Point Barrow
Point Barrow
Nuvuk | |
|---|---|
Northernmost point of the USA | |
| Country |  United States |
| State |  Alaska |
| Borough | North Slope |
| Time zone | UTC-9 (Alaska (AKST)) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC-8 (AKDT) |
Point Barrow or Nuvuk is a headland on the Arctic coast in the U.S. state of Alaska, 9 miles (14 km) northeast of Barrow. It is the northernmost point of all the territory of the United States, at 71°23′20″N 156°28′45″W / 71.38889°N 156.47917°W. The distance to the North Pole is 1,122 nautical miles (1,291 mi; 2,078 km), or 40 miles (64 km) further than the distance from Murchison Promontory, Nunavut to the Pole.
Point Barrow is also an important geographical landmark, marking the limit between two marginal seas of the Arctic, the Chukchi Sea on its western side and the Beaufort Sea on the eastern.
Archaeological evidence indicates that Point Barrow was occupied by the ancestors of the Inupiat almost 1,000 years prior to the arrival of the first Europeans. The headland is an important archaeological site, yielding burials and artifacts associated with the Thule culture, including uluit and bola. The waters off Point Barrow are on the Bowhead Whales migration route and it is surmised that the site was chosen to make hunting easier.[1] There are also burial mounds in the area, at the nearby Birnirk Site, associated with the earlier Birnirk culture, identified in 1912 by Vilhjalmur Stefansson while excavating in the area.[2]
It was named by English explorer Frederick William Beechey, in 1826 for Sir John Barrow, a statesman and geographer of the British Admiralty. The water around it is normally ice-free for only two or three months a year.
It has been a jumping-off point for many Arctic expeditions, including the Wilkins-Detroit Arctic Expeditions and the April 15, 1928, Eielson-Wilkins flight across the Arctic Ocean to Spitsbergen.
It is close to Rogers-Post Site, the scene of the airplane crash on August 15, 1935 that killed aviator Wiley Post and his passenger, the entertainer Will Rogers.
Between 1965 and 1972 it was used as a launch site for Nike-Cajun and Nike Apache sounding rockets. It is the site of a Global Atmosphere Watch atmospheric monitoring station.
The term Point Barrow whales refers to whales that were trapped in the ice at Point Barrow in 1988, which attracted attention from the public of the United States.[3]
A horse named Point Barrow took part in the 2008 Grand National but failed to complete the course.
See also
References
- ^ BBC NEWS - Bodies point to Alaska's past
- ^ Archaeology of Prehistoric Native America By Guy E. Gibbon, Kenneth M. Ames
- ^ Mauer, Richard (1988-10-18). "Unlikely Allies Rush to Free 3 Whales". New York Times. Retrieved 2008-06-12.