Smoking Hills
The Smoking Hills ( German : Smoking Mountain) are in the field of Canadian Northwest Territories situated cliff on the Northwest Passage .
geography
The Smoking Hills extend at the transition from the Amundsen Gulf into the Beaufort Sea in a north-northwest direction for almost 100 km along the east coast of the Bathurst Peninsula to near Cape Bathurst . They were discovered and named by John Franklin during his 2nd polar expedition in 1826. He and later Arctic explorers mistakenly believed the smoking coastline to be of volcanic origin .
Geomorphology, Geochemistry and Environment
The cliffs of the Smoking Hills pull strong sulfur and xylitol-containing layers ( strata ) of oil shale , which uninterruptedly for many centuries as a result of spontaneous combustion under the influence of air oxygen and seawater moisture wick burning. If the combustible components "burned out", the rock has lost its strength and eroded into the sea, exposing further layers. The materials used to color the cliffs are essentially jarosite , a compound of potassium and iron sulfate. The water formed in the combustion of the sulfur in sulfur led to a strong acidification of the surrounding flat Tundra -Lakes and -Sümpfe ( pH values up in 2) and was significantly higher metal concentrations , u. a. of aluminum , iron , zinc , nickel , manganese and cadmium . The surrounding soils and sedimentary rocks have changed chemically compared to other tundra regions. The living organisms ( biota ) found here have also adapted to the acidification of the environment ; they differ markedly from those who live on or in the more alkaline lakes of neighboring regions.
The occurrence of xylitol gave the Inuit settlement Paulatuk , located about 100 km southeast of the Smoking Hills, its name; Paulatuuq means "place of coal".
tourism
From time to time in the arctic summer , the Smoking Hills are visited by cruise ships sailing the Northwest Passage .
Individual evidence
- ↑ The Smoking Hills ( Memento of the original from February 9, 2001 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ B. Freedman, V. Zobens, TC Hutchinson, WI Gizyn: Intense, Natural Pollution Affects Arctic tundra vegetation at the Smoking Hills, Canada . In: Ecology , Vol. 71, Issue 2, April 1990, pp. 492-503.
- ↑ Arne Jernelöv, Björn Nagell, Anders Svenson: Adaptation to an Acid Environment in Chironomus riparius (Diptera, Chironomidae) from Smoking Hills, NWT, Canada . In: Holarctic Ecology , Vol. 4, Issue 2, April 1981, pp. 116-119 (jstor)
- ↑ Magda Havas, Thomas C. Hutchinson: The Smoking Hills: natural acidification of an aquatic ecosystem . In: Nature 301, Jan. 6, 1983, pp. 23-27. doi : 10.1038 / 301023a0
- ↑ Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Center - official names (PDF; 149 kB)
literature
- John Franklin: Narrative of a journey to the shores of the Polar Sea, in the years 1819-20-21-22 , digital edition of Franklin's expedition report 1819-22 at the Göttingen Digitization Center (English).
- The Discovery of the North-west Passage by HMS "Investigator" Capt. R. M'Clure, 1850, 1851, 1852, 1853, 1854 ; edited by Commander Sherard Osborn , from the logs and journals of Capt. Robert Le M. M'Clure; illustrated by Commander S. Guerney Cresswell. Longman, Brown, Green, Longmans, and Roberts, London 1856 (English)
Web links
Coordinates: 70 ° 14 ′ 40 " N , 127 ° 4 ′ 45" W.