![]() | |||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
|
![]() The Low Arctic Tundra covers a vast area of land (almost 800,000 square kilometres, the size of Spain and Italy combined), spanning much of the northern reaches of the North American continent. Much of this ecoregion falls within the mainland boundaries of the Canadian Northwest Territories, although part of Quebec Province is also included. Specifically, the Low Arctic Tundra stretches from the Dease Arm Plain in its northwestern reaches, through the plains and lowlands of the central Northwest Territories, to the Ottawa and Belcher Islands in Hudson Bay and the southern and western sections of Southampton Island, to the central Ungava Peninsula in northern Quebec. Most of this ecoregion has a low Arctic climate - short, cool summers, with mean local temperatures ranging from 4ºC to 6ºC, and long and very cold winters, with local mean temperatures ranging from -28ºC in the northwest to -17.5ºC in the southeast. Mean annual rainfall varies from 200 millimetres in the northwest around the Amundsen Gulf coast, to 500 millimetres in northern Quebec. Various local anomalies are evident in certain areas, especially on offshore islands in Coronation Gulf and Hudson Bay, where open water in the late summer and early autumn moderates local climate and creates drizzly, foggy seasonal weather. The physical geography of this ecoregion varies considerably due to its immense size. Largely underlain by Precambrian granitic bedrock, the landscape is mainly characterised by broad rolling uplands and lowlands. The undulating terrain is studded with lakes, ponds, and wetlands; numerous outcrops of bedrock are evident. Laid down by glacial melt water, long, sinuous eskers of sand and gravel snake across the plains, in places reaching lengths of up to 100 kilometres. Virtually the entire area is underlain by continuous permafrost - frozen ground which may thaw slightly during the summer months. Only a small part of the region west of the Firth River has been spared from glaciation. |