Ellef Ringnes Island
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Ellef Ringnes Island is one of the Sverdrup Islands in Nunavut, Canada. A member of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, it lies east of Borden Island, west of Amund Ringnes Island and has an area of 4,361 square miles (11 295 km²), making it the 69th largest island in the world and Canada's 16th largest island. The weather monitoring station of Isachsen lies on the west coast of the island. The island's position is 78°36′46"N, 101°56′13"W. Its highest elevation is 260 m.
The island was named by Otto Sverdrup for Oslo brewer Ellef Ringnes, one of the sponsors of his expedition. The island was then claimed by Norway from 1902 until the claim was relinquished (in favour of Canada) in 1930.
Ellef Ringnes Island was the last landmass to be visited by the Earth's wandering Magnetic North Pole. In April and May of 1994, Larry Newitt, of the Geological Survey of Canada, and Charles Barton, of the Australian Geological Survey Organisation, conducted a survey to determine the average position of the North Magnetic Pole at that time. They established a temporary magnetic observatory on Lougheed Island, close to the predicted position of the pole. They determined that the average position of the North Magnetic Pole in 1994 was located on the Noice Peninsula, southwest Ellef Ringnes Island, at 78.3° N, 104.0° W. The pole shifted from the island that year and now lies some 250 miles (400 km) to the NNW [1].
[edit] Further reading
- Antoniades, Dermot, Marianne S V Douglas, and John P Smol. 2003. "The Physical and Chemical Limnology of 24 Ponds and One Lake from Isachsen, Ellef Ringnes Island, Canadian High Arctic". International Review of Hydrobiology. 88, no. 5: 519.
- Atkinson, Nigel. 2003. "Late Wisconsinan Glaciation of Amund and Ellef Ringnes Islands, Nunavut: Evidence for the Configuration, Dynamics, and Deglacial Chronology of the Northwest Sector of the Innuitian Ice Sheet". Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences. 40: 351-363.
- Lea, Brian N. Oceanographic Observations Near Cape Macmillan, Ellef Ringnes Island, N.W.T. Victoria: Dobrocky Seatech Limited, 1978.
- Saville, D. B. O. Bird and Mammal Observations on Ellef Ringnes Island in 1960. 1961.
- Stott, Donald F. Ellef Ringnes Island, Canadian Arctic Archipelago. [Ottawa]: Dept. of Energy, Mines and Resources, 1969.
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