Lady Franklin Bay divides
Grant Land to the north from
Grinnell Land to the south. Lady Franklin Bay is in a generally northeast to southwest direction, and as such it spreads inland about from
Hall Basin. The main bay contains one noted branch to the northwest known as
Discovery Bay, and the interior lengths of Lady Franklin Bay extending southwest are sometimes shown on maps as
Archer Fjord. The landscape surrounding Lady Franklin Bay is generally barren rocks, with some very shallow glacial till held in place with frost and permafrost. At this location, about above the
Arctic Circle, sunlight is limited to perhaps three months of a year, snowfall is light, and water in the bay is icebound from year to year, with just chance openings allowing only difficult navigation. The off-and-on icebound conditions are well known to exist in the sea during peak summer times as far as south of the Bay entrance. However, the glaciers and icecaps of Ellesmere Island have not been known to inundate Lady Franklin Bay. The main reach of this bay can be approached by ship if ice floe conditions allow, via
Baffin Bay, to
Smith Sound, to
Kane Basin, through
Kennedy Channel, and thus through
Hall Basin to the entrance of the Bay. The historically favoured point for beginning such Polar trips has been
St. John's. The climate is a typical
Arctic climate, with very light precipitation, short cold summers, and long cold winters in darkness. The summer natural food game observed at this Bay is limited to various mammals in the sea water, occasional
muskox, and scattered sea birds seen overhead. Plants are limited to short season mosses and lichens. == History ==