Stor Island
- Terra MODIS
- 13 August 2005
- 19:05 UTC
Stor Island is located within the northwestern regions of the high Arctic zone, located within the Eureka Sound —
the stretch of water that divides Axel Heiberg Island (6 km to the west) from
Ellesmere Island (7.5 km to the east). The area of the Eureka Sound off the island's western
side is known as the Fulmar Channel. Off the northeastern tip of Stor Island is the entrance into Ellesmere Island's Bay
Fiord and the small islands of the Gretha Islands group.
Stor Island has a length of 32 km (orientated southwest to northeast) with a width of up to 14 km, covering an area of 313 km². The island comprises three distinct topographical zones. The southwestern section of the island contains the the island's highest elevations, consisting of two main peaks that reach a height of around 500 m above sea level. The terrain here consists of dark-coloured rocks formations that rise via an abrupt escarpment from the lower lying lands to the east. The central sections of the island form a flat, heavily eroded, plateau region averaging 100 m above sea level that gives way to a second upland zone in northeast where elevations range from 200 m to 300 m above sea level. Coastlines are low, except for on the eastern side where they form an unusually uniform slope that drops 100 m from the interior (light-coloured strip in the above image).
image: MODIS rapid response project at nasa/goddard space flight center.
