Axel Heiberg Island

Axel Heiberg
Native name:
ᐅᒥᖕᒪᑦ ᓄᓈᑦ
Shaded relief map of Axel Heiberg Island. Note that the colours are indicative of elevation, not foliage or ground cover.
Location of Axel Heiberg Island
Axel Heiberg is located in Nunavut
Axel Heiberg
Axel Heiberg
Axel Heiberg is located in Canada
Axel Heiberg
Axel Heiberg
Geography
LocationArctic Ocean
Coordinates79°45′N 091°00′W / 79.750°N 91.000°W / 79.750; -91.000[1]
ArchipelagoSverdrup Islands
Queen Elizabeth Islands
Arctic Archipelago
Area43,178 km2 (16,671 sq mi)
Area rank32nd
Length371 km (230.5 mi)
Width220–246 km (137–153 mi)
Highest elevation2,210 m (7250 ft)
Highest pointOutlook Peak
Administration
Canada
TerritoryNunavut
RegionQikiqtaaluk
Demographics
Population0

Axel Heiberg Island (Inuktitut: ᐅᒥᖕᒪᑦ ᓄᓈᑦ, Umingmat Nunaat) is an uninhabited island in the Qikiqtaaluk Region, Nunavut, Canada. Located in the Arctic Ocean, it is the 32nd largest island in the world and Canada's seventh largest island. According to Statistics Canada,[2] it has an area of 43,178 km2 (16,671 sq mi). It is named after Axel Heiberg.

One of the larger members of the Arctic Archipelago, it is also a member of the Sverdrup Islands and Queen Elizabeth Islands. It is known for its unusual fossil forests, which date from the Eocene period.[3] Owing to the lack of mineralization in many of the forest specimens, the traditional characterization of "fossilisation" fails for these forests and "mummification" may be a more precise description. The fossil records provide strong evidence that the Axel Heiberg forest was a high-latitude wetland forest.[4] A holotype of the ammonite Otoceras gracile was found in the Griesbachian (Early Triassic) deposits of this island.[5]

  1. ^ "Axel Heiberg Island". Geographical Names Data Base. Natural Resources Canada.
  2. ^ Area of major sea islands, by region Archived August 12, 2004, at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ "The Fossilized Forest Of Axel Heiberg Island". The University of British Columbia. Retrieved 15 November 2019.
  4. ^ Williams, C.J.; Johnson, A.H.; LePage, B.A.; Vann, D.R.; Sweda, T. (2003). "Reconstruction of Tertiary Metasequoia Forests II". Structure, Biomass and Productivity of Eocene Floodplain Forests in the Canadian Arctic". Paleobiology. 29 (2): 271–292. doi:10.1666/0094-8373(2003)029<0271:rotmfi>2.0.co;2. S2CID 131497232.
  5. ^ Kutygin R.V., Budnikov I.V., Biakov A.S., Davydov V.I., Kilyasov A.N., Silantiev V.V. (2019). "First findings of Otoceras (Ceratitida) in the Kobyuma zone of the Southern Verkhoyansk region, Northeastern Russia" (PDF). Uchenye Zapiski Kazanskogo Universiteta. Seriya Estestvennye Nauki (in Russian). 161 (4): 557. doi:10.26907/2542-064X.2019.4.550-570. Archived (PDF) from the original on 31 March 2022.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)