Human geographies of sea ice: freeze/thaw processes around Pangnirtung, Nunavut, Canada
ABSTRACT Sea ice has been, and continues to be, an integral component of life in the Inuit community of Pangnirtung, Nunavut. Located in a fiord of the same name off the northeastern end of Cumberland Sound, extensive ice formation occurs within the fiord and the sound. This creates an important tra...
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crcambridgeupr:10.1017/s003224740800750x 2024-04-07T07:51:16+00:00 Human geographies of sea ice: freeze/thaw processes around Pangnirtung, Nunavut, Canada Laidler, Gita J. Dialla, Andrew Joamie, Eric 2008 http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s003224740800750x https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S003224740800750X en eng Cambridge University Press (CUP) https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms Polar Record volume 44, issue 4, page 335-361 ISSN 0032-2474 1475-3057 General Earth and Planetary Sciences Ecology Geography, Planning and Development journal-article 2008 crcambridgeupr https://doi.org/10.1017/s003224740800750x 2024-03-08T00:35:21Z ABSTRACT Sea ice has been, and continues to be, an integral component of life in the Inuit community of Pangnirtung, Nunavut. Located in a fiord of the same name off the northeastern end of Cumberland Sound, extensive ice formation occurs within the fiord and the sound. This creates an important travel and hunting platform, and enables access to the coastlines of Cumberland Sound, hunting and fishing grounds, and nearby communities. With the combined importance, dynamism, and continuous use of this frozen ocean environment, local Inuit elders and hunters have developed a detailed and nuanced understanding of sea ice conditions, freeze/thaw processes, and the influences of winds and currents on ice conditions. Working collaboratively with the community of Pangnirtung since September 2003, we present the results of 30 semi-directed interviews, 5 sea ice trips, and 2 focus groups to provide a baseline understanding of local freezing processes (near-shore, open water, sea ice thickening, landfast ice, tidal cracks, and the floe edge), melting processes (snow melt, water accumulation and drainage, and break-up), wind influences on sea ice (wind direction and strength affecting sea ice formation and movement), and, current influences on sea ice (tidal variations and current strength affecting sea ice formation, movement, and polynya size/location). Strong emphasis is placed on Inuktitut terminology and spatial delineations of localised ice conditions and features. Therefore, this paper provides insights into local scale ice conditions and dynamics around Pangnirtung that are not captured in regional scale studies of Cumberland Sound and/or Davis Strait. As the third in a series of three papers on the same subject, but from different communities in the Qikiqtaaluk (Baffin) Region of Nunavut, this paper also provides a comparative summary of Inuktitut and scientific sea ice terminology along with an overview of the broader implications of results for collaborative science, education, and heritage initiatives. Article in Journal/Newspaper Baffin Cumberland Sound Davis Strait inuit inuktitut Nunavut Pangnirtung Polar Record Qikiqtaaluk Sea ice Cambridge University Press Nunavut Canada Cumberland Sound ENVELOPE(-66.014,-66.014,65.334,65.334) Pangnirtung ENVELOPE(-65.707,-65.707,66.145,66.145) Polar Record 44 4 335 361 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Cambridge University Press |
op_collection_id |
crcambridgeupr |
language |
English |
topic |
General Earth and Planetary Sciences Ecology Geography, Planning and Development |
spellingShingle |
General Earth and Planetary Sciences Ecology Geography, Planning and Development Laidler, Gita J. Dialla, Andrew Joamie, Eric Human geographies of sea ice: freeze/thaw processes around Pangnirtung, Nunavut, Canada |
topic_facet |
General Earth and Planetary Sciences Ecology Geography, Planning and Development |
description |
ABSTRACT Sea ice has been, and continues to be, an integral component of life in the Inuit community of Pangnirtung, Nunavut. Located in a fiord of the same name off the northeastern end of Cumberland Sound, extensive ice formation occurs within the fiord and the sound. This creates an important travel and hunting platform, and enables access to the coastlines of Cumberland Sound, hunting and fishing grounds, and nearby communities. With the combined importance, dynamism, and continuous use of this frozen ocean environment, local Inuit elders and hunters have developed a detailed and nuanced understanding of sea ice conditions, freeze/thaw processes, and the influences of winds and currents on ice conditions. Working collaboratively with the community of Pangnirtung since September 2003, we present the results of 30 semi-directed interviews, 5 sea ice trips, and 2 focus groups to provide a baseline understanding of local freezing processes (near-shore, open water, sea ice thickening, landfast ice, tidal cracks, and the floe edge), melting processes (snow melt, water accumulation and drainage, and break-up), wind influences on sea ice (wind direction and strength affecting sea ice formation and movement), and, current influences on sea ice (tidal variations and current strength affecting sea ice formation, movement, and polynya size/location). Strong emphasis is placed on Inuktitut terminology and spatial delineations of localised ice conditions and features. Therefore, this paper provides insights into local scale ice conditions and dynamics around Pangnirtung that are not captured in regional scale studies of Cumberland Sound and/or Davis Strait. As the third in a series of three papers on the same subject, but from different communities in the Qikiqtaaluk (Baffin) Region of Nunavut, this paper also provides a comparative summary of Inuktitut and scientific sea ice terminology along with an overview of the broader implications of results for collaborative science, education, and heritage initiatives. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Laidler, Gita J. Dialla, Andrew Joamie, Eric |
author_facet |
Laidler, Gita J. Dialla, Andrew Joamie, Eric |
author_sort |
Laidler, Gita J. |
title |
Human geographies of sea ice: freeze/thaw processes around Pangnirtung, Nunavut, Canada |
title_short |
Human geographies of sea ice: freeze/thaw processes around Pangnirtung, Nunavut, Canada |
title_full |
Human geographies of sea ice: freeze/thaw processes around Pangnirtung, Nunavut, Canada |
title_fullStr |
Human geographies of sea ice: freeze/thaw processes around Pangnirtung, Nunavut, Canada |
title_full_unstemmed |
Human geographies of sea ice: freeze/thaw processes around Pangnirtung, Nunavut, Canada |
title_sort |
human geographies of sea ice: freeze/thaw processes around pangnirtung, nunavut, canada |
publisher |
Cambridge University Press (CUP) |
publishDate |
2008 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s003224740800750x https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S003224740800750X |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-66.014,-66.014,65.334,65.334) ENVELOPE(-65.707,-65.707,66.145,66.145) |
geographic |
Nunavut Canada Cumberland Sound Pangnirtung |
geographic_facet |
Nunavut Canada Cumberland Sound Pangnirtung |
genre |
Baffin Cumberland Sound Davis Strait inuit inuktitut Nunavut Pangnirtung Polar Record Qikiqtaaluk Sea ice |
genre_facet |
Baffin Cumberland Sound Davis Strait inuit inuktitut Nunavut Pangnirtung Polar Record Qikiqtaaluk Sea ice |
op_source |
Polar Record volume 44, issue 4, page 335-361 ISSN 0032-2474 1475-3057 |
op_rights |
https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1017/s003224740800750x |
container_title |
Polar Record |
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44 |
container_issue |
4 |
container_start_page |
335 |
op_container_end_page |
361 |
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1795666181868224512 |