Smoking Hills

The Smoking Hills ( German: Smoking Mountains) are a located in the area of the Canadian Northwest Territories cliff on the Northwest Passage.

Geography

The Smoking Hills extend at the junction of the Amundsen Gulf in the Beaufort Sea in north- northwesterly direction nearly 100 km along the eastern coast of Bathurst Peninsula to near Cape Bathurst. They were discovered and named by John Franklin during his second polar expedition in 1826. He also later and Arctic explorer stopped the smoking coastline mistaken for volcanic origin.

Geomorphology, geochemistry and environmental

The cliffs of the Smoking Hills pull through strong sulfur-and xylitol-containing layers ( strata ) of oil shale, the uninterrupted for many centuries burning wick due to spontaneous combustion under the influence of atmospheric oxygen and seawater humidity. Are the combustible components " burn up " the rock has lost its strength and eroded into the sea, causing further layers are exposed. The cliffs coloring materials consist mainly of jarosite, a potassium iron sulfate compound., Formed when the combustion of the sulfur sulfur dioxide led to a strong acidification of the surrounding shallow tundra lakes and swamps ( pH values ​​below 2) and was significantly higher metal concentrations, including aluminum, iron, zinc, nickel, manganese and cadmium, arise. , the surrounding soils and sedimentary rocks have been chemically altered in comparison with other tundra regions adapted to the acidification of the environment is also occurring here living things ( biota ). they differ significantly from those that live on or in the more alkaline lakes in neighboring regions.

The presence of xylitol have given about 100 km southeast of the Smoking Hills situated Inuit settlement Paulatuk the name; Paulatuuq means "place of coal ".

Tourism

The Smoking Hills are run from time to time in the Arctic summer cruise ships that sail the Northwest Passage.