The highest point is Mount Odin at while Mount Asgard at is perhaps the most famous. The highest point in the northern Baffin Mountains is Qiajivik Mountain at. There are no trees in the Baffin Mountains because the mountains are north of the Arctic tree line. Rocks that comprise the Baffin Mountains are primarily deeply dissected granitic rocks. It was covered with ice until about 1500 years ago, and vast parts of it are still ice-covered. Geologically, the Baffin Mountains form the eastern edge of the Canadian Shield, which covers much of Canada's landscape.
Rank
Name
m
ft
1
Mount Odin
2147
7044
2
Mount Asgard
2015
6611
3
Qiajivik Mountain
1963
6440
4
Angilaaq Mountain
1951
6401
5
Kisimngiuqtuq Peak
1905
6250
6
Ukpik Peak
1809
5935
7
Bastille Peak
1733
5686
8
Mount Thule
1711
5614
9
Angna Mountain
1710
5610
10
Mount Thor
1675
5495
Glaciation
The ranges of the Baffin Mountains are separated by deep fjords and glaciated valleys with many spectacular glacial and ice-capped mountains. The snowfall in the Baffin Mountains is light, much less than in places like the Saint Elias Mountains in southeastern Alaska and southwestern Yukon which are plastered with snow. The largest ice cap in the Baffin Mountains is the Penny Ice Cap, which has an area of. During the mid-1990s, Canadian researchers studied the glacier's patterns of freezing and thawing over centuries by drilling ice core samples.
Flora and fauna
The dominant vegetation in the Baffin Mountains is a discontinuous cover of mosses, lichens and cold-hardy vascular plants such as sedge and cottongrass.
History
One of the first mountaineering expeditions in the Baffin Mountains was in 1934 by J.M Wordie, in which two peaks called Pioneer Peak and Longstaff Tower were climbed. The Auyuittuq National Park was established in 1976. It features much of Arctic wilderness, such as fjords, glaciers and ice fields. In Inuktitut - the language of Nunavut's Aboriginal people, Inuit - Auyuittuq means "the land that never melts". Although Auyuittuq was established in 1976 as a national park reserve, it was upgraded to a full national park in 2000. There were Inuit settlements in the Baffin Mountains before European contact. The first European contact is believed to have been by Norse explorers in the 11th century, but the first recorded sighting of Baffin Island was Martin Frobisher during his search for the Northwest Passage in 1576.
