Devon Island facts for kids
Devon Island is a very large island located in Canada's Arctic region. It is part of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago and belongs to the Queen Elizabeth Islands in Nunavut. Devon Island is special because it is the largest island in the world where no one lives permanently.
The island covers a huge area of about 55,247 square kilometers (21,331 square miles). This makes it the 27th biggest island on Earth and the 6th largest in Canada.
Geography of Devon Island
The highest point on Devon Island is the Devon Ice Cap. This ice cap reaches a height of 1,920 meters (6,299 feet) and is part of the Arctic Cordillera, a long chain of mountains. Devon Island also has many smaller mountain ranges. Some of these include the Treuter Mountains, the Haddington Range, and the Cunningham Mountains.
The Haughton Impact Crater
Devon Island is famous for a special place called the Haughton impact crater. This giant crater was formed about 39 million years ago. At that time, a large meteorite crashed into the island. The meteorite was about 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) wide.
When the meteorite hit, the area was covered in forests. The impact created a huge hole about 23 kilometers (14 miles) across. For several million years after the crash, this crater was filled with water and became a lake.
Images for kids
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Patterned ground permafrost pattern seen on Devon Island
See also
In Spanish: Isla Devon para niños