The study of the geography of any continent begins with the definition of the extreme points of land. And North America is no exception. There are always four of them - northern, southern, western and eastern. The extreme northern point of this continent is Cape Murchison. Consider its geographical location, nature and why it is so interesting to study.
A bit of history
The cape itself is territorially owned by Arctic Canada and extends 250 km into the interior of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Being the northern part of the Butia Peninsula. Previously, this peninsula was called Butia Felix, in honor of the sponsor of the expedition, a brewer from London. Later the name was shortened.
The peninsula itself was discovered by John Ross in 1829. And Cape Murchison was discovered by the French explorer Joseph Rene Murchison. He led one of the 39 expeditions that went in search of the surviving team of John Franklin, who went missing in the Arctic in 1845. The name of the researcher was given to an open plot of land.
Description
If you ask someone who has already seen Cape Murchison, to describe it briefly and succinctly, you get something like this - frosty, pristine, clear and crystal cold water.
The peninsula itself is an array of mountain plateaus, rising about 500 meters above sea level, and the coastal zone is the plains. The only settlement of this land area is Talloyoak with a population of only 809 people (2006 data).
You can get to the cape by plane, Talloyoak airport is located one kilometer from the village. At the end of summer, within 2-3 weeks, you can also get there by water. But there are no automobile roads through the peninsula to the cape.
Location
Being part of the Canadian region of Kitikmeot, Cape Murchison, whose coordinates are 73 ° C. w. and 95 ° C. e., is not only the most extreme northern point of the continent, but also one of the most extreme points of the land of the whole Earth. Cape Murchison is the northern part of the Butia Peninsula, located south of Somerset Island. The Bello Strait, which is only 2,000 meters wide, separates the two plots of land. The cape extends into the depths of 250 km of the Canadian Arctic archipelago and is its component.
Since the beginning of the 17th century, the north magnetic earth pole has been located under the ice of Arctic Canada. In 1831, he was on the Butia Peninsula, about 64 km from the cape. Since then, the magnetic pole has constantly changed its location and has shifted substantially towards the Taimyr Peninsula.
Nature
Since the land is located far in the north, the nature on it is also characteristic of the Arctic lands, mainly the Arctic desert, giving way to tundra vegetation. The land, bound by permafrost, cannot produce anything but lichens, mosses, annual grasses and shrubs (a total of about 340 species). Although the vegetation is rather scarce, it is able to feed lemmings and polar hares, which, in turn, are used for food by arctic foxes and other small predators.
You can meet here and the owner of the polar ice - a polar bear. But he is only a guest here, not a permanent resident. They drop in on the cape and caribou, after which the wolves come running.
In the coastal waters, if you are lucky, you can see whales, seals and sea hare sailing after schools of herring, cod, capelin and other northern species of fish.
The world of birds on the cape is more diverse: polar partridge and owl, eider, various species of waterfowl, gulls and cairo.
Marshes and ice lakes cover the entire territory of the Butia Peninsula, and Cape Murchison in the photo seems to be a gloomy and barren territory. But this impression is erroneous, his special charm is that, standing on the shore, you realize that you are on the edge of the earth. Further - only permafrost, ice and islands, always covered with snow. And then - the North Pole, to which another 2013 kilometers.