Lougheed Island

Lougheed Island

Lougheed Island, Nunavut
Geography
Location Arctic Ocean
Coordinates 77°24′N 105°15′W / 77.400°N 105.250°W / 77.400; -105.250 (Lougheed Island)Coordinates: 77°24′N 105°15′W / 77.400°N 105.250°W / 77.400; -105.250 (Lougheed Island)
Archipelago Findlay Group
Queen Elizabeth Islands
Canadian Arctic Archipelago
Area 1,312 km2 (507 sq mi)
Length 78 km (48.5 mi)
Width 23 km (14.3 mi)
Administration
Canada
Nunavut Nunavut
Region Qikiqtaaluk
Demographics
Population Uninhabited

Lougheed Island is one of the uninhabited islands of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago in the Qikiqtaaluk Region, Nunavut. It measures 1,312 km2 (507 sq mi) in size. It is relatively isolated compared to other Canadian Arctic islands, and is located in the Arctic Ocean, halfway between Ellef Ringnes Island to the northeast and Melville Island to the southwest. It is part of the Findlay Group.

Lougheed Island and King Christian Island. Satellite image created by the MODIS Rapid Response System, NASA/GSFC

History

The first known sighting of the island was in 1916 by Vilhjalmur Stefansson, during his Canadian Arctic Expedition.[1]

On April 14, 1993, Environment Canada revoked a permit issued to Panarctic Oils Ltd. to dispose of 400 tonnes of scrap metal in the ocean off Lougheed Island. The decision was taken in response to concerns expressed by residents of Grise Fiord, Resolute, Arctic Bay and Pond Inlet. Instead of disposing of the material at sea, a research project was initiated to evaluate the environmental impact of stockpiling scrap metal on Lougheed Island.

In 1994, Larry Newitt of the Geological Survey of Canada and Charles Barton of the Australian Geological Survey Organization established a temporary magnetic observatory on Lougheed Island, close to the predicted position of the North Magnetic Pole, in order to monitor short-term fluctuations of the Earth's magnetic field.[2]

References

  1. ↑ Stefansson, Vilhjalmur (1922). The Friendly Arctic: The Story of Five Years in Polar Regions. New York: Macmillan.
  2. ↑ Newitt, Larry. "Tracking the North Magnetic Pol". uni-muenchen.de. Retrieved 2008-05-18.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.