almost total darkness in the winter and a flat barren landscape with permafrost. Accordingly, only relatively few, adapting to extreme conditions can maintain animal and plant species in this environment.
The vegetation is mainly characterized by treeless tundra, with the north of the island is generally covered even sparser than the southern part. The island is located several hundred kilometers north of the tree line; Grasses, lichens and dwarf shrubs are the dominant plants. In addition, due to the harsh climate in particular in the north of King William Island of land that have virtually no growth at all, but are pure sand and gravel landscapes exist.
On King William Iceland, there are many features typical of the arctic wildlife species, including, inter alia, the polar bear and the arctic fox. The surrounding waters have a particularly large variety of fish and marine mammals ( including belugas and narwhals ). During the short summer months large herds of caribou come from further south mainland to the island to graze here.
History
King William Iceland had long been inhabited by the Inuit people from the Netsilik by European sailors before their discovery. 1830/31 reached for the first time a British expedition led by Sir John Ross, the north coast of the island. Ross named it after his King William IV, who had ascended the throne of the British Empire just in that year. However, the name was initially "King William 's Land", as Ross not yet realized that it was an island.
In 1837, in the service of the Hudson 's Bay Company ( HBC) Peter Warren Dease and Thomas standing Simpson the first to reach the south coast of the White King William Island. In the course of the 19th century passed a number of other expeditions in search of the legendary Northwest Passage Island.
The most famous among them, the British Franklin Expedition, found here their tragic end, as the two excellent equipped ships HMS Erebus and HMS Terror were trapped under the direction of the polar explorer John Franklin in front of the northern coast of King William Island by ice in 1846. Franklin had tried in search of the Northwest Passage, west to sail past the island, but was failed on pack ice, which expresses the McClintock Channel against the island. The decimated crew left the ship after two winters in April 1848 because the diet had become catastrophic on board. She made a desperate attempt to reach the outposts of the HBC. Most of the participants died still on the island and only a few reached the North American mainland, where they also lost their lives. From 1848 on numerous rescue expeditions were sent by the British Admiralty and the Franklin's widow Jane Griffin, who should find the lost in the Arctic crew. Several of these expeditions, including those under Francis Leopold McClintock, also reached the island, which increasingly precise knowledge of the geography of the area could be obtained.
By 1903 no ship reached a through the Northwest Passage by sea. It was not until the expedition of the Norwegian polar explorer Roald Amundsen sailed around the island eastward. Also Amundsen was initially stopped with his ship, the Gjoa by heavy ice conditions. The expedition was forced to 1903/ 04 and 1904/ 05 to winter in a bay on the southeast coast of King William Iceland ( what is now the capital of Gjoa Haven ). During this involuntary stay got Amundsen and his team of the indigenous inhabitants of the islands taught traditional techniques that enable survival in the Arctic. Through the successful completion of Amundsen's expedition turned out that one possible route of the Northwest Passage actually goes past King William Iceland.
Opened in 1927, the HBC an office in Gjoa Haven.
Population
Despite their enormous size, the island has only about 1,000 inhabitants. Capital is located on the southeastern coast Gjoa Haven ( in Inuktitut: Ursuqtuq ). Another settlement is located at the Simpson Street hamlet Gladman Point. About 90 % of the inhabitants of the island are Inuit. On the island of Inuktitut and English are spoken.
Economy and infrastructure
Gjoa Haven has an airport and a harbor. The aircraft provides for the residents of King William Island, the most important link to the outside world dar. scheduled flights of the First Air Ltd.. Gjoa Haven Nunavut connect with capital Iqaluit and Cambridge Bay on Victoria Island and Yellowknife in the Northwest Territories. Partly also Seaplanes be used as a transport. Exists on the island, with the exception of some unpaved trails in the immediate surroundings of the capital, not a road network. In Gjoa Haven, there are some taxi provider. In winter, snowmobiles are a frequently used means of transport.
The main economic activities on the island include hunting and fishing ( largely for their own needs ) and the production of carvings and handicrafts. In Gjoa Haven, there is a grocery store as well, as the only commercial accommodation for visitors to the island, a simple hotel with 19 beds. A part of the population finds work in state and communal facilities including local government, post office, school and health center.