Penny Ice Cap

{{Short description|Ice cap in Nunavut, Canada}} {{Infobox glacier | name = Penny Ice Cap | image = Auyuittuq NP 8 2001-07-25.jpg | map = Canada Nunavut | caption = The Penny Ice Cap | type = Ice cap | location = [[Nunavut]], Canada | coordinates = {{coord|67|17|N|66|13|W|region:CA-NU_type:glacier|notes=<ref name=OAMSC>{{Cite cgndb|OAMSC|Penny Ice Cap}}</ref> OAMSC|display=inline,title|name=Penny Ice Cap}} | area = | length = | thickness = | terminus = outflow glaciers | status = }} The '''Penny Ice Cap''', formerly '''Penny Icecap''',<ref>[http://www4.rncan.gc.ca/search-place-names/unique/82808d52d05511d892e2080020a0f4c9 Penny Ice Cap (Formerly Penny Icecap)]</ref> is a {{convert|6000|km2|abbr=on}} [[ice cap]] in [[Auyuittuq National Park]] of [[Baffin Island]], [[Nunavut]], Canada. It forms a {{convert|2000|m|0|abbr=on}} high barrier on the [[Cumberland Peninsula]], an area of deep [[fjord]]s and glaciated valleys. It is a remnant of the [[Laurentide ice sheet]]. During the mid-1990s, Canadian researchers studied the glacier's patterns of freezing and thawing over centuries by drilling [[ice core]] samples.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.nunatsiaq.com/archives/60421/news/nunavut/60421_08.html |title=Nunatsiaq News: Penney Ice Cap shrinking like the rest? |access-date=2008-01-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080512045855/http://www.nunatsiaq.com/archives/60421/news/nunavut/60421_08.html |archive-date=2008-05-12 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>[http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/paleo/icecore/polar/penny/penny.html NOAA Paleoclimatology: Penny Ice Cap Data]</ref>

The ice cap has been thinning and its valley glaciers have been retreating in recent decades related to rising summer and winter air temperatures across the eastern [[Arctic]].<ref>[http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/IPY/multimedia/ipyimg_20080918.html NASA: Penny Ice Cap in 1979 and 2000]</ref><ref>[http://www.agu.org/pubs/crossref/pip/2011JF002248.shtml C. Zdanowicz et al.: Summer melt rates on Penny Ice Cap, Baffin Island: Past and recent trends, and implications for regional climate]</ref>

The ice cap is named after Captain [[William Penny]], a [[whaling]] captain from [[Aberdeen]], Scotland. Penny pioneered over-wintering with [[Inuit]] at [[Cumberland Sound]] in the 19th century so that he could begin whaling much earlier in the season than his competitors. He was also engaged by Lady [[Jane Franklin]] to search for [[John Franklin]] and [[Franklin's lost expedition|his lost expedition]], who had gone missing with all his crew in the search for the [[Northwest Passage]].

==See also== *[[List of glaciers]]

==References== {{reflist}} {{Commonscat}} {{Arctic Cordillera}} {{Glaciers of Nunavut}}

[[Category:Bodies of ice of Baffin Island]] [[Category:Arctic Cordillera]] [[Category:Ice caps of Canada]]