Ellesmere Island

Ellesmere Island,

82,119 sq mi (212,688 sq km), c.500 mi (800 km) long, in the Arctic Ocean, N Nunavut Territory, Canada; second largest and northernmost island of the Arctic ArchipelagoArctic Archipelago
, group of more than 50 large islands, Northwest Territories and Nunavut, N Canada, in the Arctic Ocean. The southernmost members of the group include Baffin (the archipelago's largest island), Victoria, Banks, Prince of Wales, and Somerset islands; N of
..... Click the link for more information. . It is separated from NW Greenland by a narrow passage. The island's coast is indented by deep fjords. The interior plateau rises more than 2,000 ft (610 m) above sea level; the United States Ranges, in the north, are c.11,000 ft (3,350 m) high. An ice cap covers much of the island's east side. In snow-free areas vegetation supports large herds of musk oxen. There are scientific stations and some Inuit (Eskimo) settlements on the island. First sighted by the British explorer William BaffinBaffin, William,
c.1584–1622, British arctic explorer. He was pilot on two expeditions (1615–16) sent out to search for the Northwest Passage under command of Robert Bylot, who was formerly with Henry Hudson.
..... Click the link for more information. in 1616, Ellesmere Island was explored in the latter half of the 19th cent. Since the 1950s the island has been the site of many glaciological, geological, and geographical expeditions.

Bibliography

See J. Kobalenko, The Horizontal Everest: Extreme Journeys on Ellesmere Island (2002).