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Geographic Setting M. I,. Merritt Sandia Laboratories, Albuquerque, New Mexico Geographic Setting M. I,. Merritt Sandia Laboratories, Albuquerque, New Mexico Amchitka Island lies at latitude 51.5ON and longi- map, the 1 : 250,000 scale Rat Islands Sheet. This tude 17g0E. It is one of the Rat Island Group of sheet is the result of a reconnaissance survey during the Aleutian Islands, Alaska, which comprise the the wartime years and is not satisfactory for more emergent part of a long submarine ridge connecting than the most general use. Another regional map North America and Asia and separating the Bering generally available is the Sectional Aeronautical Sea fro111 the North Pacific Ocean (Fig. 1). Am- Chalt of the \\'estern Aleutian Islands issued by the chitka is allnost the souther~llnostAleutian Island, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administratioll only nearby Amatignak being farther south. It is National Ocean Survey in 1 : 500,000 scale. thus almost the southernmost point in Alaska. The bathymetry of the surrounding seas is Amchitka is 2160 km (1340 statute miles) shown in the Environmental Science Sewices Ad- west-south~vest of Anchorage, Alaska, and 4000 mi~listration (ESSA)/Coast and Geodetic Survey km (2500 miles) west-north~vestof Seattle, \\'ash. map sheet Kiska 1910l\i-l of the 1 : 400,000 series It is almost half the way from North America to "Bathymetry for the Aleutian Arc," reprinted Asia, being 1400 km (870 miles) east of Petro- from ESSA I\,lonograph No. 3. This map sheet pavlovsk, Icamchatka, U.S.S.R., and 1230 km includes the whole of the Rat Islands from 175 to (765 miles) west of the tip of the Alaskan main- 180"E longitude. Inshore bathymetry is best land at False Pass. sl~o\vnin a set of four maps prepared by Doering- Atuchitka and all the Aleutian Islands except a feld, Amuedo, and Ivey of Denver, Colo. (now fen, of the esternmost ones are in the Aleutian Amuedo and Ivey, Consulting Geologists). These Islands National I\'ildlife Refuge. All the investiga- maps are the East Cape, iklakarius Bay, Chitka tions reported in this volume except for a few (e.g., Cove, and Bird Cape sections, A~nchitka.Copyright sea otter and oceanogaphic studies) were carried of these four maps remains rvith Amuedo and Ivey. out on Amchitka or in the nearby sea. Two Coast and Geodetic Survey Navigational Charts cover Amchitka and vicinity. These are MAPS Chart No. 8864, Rat Islands (Semisopochnoi to Buldir Islands) at 1 : 300,000 scale; and Harbor The U. S. Army Map Service has prepared good Chart No. 9123, Constantine Harbor, Amchitka, at topographic maps of the island in 1 : 25,000 scale 1 : 10,000 scale. as follo\vs: Rat Islands sheets 2123 I\' N\\', 2023 I Finally, the U. S. Geological Survey has pre- NE, 2023 I N\\', 2024 I1 S\\', 2024 111 SE, 2024 I11 pared a new Amchitka Island Quadrangle at NE, 2024 111 N\\', 1924 11 NE, in series Q801 [also 1 : 100,000 scale for this volume. It has contour designated, in the same order: Rat Islands (A-2) intervals on land of 100 ft and at sea of 25 ft to a I,(A-3) NE, (A-3) N\\r, (B-3) S,(B-4) SE, depth of 300 ft and 100 ft below that. This map is (0.4) NE, (B-4) N\\', and (B-5) NE]. These maps based on the U. S. Army hrfap Service and the were prepared from aerial photographs taken in Amuedo and Ivey maps. A copy of this map is in September 1948 and field surveys of 1949 and the pocket at the back of this volume. have a contour interval of 50 ft. As part of the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) program on Amchitka, neur aerial photographs were taken in POPULATION 1968. From these photographs forty-one 1 : 6,000 scale maps covering the island with a contour The region around Amchitka is sparsely inter\ral of 10 ft were prepared. These maps are no populated. In the whole Aleutian Islands Census longer available. Division, which includes part of the Aleutian The region is sho~vnin one generally available Peninsula, there were only 8057 people in 1970 U. S. Geological Survey topographic quadrangle (Bureau of the Census, 1971). All communities Geogvnphic Setting 3 listed by that census are sliotvn in Fig. 2. The inland. A,Iuch of the island is fringed by a wave-cut nearest populated places to Amchitka were then bench of rock as much as 100 m (330 ft) wide and still are the Adak Naval Station [300 km (190 (Fig. 4). There is only one harbor on the island, miles) to the east] \\,it11 a 1970 population of 2249 Constantine Harbor on tlie Bering Sea side near and the Sliemya Air Force Base [370 km the east end, and it is so exposed that, during (230 miles) to tlie \vest] with a population of storms from the northeast, ships must leave the 1131. Not reported by the census is a small U. S. dock. South Bight on tlie Pacific Ocean side and Coast Guard contingent on Attu just west of Chitka Cove on the Bering Sea side arc sometimes Sliemya. The nearest nonmilitary point of habita- used as shelters from storms (Coast Pilot, 1954). tion is the village of Atka [450 k~n(270 miles) east] with a population of 88, all Aleuts except Tlie eastern third of the island is gently rolling the schoolteacl~er and his wife. Almost equally country characterized by many shallow ponds with distant [about 800 km (500 miles)] to the east and little or no drainage connections and streams half west are tlic tlleut village of Nikolski on U~nnak hiddcn by the seemingly ubiquitous cover of Island, population 57, and klednyi (Copper) Island vegetation (Fig. 5). In the higher central portion of in the Russian Komandorskie Islands, \vhich the island, this gives way to areas of more integrated drainage and greater wind erosion, with Hrdlic'ka (1945, p. 397) reported had a populatio~i of about 150 in 1938. Amchitka itself has not had fewer lakes and with patches of bare bedrock a permanent resident population since 1849 (Dall, rubble on ridges over 60 nl (200 ft) high caused by 1877), although it has been internlittently oc- diurnal freeze-thaw and high winds (Fig. 6). \\lest of Chitka Point the island becomes quite moun- cupied several times since then, most noticeably by tainous, reaching a maximum elevation of 354 m the military in \\'orld \\Tar I1 and for a short nrhile thereafter, rluring tlie Long Shot test, and from (1160 ft) (Fig. 7). Here vegetation is quite sparse 1967 to 1973 by the AEC (Chap. 6, this volume). except it1 protected areas, sucli as stream valleys. Finally, tlie \vesternmost 5 km (3 miles) or so is a The Aleutians lie nearly on a great circle from windswept rocky and barren plateau about 240 m Anchorage, Seattle, or San Francisco, Calif., to (800 ft) high. Japan; so daily flights and frequent ship traffic pass by within a few hundred miles. In addition, the As a result of the military occ~tpationin \\'orld seas to both sides of the Aleutians are heavily \Var I1 and the more recent AEC occupation, there fished at some seasons of the year (Chap. 15, this are numerous signs of the presence of man. About volume). Japanese or Russian tra\vlers can occa- 2000 Pacific huts, \vhicli look like and are com- sionally be seen from the island. mo. ly called Quonset huts, remain from the military days. These arc scattered seemingly at random ill the area near Constantine Harbor, half TOPOGRAPHY AND APPEARANCE buried by turf berms against tlie elements and many lying \\re11 away from the remaining dirt Anichitka lies entirely ~vithin the Alaska- roads (Fig. 8, see also Chap. 6, Fig. 7, this volume). Aleutian physiographic province (\\'ahrhaftig, Tlie military built a jeep trail that became known 1965) and, biologically speaking, is an archetype of as Infantry Road along the crest of the island from a maritime tundra regime. * South Bight on tlie cast end to tlie beach near Bird Amchitka is 65 knl (40 miles) long and 2 to Rock at the west end. Tlie AEC improved this trail 7 knl (1 to 4 miles) wide and has an area of about into an all-weather road easily driven by passenger 30,000 ha (74,000 acres). As \vitli other Aleutian Is- sedan, although it must be plowed clear of snow at lands, Amchitka has a rugged coastline witli sea times during the 5%'wtcr. cliffs and grassy slopes LIP to 30 m (100 ft) high The military built three airplane runxvays. The nearly completcly surrounding the island (Fig. 3). original one, Fox Run\vay at the head of Constan- Sand beaches on tlie island are so fc~vthat their tine Harbor, \vas trenched before they left and is rarity occasions mention of the fact in some place- unusable. Baker Run\vay, which is 10,000 ft long names. Only a few of the beaches, sucli as the one by 300 ft \vide and xvhich has numerous paved at the head of Constantine Harbor and the one at taxi\vays and hardstands, is tlie main runway. It tlie nortli~vest end of the island bet\veen t\lcut has been resurfaced by the AEC. During the AEC Point and Bird Cape, give reasonably easy access program it \\,as equipped witli full Ground Con- trolled Approach (GCA) instrumentation for land- *A helicopter pilot on the program remarked how ing in poor weather; this has been removed, but the similar Amchitka looked to the Outer Hebrides of Scotland strip retilains an excellent landing place if the where he had spent his boyl~uud.
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