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Wrangell-St. Elias Alaska

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Wrangell - St. Elias National Park Service National Park and National Preserve U.S. Department of the Interior Wrangell-St. Elias Alaska The wildness of Wrangell-St. Elias National Park The Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation vest harbor seals, which feed on fish and In late summer, black and brown bears, drawn and Preserve is uncompromising, its geography Act (ANILCA) of 1980 allows the subsistence marine invertebrates. These species and many by ripening soapberries, frequent the forests awe-inspiring. Mount Wrangell, namesake of harvest of wildlife within the park, and preserve more are key foods in the subsistence diet of and gravel bars. Human history here is ancient one of the park's four mountain ranges, is an and sport hunting only in the preserve. Hunters the Ahtna and Upper Tanana Athabaskans, and relatively sparse, and has left a light imprint active volcano. Hundreds of glaciers and ice find Dall's sheep, the park's most numerous Eyak, and Tlingit peoples. Local, non-Native on the immense landscape. Even where people fields form in the high peaks, then melt into riv­ large mammal, on mountain slopes where they people also share in the bounty. continue to hunt, fish, and trap, most animal, ers and streams that drain to the Gulf of Alaska browse sedges, grasses, and forbs. Sockeye, Chi­ fish, and plant populations are healthy and self­ and the Bering Sea. Ice is a bridge that connects nook, and Coho salmon spawn in area lakes and Long, dark winters and brief, lush summers lend regulati ng. For the species who call Wrangell­ the park's geographically isolated areas. streams and are caught in the Copper River with intensity to life here. The sounds of migrant St. Elias home, the park's size and remoteness fish wheels, dip nets, and rod and reel. In the birds, including trumpeter swans, thrushes, and ensure a naturally functioning ecosystem. park's southeastern corner, Tlingit people har- warblers, enliven long summer days. SHARING EARTH'S BOUNTY PROSPECTING FOR WEALTH _____ _., - The living cultures of south central Alaska During winter the Upper Ahtna people lift the fish from the w ater. In summer, PHOTOS, TOP PHOTOS, A BOVE After the Klondike gold strike in 1896, while living in crowded, rough bunk­ include the Upper Ahtna, or 'Headwaters traditionally hunted Dall's sheep, caribou, you'll see many of these wheels along LEFT TO RIGHT: LEFT TO RIGHT: thousands of prospectors poured into houses. By 1938, when the mine closed, BLUEBERRIES- NPS / CH A RLEY SANFOR D People' (Tatl'ahwt'aenn). Their identity is and moose, and trapped small mammals the river edges. BARBARA CELL ARIUS; FAM ILY, UPPER A HTNA, Alaska. Many headed to Chisana and workers had extracted ore with a market embedded in the earth, water, and ice of in the uplands. In summer they moved to CA RIBOU- CREDIT; - NATIONAL ARCHIVES; Nabesna, but found only small amounts value of about $200 million at that time. DA LL' S SHEEP- CR EDIT; COHO SA LM ON­ the upper Copper River region, where fish camps. They built fish traps in slow­ As newcomers began to arrive in the late LUPINE- NPS; TRUMPET­ USFWS / TIM KNEPP; FISH of gold. The discovery of copper deposits they draw upon traditional ecological moving, flat-bottomed creeks. 1800s, new economic opportunities ER SWAN-© TIM WHEEL-M IC HAEL in the Chitina River valley drew investors Although Kennecott mine and mill knowledge to hunt, gather, trap, and emerged. Some Ahtna people began to DRE W ; SOA PBER RY- QUINTON; CLEA NING who formed a syndicate to develop a closed, the community continues to © ED DIE KING; BROWN SA LMON- © KA TH ER­ fish. Their knowledge, born of discipline In the Copper River's fast-moving waters, work for money, but they also continued BE AR- CREDIT IN E M cC ONKEY; mine. To transport the ore they built a thrive. Restoration crews bring life to and wisdom passed down through gen­ people used dip nets to harvest salmon to harvest natural resources to provide BACKGROUND: MOOSE-CREDIT; RED railroad, completed in 1911. It linked relics of a time of industrial growth, erations, contributes to an economy before they adopted fish wheels in the ICY BAY A ND MOUNT FOX- CREDIT; DOG Kennecott mine to Cordova and from expanded markets, global migration, and for their families. Although some Alaska ST. ELIAS-NPS / NEAL SLED DING TEA M­ based on sharing natural resources. This early 1900s. The fish wheel's arms are Natives now live in cities, they also con­ HERBERT ALAS KA STATE LIBRARY there to profitable markets. innovation. At Kennecott you can walk in differs from the market economy that like spokes on a wheel. As the current tinue to participate in the traditional P178- 097; COPPER the footsteps of mill workers and their ORE- NPS / M ELIN DA At its peak of operation the company em­ families, and contemplate what made prevails elsewhere in the United States. propels the paddles, revolving baskets sharing economy. SCHMITT; TOURING KEN­ NECOTT M ILL- NPS / ployed 600 people, many of them immi­ t his rugged place ho me. JA M IE HART grants who worked seven days a w eek ENTER ANOTHER WORLD Glaciers, icefields, rivers, and mountains Float the Copper River from Chitina to offer challenges and incomparable re­ the Gulf of Alaska. near Cordova, to see wards to the adventurous. some of the park's most rugged terrain. Sea kayakers may opt to paddle in In spring, climbers attempt Mounts Icy Bay and Yakutat areas. Crosscountry Drum, Sanford, Blackburn. and St. Elias. skis offer yet another w ay to explore in Hikers usually begin from points along winter and spring. Ca mpers find August the Nabesna or McCarthy roads- t he and Sept ember cool, wit h fewer mosqui­ only two roads into the pa rk. Others tos. For bird's ey e view s, you may fly or strike out across Root Glacier (right), charter a plane. whose sheer breadth and dist ant views of Mount Blackburn and the Stairway lcefall are otherworldly. Before you head into the backcountry, get familiar with techniques for safely PHOTOS, LEFT TO RIGHT: crossing glaciers, rivers, and streams. ICE CLI M BER, ROOT GLA­ CIER- N PS / JACOB W. Many rivers are impassable, and some FRANK; CA M PI NG AT A IR­ can quickly become raging torrents. STRIP- NPS / NEAL HER ­ BERT; SA FE HIKIN G W ITH CRAMPONS ON ROOT GLACIER- BE TSY BRAD­ BURY Wrangell-St. Elias Unpaved road Approximately 750,000 of the 13+ million c=J National Park ~ wit hin park acres of land within the boundaries of 0 Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve Wrangell-St . Elias Other unpaved are non-federal lands belonging to Alaska c=J Nat ional Preserve ~ road Native Corporations, other private owners, 0 Nat ive Corporat ion Trai l and the State of Alaska. Significant amounts c=J Lands E=l of these non-federal lands are located along ~ the McCarthy and Nabesna Roads and along B the east bank of the Copper River. Please do North not trespass. If you have questions, ask at visitor centers or ranger stations. Q <D NaHve) (./ Corporation__... 0 10 20 30 Ki lom et ers ;ff \ Land\ \ Capital 0 10 20 30 Miles . • Mountain ~ 7731ft \ 2356m I ii i \ f I o• Alaska Native Place Names English place name Native place name Language Meaning Boyden Hills Natsiidi Chox Ahtna Big Lowland One Chisana River Ttheetsaan' Niign Upper Tanana Rock River Mount Drum Chitina River Tsedi Na' Ahtna Copper River (Hwdaandi K'elt'aeni) Grand Wash Tsaa H~eni Tlingit Seal Creek 1201 0ft \ Hubbard Glacier 5ft' Tie in Tlingit Big Glacier 36.61m 3318ft Malaspina Glacier Sit' Tlein Tlingit Big Glacier 1011m Mount A llen Ch 'ahk an' Choh Upper Tanana Big Burn Chisana 0 Braye Mount Blackburn K' a'si Tl'aadi Ahtna The One at Cold Headwaters Lakes (? r;1:ea:;,:::~e:rth Mount Drum Hwdaand i K'ett'aeni Ahtna Downriver K'elt'aeni ub/ic lands. " Mount St. Elias Was'eitushaa Tlingit Mountain Inland of Was'ei Mount Sanford Hw niindi K'ett'aeni Ahtna Upriver K'elt'aeni l '\.~ Mount Wrangell K'elt'aeni Ahtna The One that Controls Weather Wiki Peak, I Mount W rangell Uk'eledi Ahtna The One with Smoke on It 7655ft I (when smoking) \ 2333m ChisamJ Nabesna River Naabiah Ni ign Upper Tanana Along t he Muddy River Pass J '~ / Ptarmigan Lake K' atbah Mann' Upper Tanana Ptarmigan Lake Ptarmigan Laki (K' atbah Miinn') ~ o/o MoJntain 5875ft 1791m ~ N T A Solo Lake ~ Rock Lake -i'o+,i, \ C" Preserving Wilderness World Heritage Site • Regal Mountain c;;, 13845ft 4220m Non­ f'\ 250 Km V~ ina Kotsina R;Vt?r ~~ J> ' \ Castle Mountain \ Siana wilderness Fairbanks ~ ;; 250 Mi ( e \ Sko!a/ _Cr~~+ 0 0 I ~:~~ r J> • • S::'..kolai Pass Mount Sulzer \ \ 0 D<lwson City 10926ft Chitistone Glennallen Chisana Wrangell-St. Elias Pass• .3330m 0 0 National Park ~ u Copper Center and Preserve World Heritage Site Chitistone '::. ) Falls-f.. Mount Natazhat f "' 13435ft Kennecott !i:! 4095m. 8. r Chitina McCarthy C 2 d'aldez .,, J> 0 ilthf.!}f.JI J> r 581ft Mount Churchill 177m 1S638ft Mount Bona •4766m ... c:: o Cordova 16421ft z 5005m =l n m )> Glllci er Bay Nllt io nll l Pllrk C z and Preserve \ Mount Ill )> Bear -i C G UL F OF A LASKA Sit ka o TONSINAGL~ 14831ft )> )> Y.akutat O -i GULF OF ALA SKA 4520m. m Ill J Congress protected 9.6 mil lion acres of Wrangell -St.
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  • Resedimentation of the Late Holocene White River Tephra, Yukon Territory and Alaska

    Resedimentation of the Late Holocene White River Tephra, Yukon Territory and Alaska

    Resedimentation of the late Holocene White River tephra, Yukon Territory and Alaska K.D. West1 and J.A. Donaldson2 Carleton University3 West, K.D. and Donaldson, J.A. 2002. Resedimentation of the late Holocene White River tephra, Yukon Territory and Alaska. In: Yukon Exploration and Geology 2002, D.S. Emond, L.H. Weston and L.L. Lewis (eds.), Exploration and Geological Services Division, Yukon Region, Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, p. 239-247. ABSTRACT The Wrangell region of eastern Alaska represents a zone of extensive volcanism marked by intermittent pyroclastic activity during the late Holocene. The most recent and widely dispersed pyroclastic deposit in this area is the White River tephra, a distinct tephra-fall deposit covering 540 000 km2 in Alaska, Yukon, and the Northwest Territories. This deposit is the product of two Plinian eruptions from Mount Churchill, preserved in two distinct lobes, created ca. 1887 years B.P. (northern lobe) and 1147 years B.P. (eastern lobe). The tephra consists of distal primary air-fall deposits and proximal, locally resedimented volcaniclastic deposits. Distinctive layers such as the White River tephra provide important chronostratigraphic control and can be used to interpret the cultural and environmental impact of ancient large magnitude eruptions. The resedimentation of White River tephra has resulted in large-scale terraces, which fl ank the margins of Klutlan Glacier. Preliminary analysis of resedimented deposits demonstrates that the volcanic stratigraphy within individual terraces is complex and unique. RÉSUMÉ Au cours de l’Holocène tardif, des matériaux pyroclastiques ont été projetés lors d’importantes et nombreuses éruptions volcaniques, dans la région de Wrangell de l’est de l’Alaska.
  • P1616 Text-Only PDF File

    P1616 Text-Only PDF File

    A Geologic Guide to Wrangell–Saint Elias National Park and Preserve, Alaska A Tectonic Collage of Northbound Terranes By Gary R. Winkler1 With contributions by Edward M. MacKevett, Jr.,2 George Plafker,3 Donald H. Richter,4 Danny S. Rosenkrans,5 and Henry R. Schmoll1 Introduction region—his explorations of Malaspina Glacier and Mt. St. Elias—characterized the vast mountains and glaciers whose realms he invaded with a sense of astonishment. His descrip­ Wrangell–Saint Elias National Park and Preserve (fig. tions are filled with superlatives. In the ensuing 100+ years, 6), the largest unit in the U.S. National Park System, earth scientists have learned much more about the geologic encompasses nearly 13.2 million acres of geological won­ evolution of the parklands, but the possibility of astonishment derments. Furthermore, its geologic makeup is shared with still is with us as we unravel the results of continuing tectonic contiguous Tetlin National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska, Kluane processes along the south-central Alaska continental margin. National Park and Game Sanctuary in the Yukon Territory, the Russell’s superlatives are justified: Wrangell–Saint Elias Alsek-Tatshenshini Provincial Park in British Columbia, the is, indeed, an awesome collage of geologic terranes. Most Cordova district of Chugach National Forest and the Yakutat wonderful has been the continuing discovery that the disparate district of Tongass National Forest, and Glacier Bay National terranes are, like us, invaders of a sort with unique trajectories Park and Preserve at the north end of Alaska’s panhan­ and timelines marking their northward journeys to arrive in dle—shared landscapes of awesome dimensions and classic today’s parklands.