Glacier and Mount Loki, Auyuittuq National Park, Canada

Glacier and Mount Loki, Auyuittuq National Park, Canada

© Posnov/Moment/Getty Images

One sharp summit

In this northerly place, Norse myth is the go-to source for land feature names, but we're nowhere near the Nordic nations. Hardly a trick of the eye, the super-pointy peak dominating this Baffin Island landscape is titled after the trickster god Loki, and its nearby counterparts include Mount Thor, Mount Odin and Mount Asgard. This scenic, ice-caked corner of Nunavut is managed cooperatively by Canada and the local Inuit as Auyuittuq National Park—a name that's not Norse but Inuktitut, translating to 'land that never melts.'

The rough, undulating surface of the glacier dominates the foreground, showing the marks of countless millennia of ice flow. Auyuittuq National Park contains several large ice caps and extensive valley glaciers, which are among the most dynamic features of the Arctic landscape. These massive ice bodies are crucial indicators of global climate change, revealing changes through their ongoing retreat and advance. This makes the park a significant area for glaciological research and conservation efforts.

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