Ungava Bay (french: baie d'Ungava, ; iu, ᐅᖓᕙ ᑲᖏᖅᓗᒃ/) is a bay in northeastern Canada separating Nunavik (far northern

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

) from Baffin Island. Although not geographically apparent, it is considered to be a

marginal sea This is a list of seas of the World Ocean, including marginal seas, areas of water, various gulfs, bights, bays, and straits. Terminology * Ocean – the four to seven largest named bodies of water in the World Ocean, all of which have "Ocea ...

of the

Arctic Ocean The Arctic Ocean is the smallest and shallowest of the world's five major oceans. It spans an area of approximately and is known as the coldest of all the oceans. The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) recognizes it as an ocean, a ...

for climatic reasons. The bay is roughly oval-shaped, about at its widest point and about in length; it has an area of approximately . It is generally fairly shallow, under , though at its border with the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

depths of almost are reached.

Geography

Although it is quite close to the open Atlantic (separated only by

Hudson Strait Hudson Strait (french: Détroit d'Hudson) links the Atlantic Ocean and Labrador Sea to Hudson Bay in Canada. This strait lies between Baffin Island and Nunavik, with its eastern entrance marked by Cape Chidley in Newfoundland and Labrador ...

), Ungava Bay is part of the

. Ungava Bay is separated from Hudson Bay by the

Ungava Peninsula The Ungava Peninsula of Nunavik, Quebec, Canada, is bounded by Hudson Bay to the west, Hudson Strait to the north, and Ungava Bay to the east. This peninsula is part of the Labrador Peninsula, and covers about . Its northernmost point is Ca ...

Akpatok Island Akpatok Island is one of the uninhabited Canadian Arctic islands in the Qikiqtaaluk Region of Nunavut, Canada. It is the largest island in Ungava Bay on the northern coast of Quebec. The island is named for the Akpat, the thick-billed murre (''Ur ...

is largest of the many islands in Ungava Bay.

Bathymetric Bathymetry (; ) is the study of underwater depth of ocean floors (''seabed topography''), lake floors, or river floors. In other words, bathymetry is the underwater equivalent to hypsometry or topography. The first recorded evidence of water d ...

studies suggest that Ungava Bay may be the remnant of an

impact crater An impact crater is a circular depression in the surface of a solid astronomical object formed by the hypervelocity impact of a smaller object. In contrast to volcanic craters, which result from explosion or internal collapse, impact crater ...

(age unknown) approximately in diameter. The southwestern corner of Ungava Bay vies with the Bay of Fundy for the highest

tidal range Tidal range is the difference in height between high tide and low tide. Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by gravitational forces exerted by the Moon and Sun and the rotation of Earth. Tidal range depends on time and location. ...

in the world.Charles T. O'Reilly, Ron Solvason, and Christian Solomon
"Resolving the World's largest tides"
in J.A Percy, A.J. Evans, P.G. Wells, and S.J. Rolston (Editors) 2005: The Changing Bay of Fundy-Beyond 400 years, Proceedings of the 6th Bay of Fundy Workshop, Cornwallis, Nova Scotia, Sept. 29, 2004 to October 2, 2004. Environment Canada-Atlantic Region, Occasional Report no. 23. Dartmouth, NS and Sackville, NB. Some sources estimate the

spring tide Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the Moon (and to a much lesser extent, the Sun) and are also caused by the Earth and Moon orbiting one another. Tide tables ca ...

range at the mouth of the Leaf River as being as high as . Attempts have been made to develop tidal power in the bay, but this is made difficult by the harsh climate and the fact that the bay is ice-free for only a small part of the year.

Climate

Due to the influence of the

Labrador Current The Labrador Current is a cold current in the North Atlantic Ocean which flows from the Arctic Ocean south along the coast of Labrador and passes around Newfoundland, continuing south along the east coast of Canada near Nova Scotia. Near Nova Scot ...

, summers are too cold for

tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are ...

growth and all the land surrounding the bay is treeless

tundra In physical geography, tundra () is a type of biome where tree growth is hindered by frigid temperatures and short growing seasons. The term ''tundra'' comes through Russian (') from the Kildin Sámi word (') meaning "uplands", "treeless mou ...

. Typically, temperatures in summer at

Kuujjuaq Kuujjuaq (; iu, ᑰᑦᔪᐊᖅ, i=no or iu, ᑰᔾᔪᐊᖅ, i=no, label=none, "Great River"), formerly known as and by other names, is a former Hudson's Bay Company outpost at the mouth of the Koksoak River on Ungava Bay that has become ...

about twenty kilometres up the

Koksoak River __NOTOC__ The Koksoak River (french: rivière Koksoak) is a river in northern Quebec, Canada, the largest river in the Nunavik region. The Inuit village and region's administrative centre Kuujjuaq lies on the shores of the Koksoak, about south f ...

are about , while winter temperatures are about .

Precipitation In meteorology, precipitation is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls under gravitational pull from clouds. The main forms of precipitation include drizzle, rain, sleet, snow, ice pellets, graupel and hail. ...

averages around per year, most of it falling in the summer.

Human development

Ungava Bay is surrounded by numerous

Inuit Inuit (; iu, ᐃᓄᐃᑦ 'the people', singular: Inuk, , dual: Inuuk, ) are a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic and subarctic regions of Greenland, Labrador, Quebec, Nunavut, the Northwest Territories ...

villages, the largest of which is Kuujjuaq, Quebec, at the mouth of the

. Iron ore has been mined in the past, but despite the high grade of the ores the impossibility of cheap transportation meant that mining was discontinued in 1980. Traditional Inuit hunting activities still dominate the region's life, along with expensive adventure

tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tours. The World Tourism Organization defines tourism mor ...

References

External links

''Across Arctic Ungava'' (1949)
An online documentary from the

National Film Board of Canada The National Film Board of Canada (NFB; french: Office national du film du Canada (ONF)) is Canada's public film and digital media producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary f ...

. {{Authority control Bays of Quebec Bays of Qikiqtaaluk Region Landforms of Nord-du-Québec