Koyukuk River

Koyukuk River
Koyukuk River from the air
Data
Water code	US :  1404987
location	Alaska (USA)
River system	Yukon River
Drain over	Yukon River  → Bering Sea
Confluence of	North Fork and Middle Fork Koyukuk River in the Endicott Mountains ( Brooks range ) 67 ° 2 ′ 49 ″  N , 151 ° 4 ′ 26 ″  W
Source height	217  m
muzzle	Yukon River Coordinates: 64 ° 55 '16 "  N , 157 ° 33' 23"  W 64 ° 55 '16 "  N , 157 ° 33' 23"  W.
Mouth height	35  m
Height difference	182 m
Bottom slope	0.27 ‰
length	680 km
Catchment area	approx. 81,300 km²
Discharge at the Hughes A Eo gauge: 46,591 km²	MQ 1961/1982 Mq 1961/1982	412 m³ / s 8.8 l / (s km²)
Left tributaries	South Fork Koyukuk River, Kanuti River , Indian River , Dulbi River
Right tributaries	Wild River , John River , Henshaw Creek , Alatna River , Hogatza River , Huslia River , Kateel River , Gisasa River
Communities	Hughes

North Fork Koyukuk River
Water code	US :  1407182
location	Alaska (USA)
River system	Yukon River
Drain over	Koyukuk River → Yukon River  → Bering Sea
Headwaters	East flank of Als Mountain ( Brooks Range ) 68 ° 2 ′ 47 ″  N , 150 ° 42 ′ 0 ″  W
Source height	approx.  1450  m
Association with	Middle Fork Koyukuk River to Koyukuk River 67 ° 2 ′ 49 ″  N , 151 ° 4 ′ 26 ″  W
Mouth height	217  m
Height difference	approx. 1233 m
Bottom slope	approx. 6.9 ‰
length	approx. 180 km
Left tributaries	Clear River , Glacier River
Right tributaries	Tinayguk River
National Wild and Scenic River

Middle Fork Koyukuk River
Water code	US :  1413522
location	Alaska (USA)
River system	Yukon River
Drain over	Koyukuk River → Yukon River  → Bering Sea
Confluence of	Bettles River and Dietrich River 67 ° 38 ′ 27 "  N , 149 ° 44 ′ 33"  W.
Source height	429  m
Association with	North Fork Koyukuk River to Koyukuk River 67 ° 2 ′ 49 ″  N , 151 ° 4 ′ 25 ″  W
Mouth height	217  m
Height difference	212 m
Bottom slope	approx. 1.9 ‰
length	approx. 110 km
Discharge at the Wiseman A Eo gauge : 3030 km² Location: 77 km above the mouth	MQ Mq	22.5 m³ / s 7.4 l / (s km²)
Communities	Wiseman , Coldfoot

South Fork Koyukuk River
South Fork of Koyukuk in the Kanuti National Wildlife Refuge
Data
Water code	US :  1409931
location	Alaska (USA)
River system	Yukon River
Drain over	Koyukuk River → Yukon River  → Bering Sea
source	north of Woodland Echo Pass 67 ° 28 ′ 11 ″  N , 148 ° 57 ′ 14 ″  W
Source height	approx.  1350  m
muzzle	Koyukuk River 66 ° 34 ′ 55 "  N , 151 ° 56 ′ 17"  W.
Mouth height	145  m
Height difference	approx. 1205 m
Left tributaries	Jim River , Fish Creek

The Koyukuk River is a 680 km long right tributary of the Yukon River in northwestern Alaska .

Its headwaters are in the Endicott Mountains , a mountain range in the Brooks range . It feeds the Yukon River , into which it flows near the village of Koyukuk in a large floodplain in the Koyukuk National Wildlife Refuge . Some of its arms - North Fork , Middle Fork, and South Fork - extend beyond the Arctic Circle and into the Gates of the Arctic National Park .

Source and tributaries

The North Fork Koyukuk River , the right source river of the Koyukuk River, is designated as a National Wild and Scenic River . The Tinayguk River is a right tributary of the North Fork Koyukuk River and is also protected as a National Wild and Scenic River . The Glacier River is a left tributary of the North Fork Koyukuk River.

The Middle Fork Koyukuk River , the left headwaters of the Koyukuk River, arises at the confluence of the Bettles River and Dietrich River south of the Atigun Pass . The Dalton Highway (Highway 11) follows the course of the river. Places along the river are Coldfoot and Wiseman .

The South Fork Koyukuk River flows into the Koyukuk River from the left, 50 km west of the origin of the Koyukuk River.

The two right tributaries, Alatna River and John River , which arise in the Brooks range and flow south through the Gates of the Arctic National Park to the Koyukuk River, have the status of a National Wild and Scenic River .

Other tributaries that meet the lower reaches of the Koyukuk River are the Hogatza River from the Brooks Range in the north and the Kanuti River from the Kanuti National Wildlife Refuge to the south .

history

United States Army soldiers first explored the river in 1885. Gold discoveries in 1893 and the gold rush on the Klondike River in 1898 led to the settlement of trading posts and mining camps in the area. In 1929 the environmental activist Robert Marshall explored the area and named the Brooks range, which runs along the river, the "Gates of the Arctic".

The 164 km long portion of the North Fork of the Koyukuk River in the national park was designated by the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act in 1980 as a National Wild and Scenic River under the administration of the National Park Service .

The Koyukon , a group of the Northern Athabascans in northern Alaska, who lived along the Koyukuk River , called him Ooghekuhno ' . The name of the river in use today is derived from the language of the Central Yup'ik , who simply referred to a river as kuik-yuk . This general name for rivers of the Central Yup'ik was adopted by the discoverer Petr Vasilii Malakhov, as he did not know the river name of the Koyukon resident here.

literature

• Geographic Society, Alaska: Up the Koyukuk (Alaska Geographic) . Graphic Arts Center Publishing Company, 1983, ISBN 0-88240-200-5 .

Web links

Commons : Koyukuk River  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Koyukuk National Wildlife Refuge
• Koyukuk (North Fork) Wild and Scenic River

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Middle Fork Koyukuk River in the Geographic Names Information System of the United States Geological Survey
2. ↑ ^{a b} Koyukuk River in the Geographic Names Information System of the United States Geological Survey
3. ↑ USGS 645725157334800 KOYUKUK R 9.4 MI FROM MOUTH NR KOYUKUK AK
4. ↑ USGS 15564900 KOYUKUK R AT HUGHES AK
5. ↑ North Fork Koyukuk River in the Geographic Names Information System of the United States Geological Survey
6. ^ Dietrich River in the Geographic Names Information System of the United States Geological Survey
7. ↑ USGS 15564875 MF KOYUKUK R NR WISEMAN AK
8. ↑ South Fork Koyukuk River in the Geographic Names Information System of the United States Geological Survey
9. ^ North Fork of the Koyukuk River ( Memento from March 26, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
10. ^ Alaska Native Place Names
11. ↑ Indigenous Peoples and Languages ​​of Alaska ( Memento of the original from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.