Northwest Greenland plant life

The plant life may best be studied from Etah on Foulke Fjord; Kafigerd luksuah deep within Inglefield Gulf; Keatek on Northumberland Island at the mouth of Inglefield Gulf; and at Umanak on North Star Bay, in Wolstenholme Sound.

Of these places Umanak is probably best, though because of the very localized occurrence of many species, a complete collection is impossible from any one point. For a critical study of the Arctic Drabae in the field, Umanak is unexcelled, since nearly every species of far northern distribution is found there in abundance. For a study of the immigration of American species, Etah is probably most favorably situated. It is interesting that at Etah, Pedicularis hirsuta and Pedicularis capitata are abundant; but Pedicularis lanata is entirely lacking; at Lifeboat Cove only 5 mi. north, Pedicularis hirsuta and Pedicularis lanata are numerous, but Pedicularis capitata is quite absent. The carices may be best studied at Kangerdluksuah.

The sea-animals may be best studied from Akpat on Saunders Island or from Keatek on Northumberland Island. The land animals may be best studied from Etah. Umanak affords the most favorable base for the ornithologist to study both land- and sea-birds; but Etah is better for the study of the dovekies, the eider, the ptarmigan, and the snow-bunting. Foulke Fjord, Inglefield Gulf, and its tributaries, and Wolstenholme Sound all offer fascinating fields for dredging the bottom life of the sea.

The entire region offers an interesting field for the physiographer, but two tracts are particularly promising; the shores of Grenville Bay, a tributary of Wolstenholme Sound, for a comparative study of glacier forms and phenomena; and Prudhoe Land, lying north of Etah, for a study of the possible relationships between the oscillation of the sea level, as shown by coastal terraces, the recession and advance of glaciers as indicated by serial terminal moraine, and the development of the drainage systems. A careful study of these two areas might throw much light on the phenomena and history of glaciation.