{{Short description|Lake on Ellesmere Island, Nunavut, Canada}} {{Use Canadian English|date=February 2026}} {{Infobox lake | name = Lake Hazen | image = Lake Hazen 2022-07-16 Sentinel-2 L2A Highlight Optimized Natural Color.jpg | caption = [[Sentinel-2]] image (2022) | image_bathymetry = | caption_bathymetry = | location = {{convert|118|km|abbr=on}} southwest of [[Alert, Nunavut]] | coords = {{coord|81|48|N|71|00|W|region:CA-NU_type:waterbody_scale:500000|name=Lake Hazen|display=inline,title}} | pushpin_map = Canada#Canada Nunavut | type = | inflow = Glaciers of the ''Eureka Uplands'':<br>Henrietta Nesmith Glacier<br>Gilmour Glaciers | outflow = [[Ruggles River]] | catchment = {{convert|4900|km2|abbr=on}} | basin_countries = Canada | length = {{convert|74|km|abbr=on|0}}<ref name="Nuttall"/> | width = {{convert|12|km|abbr=on|0}}<ref name="Nuttall"/> | area = {{convert|537.5|km2|abbr=on}}<ref name="Nuttall"/> | depth = | max-depth = {{convert|267|m|abbr=on}}<ref name="Arctic"/> | volume = {{convert|51.4|e9m3|e6acre.ft|abbr=on}}<ref name="Arctic"/> | residence_time = | shore = {{convert|185|km|abbr=on}} | elevation = {{convert|158|m|abbr=on}}<ref name="Nuttall"/> | islands = St. John's Island | cities = [[Hazen Camp]] }} [[File:Quttinirpaaq National Park map-fr.png|thumb|300px|Lake Hazen within Quttinirpaaq National Park]] '''Lake Hazen''' is a freshwater lake in the northern part of [[Ellesmere Island]], [[Nunavut]], [[Canada]], north of the [[Arctic Circle]]. It is the largest lake north of the [[Arctic Circle]] by volume. By surface area it is third largest, after [[Lake Taymyr]] in [[Russia]] and [[Lake Inari]] in [[Finland]].
The area around the lake is a thermal oasis within a polar desert, with summer temperatures up to {{convert|20|C}}.<ref name="Arctic"/> The lake itself is covered by ice about ten months a year. It is fed by glaciers (most importantly Henrietta Nesmith and the Gilmour Glaciers) from the surrounding [[Eureka Uplands]]—[[Palaeozoic]] rocks north of the lake, rising up to {{convert|2500|m|abbr=on}} above sea level—and drained by the {{convert|15|km|mi|abbr=on|adj=mid|-long}} [[Ruggles River]], which flows into [[Chandler Fjord]] on the northern east coast of Ellesmere Land. The lake is flanked by the [[Arctic Cordillera]].
The lake is {{convert|74|km|abbr=on|0}} long and up to {{convert|12|km|abbr=on|0}} wide, with an area of {{convert|537.5|km2|abbr=on}}.<ref name="Nuttall">Mark Nuttal: ''Encyclopedia of the Arctic''. Routledge, 2012, {{ISBN|9781136786808}}, S. 835-836 ({{Google books|Swr9BTI_2FEC|excerpt|page=835}})</ref> It stretches in a southwest–northeast direction from {{coord|81|40|N|72|58|W|region:CA-NU_type:waterbody_scale:200000|name=Lake Hazen (southwest)}} to {{coord|81|56|N|68|55|W|region:CA-NU_type:waterbody_scale:500000|name=Lake Hazen (northeast)}}. The lake is up to {{convert|269|m|abbr=on}} deep and has an estimated volume of 51.4 km<sup>3</sup>.<ref name="Arctic">G. KÖCK, D. MUIR, F. YANG, X. WANG, C. TALBOT, N. GANTNER, D. MOSER: [http://pubs.aina.ucalgary.ca/arctic/Arctic65-1-56.pdf ''Bathymetry and Sediment Geochemistry of Lake Hazen (Quttinirpaaq National Park, Ellesmere Island, Nunavut)''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230806110802/http://pubs.aina.ucalgary.ca/arctic/Arctic65-1-56.pdf |date=2023-08-06 }}. Arctic, Vol. 65, No. 1 (MARCH 2012), pp. 56-66 ([https://www.jstor.org/stable/23187224 JSTOR])</ref> The shoreline is {{convert|185|km|abbr=on}} long and {{convert|158|m|abbr=on}} above sea level. The lake has several islands, the largest of them being [[Johns Island (Nunavut)|Johns Island]], which is {{convert|7|km|abbr=on}} long and less than {{convert|1|km|abbr=on}} wide, also extending in a southwest–northeast direction like the lake itself. Other islands include [[Gatter Island]], [[Clay Island]] (both close to the northeastern shore), [[Whisler Island]], and [[Dyas Island]] (both close to the southern shore).
Lake Hazen is often called the northernmost [[lake]] of [[Canada]], but detailed maps show several smaller lakes up to more than {{convert|100|km|abbr=on|0}} farther north<!--on Ellesmere Island-->. [[Turnabout Lake]] is immediately northeast of the northern end of Lake Hazen. Still further north are the Upper and Lower {{sic|hide=y|Dum|bell}} Lakes, with [[Upper Dumbell Lake]] {{convert|5.2|km|abbr=on|0}} southwest of [[Alert, Nunavut|Alert]], Canada's northernmost settlement on the coast of the [[Lincoln Sea]], part of the [[Arctic Ocean]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.arctic.uoguelph.ca/cpe/environments/inland_water/lakes/hazen.htm |title=Description of Lake Hazen |publisher=[[University of Guelph]] |accessdate=2008-02-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110518092748/http://www.arctic.uoguelph.ca/cpe/environments/inland_water/lakes/hazen.htm |archive-date=2011-05-18 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
The northeastern end of Lake Hazen is {{convert|118|km|abbr=on|0}} southwest of Alert.
The lake is part of [[Quttinirpaaq National Park]].
Artifacts of the [[Thule people|Thule civilization]] were discovered near Lake Hazen in 2004.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.nunatsiaq.com/archives/41029/news/nunavut/41029_12.html |title=Ambitious plan proposed for Quttinirpaaq National Park |author=Greg Younger-Lewis |date=October 29, 2004 |publisher=nunatsiaq |accessdate=2008-02-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061114161114/http://www.nunatsiaq.com/archives/41029/news/nunavut/41029_12.html |archive-date=November 14, 2006 |url-status=dead }}</ref> These included ruins of a stone dwelling near the Ruggles River and discarded fish bones, suggesting an overwintering fishing camp where the strong current resisted freezing over.<ref name="Dick">{{cite book |first=Lyle |last=Dick |title=Muskox Land: Ellesmere Island in the Age of Contact |publisher=[[University of Calgary Press]] |year=2001 |page=36 |isbn=978-1-55238-050-5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=seWk7ZVSE7sC }}</ref> The Thule were ancestors of the [[Inuit]]. In 1882, [[Adolphus Greely]] was the first European to discover the lake during his 1881–1883 expedition. He named the lake in honour of General [[William Babcock Hazen]], who had organized the expedition.<ref name="Nuttall"/> [[Camp Hazen]] was established on the northern shore of the lake in 1957 as part of [[Operation Hazen]] during the [[International Geophysical Year]] (IGY), and has been used by various scientific parties since then.
Lake Hazen is populated by two [[morphotype|morphotypes]] of [[Arctic char]], a larger and a smaller. Studies in the 1990s indicated neither char morphotype is [[anadromous]], but [[Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit|Inuit traditional knowledge]] states otherwise.<ref>Douglas Clark, “[https://web.archive.org/web/20070928122702/http://www.xn--emanrese-3m3d.ca/eman/reports/publications/nm97_hazen/intro.html Assessing the Health of the Lake Hazen Ecosystem, Ellesmere Island, Northwest Territories],” Parks Canada, 1997. Archived from the original on 2007-09-28. Retrieved 2020-05-14. “Two morphotypes of Arctic char are present in Lake Hazen: a large, cannibalistic form, and a small, presumably benthic-feeding form (Reist et al. 1995). Taken together, the results of both radiotelemetry studies in 1995–6 (Babaluk et al. in prep.) and, more conclusively, strontium uptake by char (Halden et al. 1996) suggest that neither form is anadromous. However, this is in contradiction to Inuit traditional knowledge, which holds that the char in Lake Hazen do go to sea (Ellesmere Island National Park Reserve Advisory Board, March 5, 1997). A comprehensive demographic analysis of the char population of Lake Hazen is in progress (J. Reist, pers. comm.). Fecundity information is still required.”</ref>
==Named inflows==
All named rivers and creeks are listed in a [[clockwise]] manner, starting in the south:
At the southwestern end (from south to north): *Very River *Adams River
On the northwest coast (from southwest to northeast): *Turnstone River *Henrietta River *Ptarmigan Creek *Blister Creek *Skeleton Creek *Snow Goose River *Abbé River *Cuesta Creek *Mesa Creek *Gilman River
At the northeast end (from north to south): *Turnabout River *Salor Creek
On the southeast coast (only in the southwest, near the southwest end of the lake): *Cobb River *Traverse River
==Tourism== Hikers can start their hiking trips at Lake Hazen itself, or from Tanquary Fiord warden station at [[Tanquary Fiord Airport]] {{convert|70|km|abbr=on}} southwest of the lake.
==In popular culture==
Lake Hazen is the setting of a major story plot in the novel ''[[Good Morning, Midnight (Brooks-Dalton novel) |Good Morning, Midnight]]'', published 2016. <ref name="book_good_morning_midnight"> {{cite web |url=https://chireviewofbooks.com/2016/08/17/good-morning-midnight-imagines-the-world-gone-dark/|title=Good Morning Midnight Imagines the World Gone Dark |accessdate=2024-04-06 }}</ref> A film adaptation of that book was released in 2020 under the title ''[[The Midnight Sky]]'', although the actual filming was done in Iceland.<ref name="midnight_sky_filming_location">{{cite web |url=https://www.hitc.com/en-gb/2020/12/22/the-midnight-sky-where-filmed-filming-locations-netflix/ |title=Where was The Midnight Sky filmed? Explore the filming locations of George Clooney's Netflix film |accessdate=2020-12-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201225161717/https://www.hitc.com/en-gb/2020/12/22/the-midnight-sky-where-filmed-filming-locations-netflix/ |archive-date=2020-12-25 }}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{Lakes of Nunavut}}
[[Category:Lakes of the Qikiqtaaluk Region|Hazen, Lake]] [[Category:Ellesmere Island]]