The Byam Martin Mountains are a rugged mountain range

Mountain range

A mountain range is a single, large mass consisting of a succession of mountains or narrowly spaced mountain ridges, with or without peaks, closely related in position, direction, formation, and age; a component part of a mountain system or of a mountain chain...

 extending east to west across Bylot Island

Bylot Island

Bylot Island lies off the northern end of Baffin Island in Nunavut Territory, Canada. At it is ranked 71st largest island in the world and Canada's 17th largest island. It is also one of the largest uninhabited islands in the world. While there are no permanent settlements on this Canadian Arctic...

, Nunavut

Nunavut

Nunavut is the largest and newest federal territory of Canada; it was separated officially from the Northwest Territories on April 1, 1999, via the Nunavut Act and the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement Act, though the actual boundaries had been established in 1993...

, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

. It is one of the most northern ranges in the world and is an extension of the Baffin Mountains

Baffin Mountains

The Baffin Mountains are a mountain range running along the northeastern coast of Baffin Island and Bylot Island, Nunavut are part of the Arctic Cordillera. The ice-capped mountains are some of the highest peaks of eastern North America, reaching a height of above sea level...

 which in turn form part of the Arctic Cordillera

Arctic Cordillera

The Arctic Cordillera is a vast, deeply dissected chain of mountain ranges extending along the northeastern flank of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago from Ellesmere Island to the northeasternmost part of the Labrador Peninsula in northern Labrador and northern Quebec, Canada...

 mountain system. The highest mountain in the range is Angilaaq Mountain

Angilaaq Mountain

Angilaaq Mountain is a mountain in Qikiqtaaluk Region, Nunavut, Canada. It is located north of Pond Inlet. It is the highest mountain on Bylot Island and lies in the Byam Martin Mountains, which is a northern extension of the Baffin Mountains....

, 1951 m (6,401 ft), located near the island's center. Sharp peaks and ridge

Ridge

A ridge is a geological feature consisting of a chain of mountains or hills that form a continuous elevated crest for some distance. Ridges are usually termed hills or mountains as well, depending on size. There are several main types of ridges:...

s, divided by deep glacier-filled valley

Valley

In geology, a valley or dale is a depression with predominant extent in one direction. A very deep river valley may be called a canyon or gorge.The terms U-shaped and V-shaped are descriptive terms of geography to characterize the form of valleys...

s are typical features in the range and has been extensively modified by glacial erosion

Erosion

Erosion is when materials are removed from the surface and changed into something else. It only works by hydraulic actions and transport of solids in the natural environment, and leads to the deposition of these materials elsewhere...

. The Byam Martin Mountains have not been conducive to habitation. While there are no permanent settlements in the Byam Martin Mountains, Inuit

Inuit

The Inuit are a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic regions of Canada , Denmark , Russia and the United States . Inuit means “the people” in the Inuktitut language...

 from Pond Inlet

Pond Inlet, Nunavut

Pond Inlet is a small, predominantly Inuit community in the Qikiqtaaluk Region of Nunavut, Canada and is located at the top of Baffin Island. As of the 2006 census the population was 1,315, an increase of 7.8% from the 2001 census making it the largest of the four hamlets above the 72nd parallel...

 and elsewhere regularly travel to the range.

The Byam Martin Mountains are made up of Archean

Archean

The Archean , also spelled Archeozoic or Archæozoic) is a geologic eon before the Paleoproterozoic Era of the Proterozoic Eon, before 2.5 Ga ago. Instead of being based on stratigraphy, this date is defined chronometrically...

-Aphebian igneous

Igneous rock

Igneous rock is one of the three main rock types, the others being sedimentary and metamorphic rock. Igneous rock is formed through the cooling and solidification of magma or lava...

 crystal

Crystal

A crystal or crystalline solid is a solid material whose constituent atoms, molecules, or ions are arranged in an orderly repeating pattern extending in all three spatial dimensions. The scientific study of crystals and crystal formation is known as crystallography...

line rock and Proterozoic

Proterozoic

The Proterozoic is a geological eon representing a period before the first abundant complex life on Earth. The name Proterozoic comes from the Greek "earlier life"...

 metasedimentary and metamorphic rock

Metamorphic rock

Metamorphic rock is the transformation of an existing rock type, the protolith, in a process called metamorphism, which means "change in form". The protolith is subjected to heat and pressure causing profound physical and/or chemical change...

, such as gneiss

Gneiss

Gneiss is a common and widely distributed type of rock formed by high-grade regional metamorphic processes from pre-existing formations that were originally either igneous or sedimentary rocks.-Etymology:...

.

History

The first known expedition to the Byam Martin Mountains was by Pat Baird in 1939. He traversed Bylot Island from the Aktineq Glacier to Bathurst Bay on the east coast and returned down the Sermilik Glacier. On June 7,1939 he climbed an unnamed, 6,000 ft mountain at coordinates 73deg 06.7'N 078deg 30.5'W. Mount Thule 1,711m (5,614 ft) was climbed in 1954 by American Ben Ferris, a member of the Harvard Mountaineering Club. In 1963, British explorer Bill Tilman sailed his boat to the north coast and traversed the island from north to south, but did not climb any of the larger peaks. Laurie Dexter, an Anglican minister and Arctic resident, explored and climbed peaks on the southern coast. In 1974, Dr. George Van Brunt Cochran climbed an unnamed peak west of the Narsarsuk Glacier on the south coast. In 1977, a Canadian expedition led by Rob Kelly and four others, traversed the island from NW to SE. They climbed 20 peaks, including Pat Baird's unnamed peak on July 27,1977. In June 1981, another Canadian expedition led by Jack DeBruyn with three other members of the Grant MacEwan Mountain Club from Edmonton, Alberta, traversed the island from NW to S. They climbed 15 peaks, with 14 first ascents, and also Pat Baird's unnamed peak on July 3, 1981. In 1984, another Canadian expedition led by Mike Schmidt and others traversed the island from N to SE, climbing 28 peaks, with 16 first ascents.