Glacial rebound on Southampton Island. Snow-enhanced paleo-strand lines from the last 10,000 years, during the spring thaw, 2011
Historically speaking, Southampton Island is famous for its now-extinct inhabitants, theSadlermiut (modernInuktitutSallirmiut "Inhabitants ofSalliq"), who were the last vestige of theTuniit or Dorset. TheTuniit, a pre-Inuit culture, officially went ethnically and culturally extinct in 1902-03[7] wheninfectious disease killed all of theSallirmiut in a matter of weeks.
The island's first recorded visit by Europeans was in 1613 byWelsh explorerThomas Button.[8]
At the beginning of the 20th century, the island was repopulated byAivilingmiut fromNaujaat andChesterfield Inlet, influenced to do so bywhaler CaptainGeorge Comer and others.Baffin Islanders arrived 25 years later.John Ell, who as a young child travelled with his mother Shoofly on Comer's schooners, eventually became the most famous of Southampton Island's re-settled population.[9]
Southampton Island has geological resources that are of scientific and industrial interest.[11][12][13][14][15][16]
However, full knowledge of the island is still lacking according to the Nunavut government.[17]
The current level of basic geoscience available for the Southampton region is inadequate to meet current exploration demands. Regional scale mapping of the bedrock geology of Southampton Island has not occurred since 1969.Only the most general of rock distinctions are made on the existing geological map, and only a very rudimentary understanding of the surficial geology exists. Currently there is no publicly available, regional-scale surficial (till) geochemical data which is essential for understanding exploration potential for metals and diamonds.
Southampton Island has a severesubarctic climate (KöppenDfc) which transitions into atundra climate (ET). Like almost all of Nunavut, Southampton Island is entirely above thetree line. Coral Harbour has never gone above freezing in January, February and March (although the latter has recorded 0.0 °C (32.0 °F). Due to the frozen nature ofHudson Bay, there is a severeseasonal lag until June, especially compared to more continental areas such asFairbanks despite much sunshine and perpetual twilight at night. Due to the drop of solar strength and the absence of warm water even in summer, temperatures still drop off very fast as September approaches. Cold extremes are severe, but in line with many areas even farther south in Canada's interior.
Qaqsauqtuuq Migratory Bird Sanctuary andIkkattuaq Migratory Bird Sanctuary are located on the island and are important breeding sites for thelesser snow goose (Anser caerulescens caerulescens). The island is also the site of twoImportant Bird Areas (IBAs), theBoas River wetlands in the southwest andEast Bay/Native Bay in the southeast. Both host large summer colonies of the lesser snow goose, together comprising over 10% of the world's snow goose population, with Boas River site alone hosting over 500.000 individuals nesting there. Smaller, but also important, are the colonies of thebrent goose (Branta bernicla) and numerous other polar bird species there.[22][23] Southampton Island is one of two main summering grounds known forbowhead whales in Hudson Bay.[24][25][26]
^"Coral Harbour Nunavut".Canadian Climate Normals 1991–2020. Environment and Climate Change Canada.Archived from the original on 2024-07-10. Retrieved2024-07-10.
Bird, J. Brian.Southampton Island. Ottawa: E. Cloutier, 1953.
Brack, D. M.Southampton Island Area Economic Survey With Notes on Repulse Bay and Wager Bay. Ottawa: Area & Community Planning Section, Industrial Division, Dept. of Northern Affairs and National Resources, 1962.
Mathiassen, Therkel.Contributions to the Physiography of Southampton Island. Copenhagen: Gyldendalske Boghandel, 1931.
Parker, G. R.An Investigation of Caribou Range on Southampton Island, Northwest Territories. Ottawa: Information Canada, 1975.
Pickavance, J. R. 2006. "The Spiders of East Bay, Southampton Island, Nunavut, Canada".Arctic. 59, no. 3: 276–282.
Popham RE. 1953. "A Comparative Analysis of the Digital Patterns of Eskimo from Southampton Island".American Journal of Physical Anthropology. 11, no. 2: 203–13.
Popham RE, and WD Bell. 1951. "Eskimo crania from Southampton Island".Revue Canadienne De Biologie / ̐ưedit̐ưee Par L'Universit̐ưe De Montr̐ưeal. 10, no. 5: 435–42.
Sutton, George Miksch, and John Bonner Semple.The Exploration of Southampton Island. Pittsburgh: Carnegie Institute, 1932.
Sutton, George Miksch.The Birds of Southampton Island. Pittsburgh: Carnegie Institute, 1932.
VanStone, James W.The Economy and Population Shifts of the Eskimos of Southampton Island. Ottawa: Northern Co-ordination and Research Centre, Dept. of Northern Affairs and National Resources, 1959.
