Arctic Cordillera

The Arctic Cordillera is a vast, deeply dissected chain of mountain ranges in northern Canada. It runs along the northeastern edge of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, from Ellesmere Island southeast to the northern tip of Labrador and northeastern Quebec, and covers most of the eastern coast of Nunavut. High glaciated peaks rise through ice fields and some of Canada's largest ice caps, including the Penny Ice Cap on Baffin Island, and the region also holds inland fjords and alpine glaciers. Roughly three quarters of the land is ice or exposed bedrock, with permafrost throughout the year, so vegetation is largely absent. Summits pass 2,000 metres, and the highest, Barbeau Peak on Ellesmere Island at 2,616 metres, is the highest point in eastern North America. The system is one of Canada's three mountain systems, with the Western Cordillera and the Canadian extension of the Appalachians. The same name is also used for a terrestrial ecoregion defined by the Commission for Environmental Cooperation.