Inglefield Land

Inglefield Land

ONC map of Eastern Ellesmere Island and Northwest Greenland.
Location within Greenland
Geography
Location	NW Greenland
Coordinates	78°35′N 69°45′W / 78.583°N 69.750°W / 78.583; -69.750
Adjacent to	Smith Sound Kane Basin Peabody Bay
Area	7,000 km2 (2,700 sq mi)
Length	170 km (106 mi)
Width	50 km (31 mi)
Highest elevation	693 m (2274 ft)
Highest point	Unnamed
Administration
Greenland (Denmark)
Demographics
Population	Uninhabited

Inglefield Land (Greenlandic: Avannaarliit) is an unglaciated area in the Avannaata municipality, Northwestern Greenland. It was named after English explorer Edward Augustus Inglefield by Elisha Kent Kane during the Second Grinnell Expedition from 1853 to 1855.

History

Inglefield Land is noted for its archaeological sites, which show evidence of occupation by the Early Paleoeskimo, Independence I, Independence II, Dorset, Thule, and Inughuit cultures. Permanent habitation ended around 1989, although the region is still visited seasonally for hunting.

The last inhabited settlements in the region were Etah and Inuarfissuaq (Marshall Bay), which are now abandoned, although Qaqaitsut on Paris Fjord was briefly re-occupied by at least four Inughuit families in the mid-1980s as part of an initiative to “live on the land.” Etah was permanently inhabited until 1953, and Inuarfissuaq was permanently inhabited up until around 1959.

Historically, Inglefield Land was part of Prudhoe Land, which was the name given to a peninsula that stretched all the way from Inglefield Gulf to Cape Agassiz, as described by Edward Augustus Inglefield in 1852. Prudhoe Land is now considered a smaller region south of Inglefield Land between Cape Alexander in the northwest, Murchison Sound in the south, and Inglefield Gulf in the southeast.

Geography

The region stretches from just north of Cape Alexander to the southwest to Cape Agassiz at the eastern end. It is bounded by Prudhoe Land in the south, the Humboldt Glacier in the northeast, the Kane Basin to the north, and Smith Sound to the west. The Dodge Glacier is located to the southwest and the Hiawatha Glacier to the east. The McGary and Bonsall Islands are located off the northeastern and the Littleton Islands off the southwestern end.

Inglefield Land is characterized by low-relief uplands that reach up to 700 m (2,296 ft) in elevation near the ice margin with incised valleys along the coast. Meltwater rivers from the Greenland Ice Sheet drain into these valleys and into Kane Basin. At the coast between Force Bay and Advance Bay, cliffs drop up to 300 m (984 ft) into Kane Basin; while inland it is mainly composed of flat plains with sparse vegetation. Lakes are abundant in Inglefield Land, covering 2% of the surface area, but are concentrated in certain areas. Large lakes are primarily found in the east near the Hiawatha Glacier, including the September Lakes.

Geology

Inglefield Land was not heavily eroded since the ice sheet that covered it was largely cold-based. Rocks and sediments on Inglefield Land are of Paleoproterozoic, Mesoproterozoic to Paleozoic, and Quaternary origin.

Flora and fauna

The region is dominated by barren rock plains and sparse vegetation. However, it is unusually flourishing for its location in the High Arctic. In sheltered fjords like Foulk Fjord and in valleys there is a higher vegetation cover from microclimates. The land animals include reindeer, muskox, Arctic fox, Arctic hare, and the Greenland wolf.

Birds include little auk, raven, ptarmigan, red-throated diver, snow goose, gyrfalcon, common eider, king eider, snowy owl, Arctic skua, northern wheatear, snow bunting, Arctic tern, and Baird’s sandpiper. Most are migratory species that breed in the summer.

References