Canadian Arctic

This image acquired by Envisat's Medium Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MERIS) instrument on 31 July 2009 over the Nunavut territory in the Canadian Arctic captures the contrast of the icy shallower waters of Foxe Basin (top centre) with the warmer deeper waters of Foxe Channel (bottom). Foxe Basin is a shallow extension of the Atlantic Ocean located between Baffin Island (top right), the fifth largest island in the world, and the Melville Peninsula (upper left, partially cloud covered). Foxe Basin connects with Hudson Bay (bottom) and Hudson Strait (located beneath Baffin Island, cloud covered) via the 320-km long Foxe Channel.

Ungava Peninsula is visible in the bottom right corner beneath the Hudson Strait. The larger island to its northwest is Southampton Island. The two smaller islands at the bottom of the image (Coats, left, and Mansel) lie at the northern part of Hudson Bay.