Introducing the North Water: Histories of exploration, ice dynamics, living resources, and human settlement in the Thule Region.

TY - JOUR

T1 - Introducing the North Water

T2 - Histories of exploration, ice dynamics, living resources, and human settlement in the Thule Region.

AU - Hastrup, Kirsten Blinkenberg

AU - Mosbech, Anders

AU - Grønnow, Bjarne

PY - 2018/4/1

Y1 - 2018/4/1

N2 - The North Water is a recurrent polynya in the High Arctic situated between Northwest Greenland and Ellesmere Island of Canada. The North Water makes a dynamic space, where various processes may enhance or obstruct each other, accelerating or halting particular modes of human–animal relations in the region, where life itself depends on the North Water. This will be discussed in four steps. The first step posits the North Water as a perceived oasis for explorers and whalers hailing from Europe or America in the nineteenth century. The second step concentrates on the diverse rhythms inherent in the ice conditions, as affected by trends that are set in motion elsewhere. The third step highlights the implications of the dynamics of the ice and sea currents for animal life in the region. The fourth step gives an overview of human settlement patterns around the North Water across the ages. The article shows how natural and social features are deeply implicated in each other, even if they are not directly co-variant.

AB - The North Water is a recurrent polynya in the High Arctic situated between Northwest Greenland and Ellesmere Island of Canada. The North Water makes a dynamic space, where various processes may enhance or obstruct each other, accelerating or halting particular modes of human–animal relations in the region, where life itself depends on the North Water. This will be discussed in four steps. The first step posits the North Water as a perceived oasis for explorers and whalers hailing from Europe or America in the nineteenth century. The second step concentrates on the diverse rhythms inherent in the ice conditions, as affected by trends that are set in motion elsewhere. The third step highlights the implications of the dynamics of the ice and sea currents for animal life in the region. The fourth step gives an overview of human settlement patterns around the North Water across the ages. The article shows how natural and social features are deeply implicated in each other, even if they are not directly co-variant.

KW - Faculty of Social Sciences

KW - Arctic exploration

KW - Human migration

KW - Ice dynamics

KW - Living resources

KW - Sea–ice community

KW - Thule region

U2 - 10.1007/s13280-018-1030-2

DO - 10.1007/s13280-018-1030-2

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 29516442

SN - 0044-7447

VL - 47

SP - 162

EP - 174

JO - Ambio

JF - Ambio

IS - Suppl 2

ER -