Ellesmere Island, an Arctic Jewel Quiz

Answer: Queen Elizabeth Islands

The archipelago was originally named after the British explorer William Parry who visited the islands in 1820. They were renamed in honour of Queen Elizabeth II when she was crowned Queen of Canada in 1953, although the name of Parry Islands is still used for some parts. The Thousand Islands are situated in the St. Lawrence River, between Canada and the USA. The Dodecanese are Greek islands and the Derawan Archipelago is part of Indonesia.

Question submitted by Rossian

Answer: Land of Muskox

There is evidence of human habitation of Ellesmere Island from 2000 to 1000 BC, attracted to the area to hunt muskox, Peary caribou and marine mammals. The predecessors of the Inuit, the Thule, lived in the area until the Little Ice Age, usually dated from 1550 until 1850 when it became the last region to be abandoned by human population. The Inuit name came from the muskoxen, who live in Greenland and the Arctic areas of North America.

Question submitted by Rossian

Answer: Barbeau Peak

The mountain has an altitude of 2616 metres, making it also the highest mountain in the British Empire Range, and in Eastern North America not including the Caribbean, located within the Quttinirpaaq National Park. It was named after Canadian ethnographer Dr. Marius Barbeau in 1969. Hazardous inconstant weather conditions are known in the area and it is one of its main characteristics.

Question submitted by Szabs

Answer: Lake Hazen

Originally discovered by the Inuit, it wasn´t until 1882 that it was discovered by the American signal officer Adolphus Greely, who named the lake in honour of his chief signal officer William Babcock Hazen, who was responsible for the expedition. Although the climate can be very extreme in the area, due to the Lake Hazen Fault Zone it creates a thermal oasis, producing amazingly warm summers. The area is a polar desert experiencing very low annual precipitation. The lake with a surface area of 542 km2 also houses the most northerly arctic char.

Question submitted by Szabs

Answer: Cape Sheridan

Peary (1856-1920) went on many expeditions to the Arctic. He studied and copied the Inuit in the matters of dress, habitat and travel. Many have questioned his claim to attain the North Pole, with more modern expeditions both lending weight and doubt to his claim. Located on the Lincoln Sea, Cape Sheridan is approximately 840 km (520 mi) from the Pole.

Question submitted by Mlcmlc

Answer: Eureka

The settlement began weather readings in 1948, a year after it was founded as one of several Arctic weather stations. Though the operation was originally a joint venture between the US and Canada, the US withdrew in 1972. Many adventurers' last stop is Eureka before departing for the North Pole.

Question submitted by Mlcmlc

Answer: Grise Fiord

The community was established in 1953 when Canada wanted to strengthen their claim to the High Arctic during the Cold War. In the early 60s other families moved into the area as a school and houses were built. The original name the Inuits gave the settlement, Aujuittuq, means "the place that never thaws out". The present name of Grise Fiord was given by the Norwegian explorer Otto Sverdrup and it literally means "pig fiord" in Norwegian. This was due to the sound produced by the walruses which he thought sounded like grunting pigs. Due to the location of the community 76 degrees 24' N, they really only have two seasons in the year, the light season where the sun lights up the sky 24 hours a day and the dark season that keeps you in icy cold darkness for five months out of the year.

Question submitted by Szabs

Editor's note: Though Alert is more northerly, it is not a civilian community, but a Canadian Forces establishment.

Answer: Bumblebees

Ellesmere Island is the northernmost area where the bumblebee, Bombus polaris, is found. There are only approximately 300 species of bumblebees worldwide and the North American continent is home to over 50 of these. Apart from the Bombus polaris, another species, Bombus hyperboreus, occurs here, which is a parasite in the nests of B. Polaris.

Question submitted by Playmate1111

Answer: Arctic Willow

Not much can grow in the harsh conditions experienced on Ellesmere Island, where frosts can come at any time and soil is rare. Trees are barely recognizable versions of themselves and it takes 300 years for the Arctic Willow to reach the size of your little finger.

Question submitted by Playmate1111

Answer: Kennedy Channel

The Kennedy Channel forms part of the Nares Strait which can sometimes be used as a route from Baffin Bay to the Arctic Ocean. The American explorer Elisha Kane named the channel in the early 1850s, possibly after fellow explorer William Kennedy or, more probably, after John Pendleton Kennedy who was Secretary of the US Navy at the time. The channel was explored in more detail by Charles F. Hall in 1871. There are three islands in the channel - Franklin Island and Crozier Island, which belong to Greenland and Hans Island, whose ownership is claimed by both Greenland and Canada.

Question submitted by Rossian