Brooks Range

Brooks Range
Range
Brooks Range from near Galbraith Lake
Countries United States, Canada
Regions Alaska, Yukon
Highest point Mount Chamberlin
 - elevation 9,020 ft (2,749 m)
 - coordinates
Length 700 mi (1,127 km), East-west
Width 150 mi (241 km), North-south

The Brooks Range 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. These mountains are considered part of (or an extension of) the Rockies.[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

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

Some sources, including the USGS 1:250,000 scale map Demarcation Point A-5, quote Mount Isto's height as 9,050 ft, which would make it the highest point in the range. Also, some sources quote Mount Michelson's height as 9,239 ft, which would make it the highest point; however, this is far above the 8,855 foot figure given on the USGS Mount Michelson B-1 quadrangle topographic map, so it is unlikely to be correct.

Ecology

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 migratory path of the Porcupine Caribou Herd is the longest of any terrestrial mammal on earth.

Documented wilderness traverses of the Brooks Range

Films

See also

References

Notes

  1. ^ The Encyclopedia Americana, Volume 23, page 618 (Grolier 2000).
  2. ^ Safire, William. The New York Times guide to essential knowledge: a desk reference for the curious mind, page 623 (Macmillan 2007 ).
  3. ^ C. Michael Hogan, Black Spruce: Picea mariana, GlobalTwitcher.com, ed. Nicklas Stromberg, November, 2008

Further reading