Resolute to the oval office

As the United States welcomed its 44th president in late January, it is worth noting that some Canadian Arctic history has become White House tradition for more than 120 years.

Picture of President Obama with the Resolute Desk

Photo Credit: Wikipedia

The legendary Franklin expedition of the mid-1800s sought to find the Northwest Passage through the Canadian Arctic Archipelago; the British Empire commissioned two vessels and some 129 men for this grand effort which ended in failure as the crew and vessels fell victim to the harsh Arctic climate. 

The subsequent search for the lost expedition commanded a large effort due to a hefty reward, one such vessel that participated was the HMS Resolute.  Becoming trapped in sea ice and later abandoned, the HMS Resolute was eventually salvaged and returned by officials from the United States to the Queen of England as a token of goodwill. 

Years later and after being decomissioned and broken down, Queen Victoria had a portion of the vessel’s timber fabricated into a luxurious desk (Resolute Desk) which in 1880 was presented to Rutherford Hayes — the 19th President of the United States.  Since then, the Resolute Desk has been a popular piece of furniture used by numerous presidents for their primary workstation in the oval office, including George W. Bush.

The Canadian town of Resolute in the territory of Nunavut is named after the famous vessel and is the second most northerly settlement in Canada.      

The Winter Road

Officially called the Tibbitt to Contwoyto Winter Road, the 600-km road (distance comparable to traveling between Montreal and Toronto) is constructed over both frozen lakes and land every winter to service the diamond mining industry and other exploration activities in Canada’s vast northern landscape.  The Winter Road first opened in 1982 and begins approximately 60 kilometers east of Yellowknife, linking a critical supply route from southern Canada.

Constructed every winter between December and January, the Winter Road is approximately 85% built over frozen lakes.  Safety being a major priority, surveying the proposed route using radar determines the most optimal thickness of ice to set the new road.  From there, the Winter Road is both plowed and graded before a required ice thickness of approximately one meter supports highway-standard transport trucks.

Transport truck arriving at one of two rest stops on the Winter Road 

Credit: Tibbitt to Contwoyto Winter Road Joint Venture

The traditional 10 week trucking season (commonly beginning in February) transports supplies ranging from construction material, ammonium nitrate (explosives for mining) and diesel fuel.  Transport trucks follow a strict speed limit when travelling over the ice, the norm being 25 km/h when loaded with supplies and 60 km/h when empty.  The overriding reason for the speed limit reduces the possibilities of the ice blowing-out under the heavy weight of the transport trucks. 

Diamond industry

In less than a decade, Canada has become the third largest producer of diamonds (in terms of value) in the world next to Botswana and Russia.  Presently focused in the sub-Arctic region of the Northwest Territories, Canada’s first diamond mine Ekati (owned by BHP Biliton) opened in the fall of 1998, while two more established mines (Diavik and Snap Lake) have since come into production.  The Canadian diamond industry is estimated to be worth between $1.5 to $2 billion with future growth potential.

Canadian diamonds are extracted from kimberlite pipes which are by-products of ancient volcanic activity.  Today, these coned shaped rock formations are the key source for diamond mining.

Winter Road — main supply-chain for the Canadian diamond industry 

Credit: Nuna Logistics

Remotely situated hundreds of kilometers north of the Northwest Territories’ capital of Yellowknife, supplying the infrastructure requirements for the diamond mines is a difficult task.  Each winter, a small window of opportunity between February and March exists where the 600 kilometer Winter Road is constructed over frozen lakes and land to allow supplies from the south to reach the diamond mines.  Outside of this opportunity, everything from workers to food reaches the mines via aircraft.  The proposed Bathurst Inlet Port and Road Project intends to connect the Winter Road to an Arctic port, allowing for year-round supply access.             

Gakkel ridge

Located in the eastern Arctic between Greenland and Siberia and lying beneath the Arctic Ocean is the Gakkel ridge.  The Gakkel ridge is the deepest mid-ocean ridge which range in depth between 3 to 5 kilometers and extends some 1,800 km. 

Map of Gakkel ridge

Credit: Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

A mid-ocean ridge is a crack in the earth’s crust pulling apart the sea floor and allowing hot magma from deep within the earth’s mantle to form new sea floor.   The global mid-ocean ridge chain separates numerous tectonic plates and extends some 60,000 kilometers –forming the earth’s largest volcano.

The Gakkel ridge is an extension of the mid-Atlantic ridge and is the slowest moving of all the mid-ocean ridges, presently moving at a rate of about 2.5 centimeters per year.  For the most part, mid-ocean ridges produce volcanic activity which in the aspsect of the Gakkel ridge is mainly in the form of hydrothermal vents.  Hydrothermal vents release hot spring water at approximately 400 degrees Celsius and are loaded in dissolved chemicals.  As the hot spring water rises from the hydrothermal vents it forms a visible pattern of smoke known as a plume.    

Narwhal

Among the varied Arctic sea life, the male narwhal whale which develops a large tusk (2-3 meters) out of its upper jaw makes it one of the more distinctive and recognizable Arctic wildlife species.  The narwhal is the most northerly situated species of the whale family and traditionally resides in the waters of both the Canadian Arctic and Greenland.  The narwhal tusk is in fact the whale’s tooth and is predominately observed in males.  Usage of the narwhal tusk has been suggested for a multitude of tasks ranging from hunting prey to establishing dominance within pods.  The narwhal is a sizable mammal, which ranges in length between 3 – 5 meters and weighs in excess of 1,700 kg. 

A group of Narwhals and their distinctive tusks

Credit: National Geographic

The average narwhal has an oxygen capacity of approximately 70 liters, allowing for dive times of close to twenty minutes.  Halibut, cod and squid are some of the prey which makes up the daily diet of the Narwhal.           

The myth of the unicorn is attributed to the narwhal when during the middle ages a mix of trade of the Narwhal tusks and limited knowledge of the mammal sparked the imagination of many across Europe and even the Far East.