Over 90 % of the park is dominated
by the British Mountains which rise to 1800
metres, the only non-glaciated mountain range
in Canada and home to the country's most
northern populations of moose and Dall's
sheep. The Malcolm, Firth and Babbage Rivers
carve their way through these mountains, to
flow across 2400 square kilometres of coastal
plain, emptying into the Beaufort Sea. Aufies,
ever-thickening sheets of ice formed by percolating
springs, freeze in layers 2 - 5 metres thick
over existing river ice, often breaking away
to become navigational hazards. Snow and ice
arrive by early October and stay for eight long
months. In summer, offshore ice floes blow in
creating fog banks, rocks are squeezed to the
surface, thawed soil slides downhill on top
of permafrost and wedges of underground ice
melt in the sun causing mudslides along the
riverbank. Everywhere the mountains, v-shaped
valleys, isolated conical hills and sideslope
rock outcrops called torsĘ show the effects
of uninterrupted water, wind, and frost erosion.
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The park lies within the Beringia
Refugium, an unglaciated area that extended
between North America and Siberia providing
shelter for diverse vegetation that in turn
sustained an exceptional wildlife habitat. Three
distinct regions exist: where permafrost is
lower, the soil on sunny slopes supports delicate
plants, avens and lichens, and some stunted
trees and bushes often lush with blueberries,
cranberries and cloudberries; where the climate
is most affected by the Beaufort Sea, only sedges
and arctic tundra can survive; in southern valleys,
Canada's most northern tongue of boreal forest
- white spruce and balsam - meet the tundra
at a transitional point called the taiga. In
fall, the gray, pink, and coppery shale on the
ridges blend with the greens, yellows and reds
of tundra lupine and fireweed, while on the
stony hillsides the scarlet and maroon of berry
bushes blaze against the orange and brown lichen.
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