Brooks Range
| Brooks Range | |
|---|---|
 Brooks Range from near Galbraith Lake |
|
| Highest point | |
| Peak | Mount Chamberlin |
| Elevation | 9,020 ft (2,750 m) |
| Coordinates | 69°16′39″N 144°54′40″W / 69.27750°N 144.91111°W |
| Dimensions | |
| Length | 700 mi (1,100 km) East-west |
| Width | 150 mi (240 km) North-south |
| Geography | |
| Countries | United States and Canada |
| States/Provinces | Alaska and Yukon |
| Range coordinates | 68°12′N 152°15′W / 68.2°N 152.25°WCoordinates: 68°12′N 152°15′W / 68.2°N 152.25°W |
| Geology | |
| Orogeny | Laramide |
| Period | Cretaceous |
The Brooks Range (Gwich'in Athabaskan Gwazhał[pronunciation?]) is a mountain range in far northern North America. It stretches from west to east across northern Alaska and into Canada's Yukon Territory, a total distance of about 1100 km (700 mi). The mountains top out at over 2,700 m (9,000 ft). The range is believed to be approximately 126 million years old. In the USA, these mountains are considered part of (or an extension of) the Rockies, whereas in Canada they are considered separate, the northern border of the Rockies regarded as the Liard River far to the south in the province of British Columbia.[1][2]
The range is mostly uninhabited, but the Dalton Highway and the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System run through the Atigun Pass (1,415 m, 4,643 ft) on their way to the North Slope and the oil fields at Prudhoe Bay. The Alaska Native villages of Anaktuvuk and Arctic Village, as well as the very small communities of Coldfoot, Wiseman, Bettles, and Chandalar Lake are the only settlements in the 700-mile Brooks Range. In the far west, near the Wulik River in the De Long Mountains is the Red Dog mine, largest zinc mine in the world.
The range was named by the United States Board on Geographic Names in 1925 after Alfred Hulse Brooks, who was the chief USGS geologist for Alaska from 1903 to 1924.
Various historical records also referred to the range as the Arctic Mountains, Hooper Mountains, Meade Mountains and Meade River Mountains; the Canadian portion is still often referred to as the British Mountains. The British Mountains are part of Ivvavik National Park.
Contents |
Peaks[edit]
- Mount Chamberlin at 9020 ft (2,749 m), is generally considered to be the highest peak in the range.
Other notable peaks include:
-
- Mount Isto at 8,975 ft (2,736 m)
- Mount Michelson at 8,855 ft (2,699 m)
- The Gates of Kiev at 7775 ft (2370 m), the highest point in the central part of the range, and
- Black Mountain at 5020 ft (1530 m) the highest point in the far western part of the range.
- Mount Doonerak
- Mount Igikpak
- Frigid Crags West Gate
- Boreal Mountain East Gate
Ecology[edit]
This mountain range forms the northernmost drainage divide in North America, separating streams flowing into the Arctic Ocean and the North Pacific. The range roughly delineates the summer position of the Arctic front. It represents the northern extent of tree line, with few trees (apart from some isolated Balsam poplar stands) occurring north of the continental drainage divide. The southern slopes of the Brooks Range have some cover of Black Spruce, Picea mariana, and Quaking Aspen, marking the northern limit of those trees.[3] As one of the most remote and least-disturbed wildernesses of North America, the mountains are teeming with wildlife, including Dall sheep, grizzly bears, and caribou.
In Alaska, the Western Arctic Caribou herd traverses the Brooks Range in its annual migration. This herd was measured at 490,000 animals in 2004. The smaller Central Arctic herd (32,000 in 2002), as well as the 123,000 strong Porcupine Caribou herd likewise travel through the Brooks range on their migratory paths in and out of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The migration path of the Porcupine Caribou Herd is the longest of any terrestrial mammal on earth.
Climate[edit]
While other Alaskan ranges to the south and closer to the coast can receive 250 inches (640 cm) to 500 inches (1,300 cm) of precipitation, the average precipitation on the Brooks Range is reported at 30 inches (76 cm)[4] to 130 centimetres (51 in).[5]
As measured at the Anaktuvuk Pass weather station (elevation 770 metres (2,530 ft)), the average summer temperatures are 3 °C (37 °F) as a low and 16 °C (61 °F) as a high. During the winter the average low is −30 °C (−22 °F) while the average high is −22 °C (−8 °F).[5]
Films[edit]
- 2007 - Gates of the Arctic: Alaska's Brooks Range
- 2008 - Alone Across Alaska: 1,000 Miles of Wilderness
See also[edit]
Notes[edit]
- ^ The Encyclopedia Americana, Volume 23, page 618 (Grolier 2000).
- ^ Safire, William. The New York Times guide to essential knowledge: a desk reference for the curious mind, page 623 (Macmillan 2007 ).
- ^ C. Michael Hogan, Black Spruce: Picea mariana, GlobalTwitcher.com, ed. Nicklas Stromberg, November, 2008
- ^ Shulski, Martha; Wendler, Gerd (2007-12-15). The Climate of Alaska. University of Alaska Press. pp. 148–. ISBN 9781602230071. Retrieved 16 December 2012.
- ^ a b Gallant, Alisa L. (1998-05-01). EcoRegions of Alaska. DIANE Publishing. pp. 15–. ISBN 9780788148965. Retrieved 16 December 2012.
Further reading[edit]
- Witmer, Dennis "Far to the North: Photographs from the Brooks Range" Far to the North Press (2008) ISBN 0-9771028-0-7
- Kauffmann, John M. "Alaska's Brooks Range: The Ultimate Mountains" (Second Edition) Mountaineers Books (2005) ISBN 1-59485-008-9
- Brown, William E. "History of the Central Brooks Range: Gaunt Beauty, Tenuous Life" University of Alaska Press (2007) ISBN 1-60223-009-9
- Cooper, David "Brooks Range Passage" Mountaineers Books (1983) ISBN 0-89886-061-X
- Dover, J.H., I.L. Tailleur, and J.A. Dumoulin. (2004). Geologic and fossil locality maps of the west-central part of the Howard Pass quadrangle and part of the adjacent Misheguk Mountain quadrangle, Western Brooks Range, Alaska [Miscellaneous Field Studies; Map MF-2413]. Reston, Va.: U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey.
- Krumhardt, A.P., A.G. Harris, and K.F. Watts. (1996). Lithostratigraphy, microlithofacies, and conodont biostratigraphy and biofacies of the Wahoo Limestone (Carboniferous), eastern Sadlerochit Mountains, northeast Brooks Range, Alaska U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1568. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey.
- Marshall, R. (1970). Alaska wilderness; exploring the Central Brooks Range 2nd ed. Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-24498-2
- Mayfield, C.F. et al. (1984). Reconnaissance geologic map of southeastern Misheguk Mountain quadrangle, Alaska [ Miscellaneous Investigations Series Map I-1503]. Reston, Va.: U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey.
- Morin, R.L. (1997). Gravity and magnetic maps of part of the Drenchwater Creek stratiform zinc-lead-silver deposit, Howard Pass quadrangle, northwestern Brooks Range, Alaska [Open-file report 97-705]. Menlo Park, CA: U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey.
- Morin, R.L. (1997). Gravity models of Abby Creek and Bion barite deposits, Howard Pass quadrangle, northwestern Brooks Range, Alaska [U.S. Geological Survey Open-file Report 97-704]. Menlo Park, CA: U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey.
- Mull, C.G. et al. (1994). Geologic map of the Killik River quadrangle, Brooks Range, Alaska [U.S. Geological Survey Open-file Report 94-679]. Reston, Va: U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey.
- Nelson, P.H. et al. (2006). Potential tight gas resources in a frontier province, Jurassic through Tertiary strata beneath the Brooks Range foothills, Arctic Alaska U.S. Geological Survey Open-file Report 2006-1172. Reston, VA: U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey.
- U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey. (2003). The natural dispersal of metals to the environment in the Wulik River-Ikalukrok Creek area, western Brooks Range, Alaska U.S. Geological Survey Fact Sheet 107-03. Reston, VA: author.
- U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey. (1995). Natural environmental effects of silver-lead-zinc deposits in the Brooks Range, Alaska U.S. Geological Survey Fact Sheet 092-95. Reston, VA: author.
