Meighen Island
- MODIS image
- 01 August 2006
- 01:40 UTC
Meighen Island (955 km²) is located within the high Arctic region at the northwestern edge of the Queen Elizabeth Islands group. The island lies between Axel Heiberg Island (41 km to east, across the Sverdrup Channel) and Ellef Ringnes Island (88 km to the southwest, across the Peary Channel); its western and northern shores face the open waters of the Arctic Ocean.
Meighen Island measures 57 km from north to south with east to west widths varying from 26 km in the north to 14 km in the south; the island narrows considerably at its southern extremity. Like so many of the Arctic islands its relief is generally low throughout, consisting of a flat to undulating plain of less than 80 m above sea level.
The most distinctive feature of the interior is the Meighen Ice Cap, located approximately 5 km inland from the eastern coast. At around 90 km² in area the ice cap is oval in outline, with maximum dimensions of 17.5 km (north to south) and 8.6 km (east to west). The ice cap is considered as stagnant, with a maximum depth of 120 m. The highest elevation on the island (260 m+) is reached at the southern end of the ice cap.
image: MODIS rapid response project at nasa/goddard space flight center
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