Devon Island: World's Largest Barren Arctic Desert Dubbed 'Mars on Earth'

Due to the similarities in terrain, Devon Island has earned the nickname "Mars on Earth," being the world's largest barren Arctic desert, with only 3% vegetation.

Devon Island: Mars on Earth

The biggest deserted island on Earth is Devon Island in Baffin Bay, part of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, and for good cause. Especially in the eastern portion of the island, which is continually blanketed by an ice sheet 500 to 700 meters thick, the ground stays frozen for virtually the whole year.

The ground remains snow-free only for a short time, 45-50 days, in the height of summer. Only roughly 8°C more is gained throughout the summer. -16°C is the typical annual temperature. In a sense, Devon Island is a desolate wasteland with little in the way of vegetation or wildlife, dominated by icy-broken rocks.

But Devon Island is a very fascinating location for scientists and researchers. Its desert landscape and arid climate are very comparable to those of Mars.

NASA's Haughton Mars Project

A multinational research initiative named the Haughton Mars Initiative (HMP), which examines how human explorers can live and operate on other planetary objects, particularly on Mars, has been based on Devon Island since 2001.

According to NASA, the desolate landscape, subfreezing temperatures, seclusion, and remoteness of Devon Island provide scientists and staff with a variety of distinctive research opportunities.

The difficulties that crew members will probably encounter on lengthy space trips can be analogized to other elements, such as the Arctic day-and-night cycle and limited logistical and communications capabilities, which Devon Island can provide.

The Haughton impact crater, a 23 km diameter crater created about 39 million years ago when a projectile with a 2 km diameter slammed into the earth, is visible from the Flashline Mars Arctic Research Station (FMARS), which is run by the Mars Society and primarily supported by NASA.

Because of how intense the episode was, rocks that were 1.7 km below the surface were hauled to the surface. Weathering is negligible since the frozen temperatures prevent any water from running.

As a result, Haughton still has a lot of the geological features that other craters have lost to weathering. One of the most Mars-like terrains on Earth is allegedly found in the Haughton impact crater area.

Barren Arctic Desert with only 3% Plants

There is some life present on Devon Island. On Devon Island's northeastern shore, in the Truelove Lowland region, which has some vegetation and, unexpectedly, some fauna, is a relatively warm and damp location. In reality, this region has 50 days with no snow on the ground and a peak summer temperature of 8°C.

The lowlands have poor drainage, which encourages the growth of certain types of moss that musk-Oxen graze on all year long. Invertebrates such as worms, midge, fly larvae, and even protozoa, live in the chilly, moist soil. The island is home to a small number of birds.

Polar deserts, a lifeless ecosystem with a 3% or less coverage of vascular plants, dominate Devon Island's landscape. Cryptobiotic surfaces are connected with a few places of stronger ecosystem development and a vascular plant cover of 10-15%.

These locations are rare and frequently occur when moisture is present all summer long, such as "snowflush" sites that are located downhill from persistent snowbanks.