Ahklun Mountains

Coordinates: 59°23′0″N 160°42′0″W / 59.38333°N 160.70000°W / 59.38333; -160.70000
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Ahklun Mountains
View of the Ahklun Mountains reflected in a mirror-smooth glacial lake
Highest point
Elevation1204[1]
Dimensions
Length80 mi (130 km)
Width30 mi (48 km)
Geography
CountryUnited States
StateAlaska
Range coordinates59°23′0″N 160°42′0″W / 59.38333°N 160.70000°W / 59.38333; -160.70000
Parent rangeKuskokwim Mountains

The Ahklun Mountains are located in the northeast section of the Togiak National Wildlife Refuge in southwest Alaska. They extend southwest from the Kanektok and Narogurum Rivers to Hagemeister Strait and Kuskokwim Bay[1] and support the only existing glaciers in western Alaska.[2] They are the highest Alaskan mountain range west of the Alaska Range and north of the Alaska Peninsula: some summits in the range have many glaciers. To the west is the Kuskokwim River and to the east are the Bristol Bay lowlands.[3]

The Ahklun Mountains have many lakes, some more than 1,300 feet (400 m) deep.

coastal plains.[4]

Environment

The Ahklun Mountains are dominated by

silver salmon, and rainbow trout are also numerous.[5] The average annual precipitation ranges from 19 to 25 inches (480 to 640 mm), while the average annual temperature ranges from 29 to 33 °F (−2 to 1 °C). The growing season extends approximately from May 15 to September 10.[5]

Glaciers

The Ahklun Mountains in the Togiak Wilderness

The glaciers were first mapped by the

U.S. Geological Survey, who used photogrammetry
methods based on a 1972 series of aerial photos, revealing the presence of 116 glaciers. In 2006, 109 of these glaciers were resurveyed with the existence of 97 verified and 12 thought to have disappeared. This showed that over just three decades there had been a large decrease in the amount of land area covered by glacial ice in these mountains. The scientific community has long recognized the importance of glaciers as indicators of climatic change.[2]

In 2015, researchers analyzed aerial and satellite images from 1957, 1984, and 2009. They found that 10 out of 109 of the glaciers of the Ahklun Mountains originally mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey in the 1970s had completely disappeared.[6] They also compared the size of the glaciers using aerial photographs and satellite images and found that the glaciers had lost about 50 percent of their total area.[6] At this rate of melting, they predict that all of the glaciers in the Ahklun Mountains will be gone by the end of this century.[6]

Geological evidence show that during the

uplands pierced by rugged massifs.[3]

Lowlands

In the lowlands, areas not reached by the glaciation, the principal geographic features are the

moraines and ridges formed by thrusting ice.[3]

Notes

  1. ^ a b "Ahklun Mountains". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior.
  2. ^ a b Walsh, Patrick; et al. "Inventory of the Ahklun Mountain glaciers, southwest Alaska" (PDF). nalaska.fws.gov. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-05-27. Retrieved 2009-10-18.
  3. ^ a b c d e "AMP: The Ahklun Mountains Region". www4.nau.edu. Retrieved 2009-10-18.
  4. ^ "Wilderness.net - Togiak Wilderness". www.wilderness.net. Archived from the original on 2011-06-11. Retrieved 2009-10-19.
  5. ^ a b c Public Domain This article incorporates public domain material from Ahklun Mountains Tundra - Meadow (Ecoregions of the United States). United States Department of Agriculture. Retrieved 2009-10-25.
  6. ^ a b c "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-02-14. Retrieved 2015-02-14.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

External links