Location Baffin Bay, Greenland Width 7 km (4.3 mi) Population uninhabited Area 103 km² | Length 15 km (9.3 mi) Highest elevation 391 m (1,283 ft) Elevation 391 m Municipality Qaasuitsup | |
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Saunders Island (Greenlandic: Appat; Danish: Saunders Ø) is an island in North Star Bay, Baffin Bay, in the Qaasuitsup municipality of NW Greenland. The island is named after Commander James Saunders of the Royal Navy.
Contents
Map of Saunders %C3%98er, Greenland
Geography
The island lies off the southern shore of the mouth of Wolstenholme Fjord, north of Wolstenholme Island. Geologically it is composed of stratified rock. It is the largest island in the bay, flat-topped and with steep sides, with a landspit in the northeast. Its highest point is 391 m. The channel to the south, between Saunders Island and the mainland is known as Bylot Sound.
History
Under Commander James Saunders the HMS North Star sailed to the Arctic in 1849 in the spring on a venture to search and resupply Captain Sir James Clark Ross' expedition, who in turn had sailed in 1848 trying to locate the whereabouts of Sir John Franklin's expedition.
Failing to find Franklin or Ross, Saunders's mission aboard North Star consisted in depositing stores along several named areas of the Canadian Arctic coast and returning to England before the onset of winter. However, James Saunders's ship became trapped by ice off the coast of NW Greenland in North Star Bay. During the winter 1849–50 Saunders named numerous landmarks in that area, including Saunders Island, while wintering in the frozen bay.
The Literary Expedition led by Ludvig Mylius-Erichsen wintered in 1903-1904 on the island. Its aim was to make ethnographic research of the local Inuit people. Knud Rasmussen, Harald Moltke and Jørgen Brønlund were also part of this venture.