The Torngat Mountains are a mountain range on the Labrador Peninsula at the northern tip of Newfoundland and Labrador and eastern Quebec. They are part of the Arctic Cordillera. The mountains form a peninsula that separates Ungava Bay from the Atlantic Ocean. Etymology The name Torngat is derived from an Inuktitut word meaning place of spirits, sometimes interpreted as place of evil spirits. Geography The Torngat Mountains have a substantial geographical extent. About 56% of the range is located in Quebec, 44% is in Labrador, and the remainder, less than 1%, is located on Killiniq Island in Nunavut. At least 2% of the mountain chain is under water, and poorly surveyed. The Torngat Mountains cover , including lowland areas and extend over from Cape Chidley in the north to Hebron Fjord in the south. The Torngat Mountains have the highest peaks of eastern continental Canada. The highest point is Mount Caubvick (also known as Mont D'Iberville) at . There are no trees in the Torngat Mountains because the mountains lie in an arctic tundra climate and are therefore above the tree line. Permafrost is continuous on the Quebec side of the border, and it is extensive but discontinuous on the eastern Atlantic side. The terrain is over above sea level and is predominantly rocky desert. Geology Precambrian gneisses that comprise the Torngat Mountains are among the oldest on Earth and have been dated at roughly 3.6 to 3.9 billion years old. Geologists recognize the gneisses of the Torngats as a part of the Canadian Shield or Laurentian Upland, which, composing the very old North American Craton, split from the continent of Rodinia roughly 750 million years ago to form the geologic core of North America. However, the mountain-building or orogeny of the Torngats took place much more recently, and is characteristic of the folding and faulting that defines the series of geological events known as Arctic Cordillera. This, according to some, makes the Torngats, as mountains, "distinct compared to the surrounding Precambrian Canadian Shield," though they are ultimately composed of shield rock. Evidence of this dramatic cordilleran folding and faulting characterizing the Torngat Mountains can be seen distinctly in rocks where the North American Craton long ago collided with the Nain Craton, later exposed in cross-section by glacial scouring, especially at Saglek Fjord. Glaciation The ranges of the Torngat Mountains are separated by deep fjords and finger lakes surrounded by