Ungava Peninsula

The Ungava Peninsula in northernmost Quebec is bounded by Hudson Bay to the west, Hudson Strait to the north, and Ungava Bay to the east. The Ungava Peninsula is part of the Labrador Peninsula.

It is a part of the Canadian Shield and consists entirely of treeless tundra dissescted by large numbers of rivers and glacial lakes, flowing generally east-west in a parallel fashion. The peninsula was not deglaciated until 6,500 years ago (11,500 years after the Last Glacial Maximum) and is believed to have been the prehistoric centre from which the vast Laurentide Ice Sheet spread over most of North America during the last glacial epoch.

Even today, the climate is extremely cold (Köppen ET), because the influence of the Labrador Current keeps the region (and all of Nord-du-Québec) colder in the summer than other regions at comparable latitudes.

The population is very small and almost all Inuit. Apart from air services, no access to the peninsula exists apart from seasonal shipping when sea-ice breaks up. Thick permafrost prevents much conventional building from being done.

External link

The Canadian Encyclopedia - Ungava Peninsula