Devon Ice Cap facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Devon Ice Cap |
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 Devon Ice Cap
Location in Canada
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| Highest point | |
| Prominence | 1,920 m (6,300 ft) |
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| Geography | |
| Location | Devon Island, Nunavut, Canada |
| Climbing | |
| First ascent | Alfred Herbert Joy and party, 1926 |
The Devon Ice Cap is a huge sheet of ice. It sits on eastern Devon Island in Nunavut, Canada. This ice cap covers a very large area. It is more than 12,000 square kilometers wide. The highest point on Devon Island is actually the top of this ice cap. It reaches 1,921 meters high. The Devon Ice Cap has been getting smaller since 1985.
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Exploring the Devon Ice Cap
The first people to climb the Devon Ice Cap were Alfred Herbert Joy and his Inuit friends. They made this journey in 1926. It was an important trip to explore this icy region.
What is the Devon Ice Cap?
The Devon Ice Cap is a large ice cap. An ice cap is a dome-shaped mass of ice. It covers a land area that is less than 50,000 square kilometers. The Devon Ice Cap is one of the biggest ice caps in the Canadian Arctic. It is part of the Arctic Cordillera. This is a long mountain range with many glaciers.
How Big is the Ice Cap?
The Devon Ice Cap is truly massive. It covers over 12,000 square kilometers. That's a huge area, like many cities put together! At its thickest point, the ice is about 880 meters deep. Imagine stacking almost 300 school buses on top of each other. That's how tall the ice can be!
Its Importance to Our Planet
The Devon Ice Cap holds a lot of ice. This ice is not part of the giant ice sheets in Antarctica or Greenland. If the entire Devon Ice Cap were to melt, it would add about 1 centimeter to global sea level rise. Sea level rise means the average level of the ocean goes up. This can cause problems for people living near coasts. Scientists study the ice cap to understand how climate change affects our world.
Hidden Lakes and Valleys
Scientists have found some amazing things under the ice cap. They used special radar to look through the ice. They discovered two very salty lakes hidden beneath the ice. These are called subglacial lakes. They also found valleys under the ice. These valleys help control how the ice flows.
