Sverdrup Islands

Sverdrup Islands, located in the High Arctic, comprise a large island, AXEL HEIBERG, and 2 smaller ones, ELLEF RINGNES and AMUND RINGNES. Their geological history began as an area of subsidence and sedimentation on a landmass margin. Deformation occurred, followed by a second episode of uplift. In the early Tertiary, after a long period of sedimentation, the basin sediments were folded and faulted and the present land surface was uplifted and mountains formed. Today, glaciers occupy a large proportion of the mountainous area - some reaching the sea. A narrow coastal strip of thin sediments was laid down in the early Pleistocene along the arctic shore. The discovery of these islands by the Second Norwegian Polar Expedition (1898-1902), under the command of Otto SVERDRUP, led to a sovereignty dispute, settled in Canada's favour only in 1931.

Author DOUG FINLAYSON

Links to Other Sites
Otto Sverdrup
Canada Post pays tribute to Norwegian explorer Otto Sverdrup, who charted some 260,000 square kilometres of the Canadian Arctic.

Reference Maps
Maps of provinces and territories from "The Atlas of Canada," Natural Resources Canada.