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Archipelago

    Axel Heiberg Island

    ᐅᒥᖕᒪᑦ ᓄᓈᑦ / Île Axel Heiberg, Axel-Heiberg-Insel, Isla Axel Heiberg

    79°45′N 90°40′W

    Axel Heiberg Island is an uninhabited island in the Qikiqtaaluk Region, Nunavut, Canada. Located in the Arctic Ocean, it is the 34th largest island in the world and Canada's ninth largest island. 23 sq mi). It is named after Axel Heiberg.

    Terrain

    79°45′N 90°40′W

    Terrain exaggerated for relief. Drag to look around.

    Overview

    Axel Heiberg Island is an uninhabited island in the Qikiqtaaluk Region, Nunavut, Canada. Located in the Arctic Ocean, it is the 34th largest island in the world and Canada's ninth largest island. According to the United States Geological Survey, Esri, and the United Nations Environment Programme - World Conservation Monitoring Centre it has an area of 42,276.97 km2 (16,323.23 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. 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. A holotype of the ammonite Otoceras gracile was found in the Griesbachian substage of the Induan age of the Early Triassic deposits of this island.

    From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

    Chart

    Nearest islands

    Also in Sverdrup Islands

    Also in Queen Elizabeth Islands

    Also in Canadian Arctic

    Sources

    Facts

    • Geometry, areas and high points: OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), Copernicus GLO-30, via Talus.
    • Talus
    • Wikidata
    • Wikipedia

    Photographs