A High Arctic Weather Station (H.A.W.S.) called Isachsen lies on the west coast of the island. It was opened April 3, 1948 as part of a joint Canada-U.S. military effort to support a weather station network. When it closed on September 19, 1978, it was replaced with an automated weather system. The station represented the only known permanent human settlement of the island. In 1959-61 it was the base of operation for The Polar Continental Shelf Project administered by the then Dept. of Mines and Tecnical Surveys now Natural Respources Canada; the Polar Shelf as it was known supports research throughout the Arctic, it is now based in Resolute. In the late 70's there was also a fair amount of oil exploration with a new runway built in the vicinity of the Isachsen Dome; no significant amount of gas or oil was reportedly found.