Homer Spit
Coordinates: 59 ° 36 ′ 6 ″ N , 151 ° 24 ′ 51 ″ W.
Homer Spit is a seven-kilometer-long headland in Alaska that extends into Kachemak Bay near Homer on the Kenai Peninsula . In addition to the Homer boat harbor and the Alaska Marine Highway jetty, it is home to many tourist facilities such as hotels, restaurants, shops for fishing equipment and offices of tour operators.
There are two different theories about the formation of the headland. Either it was deposited by the tides and currents of Cook Inlet and Kachemak Bay or by a glacier that no longer exists today .
In 1899 the Cook Inlet Coal Fields Company built tracks from the coal mines along the bay to the loading docks on Homer Spit. The resulting business gave rise to the city of Homer.
The Good Friday quake of 1964 reduced the area of the headland to about two square kilometers. Vegetation and soil were largely destroyed, so that Homer Spit today consists almost exclusively of gravel and sand.
Homer Spit only reaches a height of about six meters above sea level , making it prone to storm surges . A tsunami caused by an eruption on nearby Mount St. Augustine would hit the headland without warning.
Web links
- Homer Spit in the United States Geological Survey's Geographic Names Information System
- Interactive panorama: Homer Spit