Difference between revisions of "Arctic Environments"

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=Polar Environments=
 
 
Polar Environments are very diverse and fascinating. This section will provide in-depth information on arctic environments and climate.  
 
Polar Environments are very diverse and fascinating. This section will provide in-depth information on arctic environments and climate.  
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__NOTOC__
  
==Environment==
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<gallery mode=packed heights=200px>
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Image: Inlandwaters.png |link=Arctic_Environments/Inland_Waters|[[Arctic_Environments/Inland_Waters | <big>Inland Waters</big>]]
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Image: land.png |link=Arctic_Environments/Land|[[Arctic_Environments/Land | <big>Land</big>]]
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Image: marine_waters.png |link=Arctic_Environments/Marine_Waters|[[Arctic_Environments/Marine_Waters | <big>Marine Waters</big>]]
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Image: sky.png |link=Arctic_Environments/Sky|[[Arctic_Environments/Sky | <big>Sky</big>]]
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</gallery>
  
===Inland Waters===
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===Arctic History===
  
====Cool Facts====
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'''The Arctic and the Great Bear'''
  
[[File:Inlandwaters.png |upright=0.50| thumb|right|Inland Waters]]
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In the northern sky, a series of seven bright stars form the shape of a soup ladle – the big dipper. The ancient Greeks, who incorporated stars in their mythology, regarded this group of stars as part of the form of a giant bear. The Greek word for "bear" is arktos, which through the ages took the forms arcticus and artic. The modern use of the word arctic to describe the northern polar region refers to the northerly position of the bear constellation. This group of stars is still known as Ursa Major – ursa being the Latin word for "bear".
  
Although precipitation levels are low enough to qualify much of the Arctic as a desert, water is abundant. There are more than one million lakes and countless rivers and streams in the Arctic. As well, many low-lying areas are wetlands covered with ponds, bogs, or marshes. This surprising abundance of surface water in a desert setting has two explanations. Firstly, the permafrost layer acts like a poor liner trapping meltwater or rain on the surface. Secondly, water on the surface is slow to evaporate because of the low air temperatures.
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''What do the Canadian Inuit make of Ursa Major?''
  
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Canada's Inuit universally associate the stars in Ursa Major with one or several caribou. This group of stars is thus known by various versions of the Inuktitut word for this animal – Tukturjukin the singular, Tukturjuit in the plural. Interestingly, this is the only cluster of stars that represents an animal in Inuit culture; all other celestial representations of animals or people are based on a single star.
  
Inland waters of the Arctic are classified using standard terms such as ponds, lakes, rivers, or streams, but they are unusual. Arctic ponds can be more than a kilometer long and less than a meter deep. Lake basins in some areas of the Arctic were created by wind action and are all oriented in the same direction. Many long rivers flow for just a few weeks each year.
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''Why a bear?''
  
* [[Buried Treasure in Polar Lakes]]
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The cluster of stars known as Ursa Major resembles a bear – an association explained by the ancient Greeks with a mythical tale of love and jealousy. The Greek god Zeus fell in love with a beautiful nymph who bore him a son. When Zeus' wife discovered the romance, she turned the nymph into a bear, but Zeus took pity on his lover and placed her among the stars. The wife did not like this either it was too much to see her rival glittering in the night sky so she made a pact with the ocean god. Together, they arranged that the bear would never be able to reach down to the water to drink. And indeed, Ursa Major never touches the horizon in northern latitudes; the nymph that was once loved by Zeus suffers from eternal thirst.
* [[Crystalline Creations]]
 
* [[Salty Lakes and Monster Cods]]
 
* [[The Lake that Roared]]
 
 
 
====Inland Waters Ecozones====
 
[[File:Ecozones.png |upright=0.50| thumb|right|Inland Waters]]
 
The inland waters of Canada's Arctic have been divided into three ecozones whose boundaries reflect the major watersheds of northern Canada. Water bodies within the Arctic Archipelago Ecozone region originate on the Arctic Islands and discharge into the Arctic Ocean. By contrast, waters in the Hudson Bay Ecozone originate in central Canada and flow into Hudson and Ungava Bays. The third ecozone, the Yukon-Mackenzie, includes waters that flow through the western mainland and discharge into the Beaufort Sea.
 
 
 
* [[Arctic Archipelago Ecozone]]
 
* [[Hudson Bay Ecozone]]
 
* [[Yukon-Mackenzie Ecozone]]
 
 
 
====Inland Waters Ice====
 
[[File:Arctic_ice.png |upright=0.50| thumb|right|Ice]]
 
Most Arctic lakes are covered with ice for nine or ten months of the year and some are permanently ice covered. Ice acts like a seal; there is no gas or nutrient exchange between the atmosphere and the lake. In a sense, each lake becomes its own little isolated world.
 
 
 
* [[Effects of Inland Ice and Snow Cover]]
 
* [[Freezing and Thawing of Lake Ice]]
 
* [[Lake Ice as a Climate Predictor]]
 
* [[Lake Snow Cover]]
 
* [[Types of Ice]]
 
 
 
====Inland Waters Lakes====
 
 
 
There are more than one million lakes in the Canadian Arctic. Although much of the Arctic mainland is littered with them, lakes are less common on the Arctic Islands.
 
 
 
These lakes are far from uniform they vary in surface area, depth, water chemistry, and even in their mode of origin. Just ten Arctic lakes are giants, with surface areas in excess of 1000 km2. Another 188 lakes have an area greater than 100 km2, but most of the others are far smaller. Arctic lakes vary in depth from just a few metres to more than 400 m. They also differ widely in chemistry – the water in some lakes is saltier than the sea, but in others it is as pure as distilled water.
 
Browse the side menu to learn more about the six major types of lakes in the Arctic. We've also singled out ten lakes for special attention, mainly because of their large size or ecological importance.
 
 
 
* [[Glacial Scour Lakes]]
 
* [[Ice Dammed Lakes]]
 
* [[Isostatic Lakes]]
 
* [[Kettle Lakes]]
 
* [[Oxbow Lakes]]
 
* [[Thermokarst Lakes]]
 
* [[Top 10 Lakes]]
 
 
 
====Inland Waters Rivers====
 
 
 
[[File:inlandswatersrivers.png |upright=0.50|thumb|right|Inland Rivers]]
 
 
 
Canada's Arctic is laced with rivers large and small, deep and shallow, swift and slow moving. These rivers have served as gateways to the North – Native peoples and explorers paddled them, drank from them, admired their beauty, and occasionally lost their lives in them. Throughout the North, native settlements were first established on or near these waterways and they remain there today.
 
All Arctic rivers and streams show seasonal variations in the extent of their flow. These shifts are smallest in the larger rivers, like the Mackenzie, which are fed by waters flowing from more southerly regions. However, rivers which are entirely situated in the Arctic show dramatic seasonal shifts in flow because they are starved of a water supply for much of the year – most of the precipitation falls as snow for about eight months. During this period, when the supply of surface water is halted, the rivers are not fed by groundwater because the permafrost layer has refrozen to the surface. However, when the snow melts, it simply runs over the permafrost, flooding the rivers with an intense pulse of meltwater. For a brief time, the rivers and streams become raging torrents, carving out large channels and transporting huge boulders.
 
 
 
* [[Braided Rivers]]
 
* [[Glacial Rivers]]
 
* [[Meandering Rivers]]
 
* [[Top 10 Rivers]]
 
 
 
====Inland Waters Wetlands====
 
 
 
[[File:inlandswaterswetlands.png |upright=0.50|thumb|right|Inland Wetlands]]
 
 
 
About 14% of Canada's surface area – nearly 1.3 million km2 – is wetlands. In fact, almost one-quarter of all the wetlands on the planet are found in Canada. As their name suggests, wetlands are areas that are waterlogged for all or much of the year. Water may just cover the surface, or it may be as deep as 2 m. As such, wetlands include marshes, bogs, ponds, and fens, but not rivers or lakes. In many wetland habitats, organic materials accumulate because of slowed decomposition, forming a layer of peat. Wetlands are found throughout the North, but they are most common in the Low Arctic and least abundant in the High Arctic. Overall, wetlands are less common in the Arctic than in the remainder of Canada, as they cover just 9% of the land area. However, the importance of northern wetlands is immense, because their productivity is higher than surrounding areas. In a very real sense, these are the oases of the Arctic.
 
 
 
* [[Marshes]]
 
* [[Peat Mound Bogs]]
 
* [[Polygon Wetlands]]
 
* [[Salt Marshes]]
 
* [[Snowpatch Fens]]
 
* [[Tundra Ponds]]
 
 
 
====Inland Waters References====
 
 
 
Blachut SP, McCann SB. 1981. The Behaviour of a Polar Ice-Dammed Lake, Ellesmere Island, N.W.T., Canada. Arctic and Alpine Research 13: 63–74.
 
 
 
Dysen JL. 1962. The World of Ice. St. Paul: Snowy Egret Books.
 
 
 
Hobbie JE, ed. 1980. Limnology of Tundra Ponds. Stroudsburg: Dowden, Hutchinson and Ross Inc.
 
 
 
---. 1973. Arctic Limnology: A Review. Alaskan Arctic Tundra, Technical Paper 25. n.p.
 
 
 
Mackay JR. 1969. The Mackenzie Delta. Canadian Geographic 78: 146–155.
 
 
 
National Wetlands Working Group. 1988. Wetlands of Canada. Ottawa: Sustainable Development Branch, Environment Canada. In association with Polyscience Publications Inc., Montreal. Ecological Land Classification Series No. 24.
 
 
 
Oliver DR. 1964. A Limnological Investigation of a Large Arctic Lake, Nettilling Lake, Baffin Island. Arctic 17: 69–83.
 
 
 
Rawson DS. 1954. Limnology in the North American Arctic and Subarctic. Arctic 7: 206–212.
 
 
 
Stewart DB. 1979. Our Spectacular Waterfalls in the Arctic. Canadian Geographic 98: 36–39.
 
 
 
Woo MK. 1980. Hydrology of a Small Lake in the Canadian High Arctic. Arctic and Alpine Research 12: 227–235.
 
 
 
===Land===
 
 
 
[[File:land.png |upright=0.50|thumb|right]]
 
 
 
Arctic landscapes are other worldly. Great glaciers coat the northern mountains with a white frosting that can be a kilometre thick. At other locations, the land lies exposed. In many places, these polar landscapes provide perfect classrooms for geology – bedrock lies on the surface or jumbles of boulders signal the retreat of glaciers. In other areas, the ground is covered with finer particles, reflecting the presence of rocks that were ground to powder by glaciers or were sediments uplifted from the sea. Viewed from the air, these surfaces show patterns of cracks and mounds that make the landscape look like the hide of some primeval beast. In a few regions, ice volcanoes erupt from the tundra.
 
 
 
====Cool Facts====
 
 
 
* [[Magnetic Pole]]
 
* [[North Pole]]
 
* [[Smoking Hills]]
 
 
 
====Ecozones====
 
 
 
Arctic lands have been divided into three ecozones. To learn more about the boundaries of these ecozones and the differences between them, browse below.
 
 
 
* [[Arctic Cordillera]]
 
* [[Northern Arctic]]
 
* [[Southern Arctic]]
 
 
 
====Features====
 
 
 
[[File:land_features.png |upright=0.50|thumb|right]]
 
 
 
The major landscape features of the Arctic are nothing strange they range from lowland plains to mountains higher than 3000 m. However, the sparse plant cover means that the Arctic is a place where geology has a huge impact on the eye the colour of a scene is often due to bedrock!
 
 
 
The land's surface features reinforce a sense of strangeness. Great piles of rock, oddly positioned boulders, and raised beaches all reflect the past presence of glaciers. The soils, where they exist, are thin and underlain by permafrost. The surface layer has been wrinkled, pleated, and shattered by frost action to produce mosaic patterns that suggest human intervention.
 
 
 
Browse below to learn more about the factors responsible for the special appearance of Arctic lands. The section on topography provides background on larger scale features, while details of the landscape are described in glacial and freeze/thaw features. The final two sections provide an overview of the land itself; shifts in bedrock composition are detailed in geology, while information on soil and permafrost is provided in the last section.
 
 
 
* [[Topography]]
 
* [[Glacial Features]]
 
* [[Freeze/Thaw Features]]
 
* [[Geology]]
 
* [[Permafrost and Soils]]
 
 
 
====Glaciers====
 
 
 
If you were asked to describe Canada's appearance over the past two million years, the best answer would be "icy", for our lands were covered with glaciers for much of this time. Although these glaciers have now retreated to the mountains and the far north, their imprint remains, especially in the Arctic.
 
 
 
To learn more about the distribution of glaciers through time, the systems employed to classify them, and the factors regulating their growth, browse below.
 
 
 
====Land References====
 
 
 
Andrews JT. 1970. A Geomorphological Study of Post-Glacial Uplift with Particular Reference to Arctic Canada. London: Institute of British Geographers.
 
 
 
Bird JB. 1967. The Physiography of Arctic Canada. Baltimore: John Hopkins Press.
 
 
 
Brown RJE. 1970. Permafrost in Canada. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
 
 
 
Christie RL, McMillan NJ, eds. 1994. The Geology of Melville Island, Arctic Canada. Ottawa: Canadian Government Publishing Centre. Geological Survey of Canada Bulletin No. 450.
 
 
 
Dunbar M, Greenaway KR. 1956. Arctic Canada from the Air. Ottawa: Canada Defence Research Board, Queen's Printer.
 
Dysen JL. 1962. The World of Ice. St. Paul: Snowy Egret Books.
 
 
 
Fortier YO, Blackadar RG, Glenister BF, Greiner HR, McLaren DJ, McMillan NJ, Norris AW, Roots EF, Souther JG, Thorsteinsson R, Tozier ET. 1963. Geology of the North-Central Part of the Arctic Archipelago Northwest Territories (Operation Franklin). Ottawa: Department of Mines. Geological Survey of Canada Memoir No. 320.
 
 
 
French HM. 1976. The Periglacial Environment. London: Longman.
 
 
 
French HM, Slaymaker O, eds. 1993. Canada's Cold Environments. Montreal: McGill-Queen's Press.
 
 
 
Grantz A, Johnson L, Sweeney JF, eds. 1990. The Geology of North America Volume L. The Arctic Ocean Region. Boulder: Geological Society of America.
 
 
 
Hambrey M, Jurg A. 1992. Glaciers. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
 
 
 
Ives JD, Barry RG, eds. 1974. Arctic and Alpine Environments. London: Methuen and Co Ltd.
 
 
 
Pewe TL, ed. 1969. The Periglacial Environment Past and Present. Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press.
 
 
 
Pielou EC. 1994. A Naturalist's Guide to the Arctic. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
 
 
 
Pitcher MG, ed. 1973. Arctic Geology: Proceeding of the Second International Symposium on Arctic Geology; 1971 Feb 1–4; San Francisco. Tulsa: American Association of Petroleum Geologists.
 
 
 
Raasch GO, ed. 1961. Geology of the Arctic: Proceedings of the First International Symposium on Arctic Geology. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
 
 
 
Thoren R. 1969. Picture Atlas of the Arctic. New York: Elsevier Publishing Company.
 
 
 
Washburn AL. 1947. Reconnaissance Geology of Portions of Victoria Island and Adjacent Regions of Arctic Canada. New York: American Geological Society.
 
 
 
===Marine Waters===
 
 
 
===Sky===
 
 
 
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Latest revision as of 20:10, 17 March 2020

Polar Environments are very diverse and fascinating. This section will provide in-depth information on arctic environments and climate.


Arctic History

The Arctic and the Great Bear

In the northern sky, a series of seven bright stars form the shape of a soup ladle – the big dipper. The ancient Greeks, who incorporated stars in their mythology, regarded this group of stars as part of the form of a giant bear. The Greek word for "bear" is arktos, which through the ages took the forms arcticus and artic. The modern use of the word arctic to describe the northern polar region refers to the northerly position of the bear constellation. This group of stars is still known as Ursa Major – ursa being the Latin word for "bear".

What do the Canadian Inuit make of Ursa Major?

Canada's Inuit universally associate the stars in Ursa Major with one or several caribou. This group of stars is thus known by various versions of the Inuktitut word for this animal – Tukturjukin the singular, Tukturjuit in the plural. Interestingly, this is the only cluster of stars that represents an animal in Inuit culture; all other celestial representations of animals or people are based on a single star.

Why a bear?

The cluster of stars known as Ursa Major resembles a bear – an association explained by the ancient Greeks with a mythical tale of love and jealousy. The Greek god Zeus fell in love with a beautiful nymph who bore him a son. When Zeus' wife discovered the romance, she turned the nymph into a bear, but Zeus took pity on his lover and placed her among the stars. The wife did not like this either – it was too much to see her rival glittering in the night sky – so she made a pact with the ocean god. Together, they arranged that the bear would never be able to reach down to the water to drink. And indeed, Ursa Major never touches the horizon in northern latitudes; the nymph that was once loved by Zeus suffers from eternal thirst.