Ellesmere Island National Park

Credit: Credit: NASA/GSFC/MITI/ERSDAC/JAROS, and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team, Posted on: Sunday, 26 October 2003, 06:00 CST Download full size image

The northeastern corner of Ellesmere Island forms the most northerly extent of Canada and has been set aside as the Ellesmere Island National Park Reserve. As such, it is the most northerly park on Earth. The park was established in 1988, but remains in a reserve status while land claim issues are resolved with local native people. The land here is dominated by rock and ice. It is a polar desert with very little annual precipitation and many of the glaciers here are remnants from the last episode of glaciation. The reserve covers nearly thirty eight thousand square kilometres, making it the second largest park in Canada. Some wildlife, including arctic hares, caribou, and musk oxen live in the park, but sparse vegetation and low temperatures support only small populations. The image above shows a small part of a scene acquired by ASTER (The high resolution image shows the full scene) where a tidewater glacier in the southwestern corner of the National Park Reserve reaches the se

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