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Gulf of Alaska

Arm of the Pacific Ocean

Summary

Arm of the Pacific Ocean

Field	Value
name	Gulf of Alaska
image	GulfOfAlaska AMO 2008073.jpg
caption	A view of the Gulf of Alaska from space, showing swirling sediment in the waters
location	South shore of Alaska
coordinates
type	Gulf
part_of	North Pacific Ocean
rivers	Susitna River
oceans	Pacific Ocean
basin_countries	United States
area	1533000 km2
islands	Kodiak Archipelago, Montague Island, Middleton Island
cities	Valdez, Anchorage, Seward
pushpin_map	Alaska

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The Gulf of Alaska (Tlingit: Yéil T'ooch’) is an arm of the Pacific Ocean defined by the curve of the southern coast of Alaska, stretching from Kabuch Point in the Alaska Peninsula and Kodiak Island in the west to the Cape Spencer in the east, where Glacier Bay is found and start the Inside Passage (Coastal Waters of Southeast Alaska and British Columbia).

The Gulf shoreline is a combination of forest, mountain and a number of tidewater glaciers. Alaska's largest glaciers, the Malaspina Glacier and Bering Glacier, spill out onto the coastal line along the Gulf of Alaska. The coast is heavily indented with Cook Inlet and Prince William Sound, the two largest connected bodies of water. It includes Yakutat Bay. Lituya Bay (a fjord north of Cross Sound, and south of Mount Fairweather) is the site of the largest recorded tsunami in history. It serves as a sheltered anchorage for fishing boats.

The Gulf of Alaska is considered a Class I, productive ecosystem with more than 300 grams of carbon per square meter per year based on SeaWiFS data.

Deep water corals can be found in the Gulf of Alaska. Primnoa pacifica has contributed to the location being labeled as Habitat Areas of Particular Concern. P. pacifica is a deep water coral typically found between 150 m and 900 m here.

Thanks to the North Pacific Current, which is in turn fed by the warm Kuroshio Current, the Gulf of Alaska remains ice-free throughout the year. In 1977, the Gulf of Alaska started to manifest an unexpected and at that time inexplicable shift on its normal climate regime, resulting in a growth of the mean temperature of the sea surface and in an increased availability and variety of commercial fish species. A similar volatile climate change was observed during the 1970s in the North Pacific seas.

Meteorology

The Gulf is a great generator of storms. In addition to dumping vast quantities of snow and ice on southern Alaska, resulting in some of the largest concentrations south of the Arctic Circle, many of the storms move south along the coasts of British Columbia, Washington, Oregon, and as far south as Southern California (primarily during El Niño events). Much of the seasonal rainfall and snowfall in the Pacific Northwest and Southwestern United States comes from the Gulf of Alaska.

Extent

The International Hydrographic Organization defines the limits of the Gulf of Alaska as follows:

On the north. The coast of Alaska.

On the south. A line drawn from Cape Spencer, the northern limit of the Coastal Waters of Southeast Alaska and British Columbia to Kabuch Point, the southeast limit of the Bering Sea, in such a way that all the adjacent islands are included in the Gulf of Alaska.

The US Geological Survey's Geographic Names Information System database defines the Gulf of Alaska as bounded on the north by the coast of Alaska and on the south by a line running from the south end of Kodiak Island on the west to Dixon Entrance on the east.

Islands

Admiralty Island
Spain Island
Aghiyuk Island
Aiaktalik Island
Akun Island
Akutan Island
Aleutika Island
Amaknak Island
Adronica Island
Annette Island
Anyaka Island
Ariadne Island
Augustine Island
Avatanak Island
Baker Island
Ban Island
Baranof Island
Beautiful Isle
Bell Island
Benjamin Island
Biorka Island
Bligh Island
Chat Island
Chenega Island
Chichagof Island
Chisik Island
Chiswell Island(s)
Chowiet Island
Coronation Island
Cronin Island
Culross Island
Dall Island
Deer Island
Doggie Island
Dolgoi Island
Douglas Island
Duke Island
East Chugach Island
Egg Island
Egg Island(s)
Eldred Rock
Eleanor Island
Elizabeth Island
Erlington Island
Esther Island
Etolin Island
Fish Island
Fitzgerald Island
Forrester Island
Goloi Island
Granite Island
Gravina Island
Green Island
Gregson Island
Gull Island
Haenke Island
Harbor Island
Hawkins Island
Heceta Island
Herring Island(s)
Hesketh Island
Hinchinbrook Island
Kalgin Island
Kanak Island
Karpa Island
Kataguni Island
Kayak Island
Khantaak Island
Knight Island
Kodiak Island
Korovin Island
Kosciusko Island
Kriwoi Island
Kruzof Island
Kuiu Island
Kupreanof Island
Latouche Island
Lemesurier Island
Lincoln Island
Lone Island
Long Island
Lulu Island
Lynn Brothers
Ma Relle Island(s)
Mab Island
Marmot Island
Mitkof Island
Montague Island
Nakchamik Island
Naked Island
Near Island
Noyes Island
Nuka Island
Osier Island
Otmeloi Island
Outer Island
Partofshikof Island
Pearl Island
Perry Island
Pleasant Island
Popof Island
Powder Island
Prince of Wales Island
Rabbit Island
Ragged Island
Rugged Island
Raspberry Island
Revillagigedo Island
Rootok Island
San Fernando Island
San Juan Island
Sebree Island
Sentinel Island
Shelter Island
Shikosi Island
Shuyak Island
Sinith Island(s)
Sitkalidak Island
Sitkinak Island
Spruce Island
Strawberry Island
Suemez Island
Sullivan Island
Sutwik Island
Talsani Island
Tanker Island
Tigalda Island
Tugidak Island
Twoheaded Island
Uganik Island
Unalaska Island
Unalga Island
Unavikshak Island
Unga Island
Warren Island
Whale Island
Wingham Island
Wooded Island(s)
Woronkofski Island
Wrangell Island
Yakobi Island
Yukon Island
Zarembo Island

References

"Gulf Of Alaska". World Atlas.
"Yakutat Area Native Place Names".
Hogan, C. Michael. (2011). "''Gulf of Alaska''. Topic ed. P.Saundry. Ed.-in-chief C.J.Cleveland. Encyclopedia of Earth". National Council for Science and the Environment.
(2007). "State of deep coral ecosystems in the Alaska Region: Gulf of Alaska, Bering Sea and the Aleutian Islands". In: Lumsden SE et Al., Eds. The State of Deep Coral Ecosystems of the United States. NOAA Technical Memorandum CRCP-3. Silver Spring, MD.
(2011). "Reproduction of Red Tree Corals in the Southeastern Alaskan Fjords: Implications for Conservation and Population Turnover". In: Pollock NW, ed. Diving for Science 2011. Proceedings of the American Academy of Underwater Sciences 30th Symposium. Dauphin Island, AL: AAUS; 2011..
Claudie Beaulieu. (2016). "Marine regime shifts in ocean biogeochemical models: a case study in the Gulf of Alaska". [[Biogeosciences]].
National Geospatial-intelligence Agency. (2006). "Prostar Sailing Directions 2006 Pacific Ocean and Southeast Ocean Planning Guides". Prostar Publications.
(1953). "Limits of Oceans and Seas, 3rd edition". International Hydrographic Organization.
{{Cite GNIS. 1413097. Gulf of Alaska

Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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