Axel Heiberg Island

Axel Heiberg Island, third-largest of the Queen Elizabeth Islands, northern Nunavut, Canada, in the Arctic Ocean. Much of the island consists of a plateau, with fiords marking the coastline. The Princess Margaret mountains rise along the northern coast and reach an elevation of more than 2,100 m (7,000 ft). Ice fields and glaciers spread across much of the mountains. Wildlife on the island includes arctic hares and musk oxen. The island was named after the Norwegian consul Axel Heiberg, who sponsored the first exploration of the island in 1899. In 1986, evidence of changing climate emerged when the 45-million-year-old remains of a large petrified forest were found on the island. Area, 43,178 sq km (16,671 sq mi).