The Brooks Range (Gwich'in: Gwazhał[1]) is a mountain range in far northern North America stretching some 700 miles (1,100 km) from west to east across northern Alaska into Canada's Yukon Territory. Reaching a peak elevation of 8,976 feet (2,736 m) on Mount Isto, the range is believed to be approximately 126 million years old.
In the United States, these mountains are considered a subrange of the Rocky Mountains, whereas in Canada they are considered separate, as the northern border of the Rocky Mountains is considered to be the Liard River far to the south in the province of British Columbia.[2][3]
Various historical records also referred to the range as the Arctic Mountains, Hooper Mountains, Meade Mountains and Meade River Mountains. The Canadian portion of the range is officially called the British Mountains.[4]Ivvavik National Park is located in Canada's British Mountains.
Bob Marshall explored the North Fork Koyukuk River area of the range in 1929. He named Mount Doonerak, explaining "the name Doonerak I took from an Eskimo word which means a spirit or, as they would translate it, a devil." Marshall described the mountain as, a "towering, black, unscalable-looking giant, the highest peak in this section of the Brooks Range."[5]
The Brooks 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 the tree line, with little beyond isolated balsam poplar stands occurring north of the continental drainage divide. Trembling aspen and white spruce also occur north of the Brooks Range, though they are limited to sites that have been disturbed by human activity.[6][7] Southern slopes have some cover of black spruce, Picea mariana, marking the northern limit of those trees.[8] As the global mean temperature increases, tree line has been observed to move further north, changing the boundaries of where these trees are found.[9] An increase in shrub abundance is also being experienced in areas which were previously dominated by tundra, impacting the ecology of the area.[10][11]
In Alaska, the Western Arctic Caribou herd (490,000 strong in 2004) traverses the Brooks Range in its annual migration. The smaller Central Arctic herd (32,000 in 2002), as well as the 123,000 animal Porcupine Caribou herd, likewise migrate through the Brooks range on their annual journeys in and out of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The migration path of the Porcupine Caribou herd is the longest of any terrestrial mammal on earth.[12][13]
Paleontology
Fossilized corals in the Brooks Range, near Limestack Mountain
Because the rocks of the range were formed in an ancient seabed, the Brooks Range contains fossils of marine organisms. In addition to the coral fossils shown, trilobites and brachiopods from the middle Cambrian have been found in the sandy limestones of the Central Brooks Range.[14]
Remains of a woolly mammoth that died about 17,100 years ago were found north of the Brooks Range. A research report on its movement range was published in 2021.[15]
Climate
While other Alaskan ranges to the south and closer to the coast can receive 250 inches (640 cm) to 500 inches (1,300 cm) of snow, the average snow precipitation on the Brooks Range is reported at 30 inches (76 cm)[16] to 51 inches (130 cm).[17] Due to a changing climate, between the years 1969–2018 the Eastern and Western portions of the Brooks Range have experienced a 17.2% increase in annual precipitation.[18]
As measured at the Anaktuvuk Pass weather station (elevation 770 metres (2,530 ft)), the average summer temperatures are 16 °C (61 °F) as a high and 3 °C (37 °F) as a low. During the winter the average high is −22 °C (−8 °F) while the average low is −30 °C (−22 °F).[17]Polar amplification is a force experienced in this region as global temperatures are rising. The northern and western regions of Alaska, where the Brooks Range lies, is experiencing a warming rate twice that of southeastern Alaska. The Brooks Range has experienced an increase in average summer temperature between 4.2 °F and 5.8 °F between the years 1969–2018.[18]
In certain areas of the Brooks Range, year round snow cover or "perennial snowfields", can be found. In 1985, 34 square miles of snowfields were recorded, where as that number has dropped to under four square miles in 2017.[18]
Films
2007 - Gates of the Arctic: Alaska's Brooks Range
2008 - Alone Across Alaska: 1,000 Miles of Wilderness
^Safire, William. The New York Times guide to essential knowledge: a desk reference for the curious mind, page 623 (Macmillan 2007 ).
^"Download Geographical Names Data". www.nrcan.gc.ca. 2011-06-02. Retrieved 23 April 2018.
^Marshall, Robert (1956). Marshall, George (ed.). Arctic Wilderness. Berkeley: University of California Press. p. 22.
^Ackerman, Daniel; Breen, Amy (2016-06-06). . Arctic. 69 (2): 130–136. doi:10.14430/arctic4560. ISSN 1923-1245. Archived from the original on 2017-10-15. Retrieved 2016-06-13.
^Elsner, Wendy K.; Jorgenson, Janet C. (2009-09-11). . Arctic. 62 (3): 342–344. doi:10.14430/arctic155. ISSN 1923-1245. Archived from the original on 2017-10-15. Retrieved 2016-06-13.
^C. Michael Hogan, Black Spruce: Picea mariana, GlobalTwitcher.com, ed. Nicklas Stromberg, November, 2008 October 5, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
^Larsen, J.N., O.A. Anisimov, A. Constable, A.B. Hollowed, N. Maynard, P. Prestrud, T.D. Prowse, and J.M.R. Stone, 2014: Polar regions. In: Climate Change 2014: Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability. Part B: Regional Aspects. Contribution of Working Group II to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [Barros, V.R., C.B. Field, D.J. Dokken, M.D. Mastrandrea, K.J. Mach, T.E. Bilir, M. Chatterjee, K.L. Ebi, Y.O. Estrada, R.C. Genova, B. Girma, E.S. Kissel, A.N. Levy, S. MacCracken, P.R. Mastrandrea, and L.L.White (eds.)]. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA, pp. 1567-1612. https://www.ipcc.ch/site/assets/uploads/2018/02/WGIIAR5-Chap28_FINAL.pdf
^Anisimov, O.A., D.G. Vaughan, T.V. Callaghan, C. Furgal, H. Marchant, T.D. Prowse, H. Vilhjálmsson and J.E. Walsh, 2007: Polar regions (Arctic and Antarctic). Climate Change 2007: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability. Contribution of Working Group II to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, M.L. Parry, O.F. Canziani, J.P. Palutikof, P.J. van der Linden and C.E. Hanson, Eds., Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 653-685. https://www.ipcc.ch/site/assets/uploads/2018/02/ar4-wg2-chapter15-1.pdf
^Ramsayer, Kate (August 6, 2017). "NASA Studies Details of a Greening Arctic". NASA.gov.
^"Porcupine Caribou News" (PDF). Alaska Department of Fish and Game. Summer 2017.
^"Porcupine Caribou News" (PDF). Alaska Department of Fish and Game. Summer 2017.
^J.T. Dutro et al, November 1984, "Middle Cambrian Fossils from the Doonerak Anticlinorium, Central Brooks Range, Alaska", Journal of Paleontology Vol. 58 No. 6, pages 1364-1371
^Woolly mammoth walked far enough to circle Earth twice, study finds. theguardian.com 12 Aug 2021
^Shulski, Martha; Wendler, Gerd (2007-12-15). The Climate of Alaska. University of Alaska Press. pp. 148–. ISBN9781602230071. Retrieved 16 December 2012.
^ abGallant, Alisa L. (1998-05-01). EcoRegions of Alaska. DIANE Publishing. pp. 15–. ISBN9780788148965. Retrieved 16 December 2012.
^ abcThoman, R. & J. E. Walsh. (2019). Alaska’s changing environment: documenting Alaska’s physical and biological changes through observations. H. R. McFarland, Ed. International Arctic Research Center, University of Alaska Fairbanks.
Further reading
Allan, C. (2013). Arctic citadel : a history of exploration in the Brooks Range region of Northern Alaska. Washington, D.C,: U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service.
Witmer, Dennis "Far to the North: Photographs from the Brooks Range" Far to the North Press (2008) ISBN0-9771028-0-7
Kauffmann, John M. "Alaska's Brooks Range: The Ultimate Mountains" (Second Edition) Mountaineers Books (2005) ISBN1-59485-008-9
Brown, William E. "History of the Central Brooks Range: Gaunt Beauty, Tenuous Life" University of Alaska Press (2007) ISBN1-60223-009-9
Cooper, David "Brooks Range Passage" Mountaineers Books (1983) ISBN0-89886-061-X
Dover, J.H., I.L. Tailleur, and J.A. Dumoulin. (2004). Geologic and fossil locality maps of the west-central part of the Howard Pass quadrangle and part of the adjacent Misheguk Mountain quadrangle, Western Brooks Range, Alaska [Miscellaneous Field Studies; Map MF-2413]. Reston, Va.: U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey.
Krumhardt, A.P., A.G. Harris, and K.F. Watts. (1996). Lithostratigraphy, microlithofacies, and conodont biostratigraphy and biofacies of the Wahoo Limestone (Carboniferous), eastern Sadlerochit Mountains, northeast Brooks Range, Alaska U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1568. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey.
Marshall, R. (1970). Alaska wilderness; exploring the Central Brooks Range 2nd ed. Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN0-520-24498-2
Mayfield, C.F. et al. (1984). Reconnaissance geologic map of southeastern Misheguk Mountain quadrangle, Alaska [Miscellaneous Investigations Series Map I-1503]. Reston, Va.: U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey.
Morin, R.L. (1997). Gravity and magnetic maps of part of the Drenchwater Creek stratiform zinc-lead-silver deposit, Howard Pass quadrangle, northwestern Brooks Range, Alaska [Open-file report 97-705]. Menlo Park, CA: U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey.
Morin, R.L. (1997). Gravity models of Abby Creek and Bion barite deposits, Howard Pass quadrangle, northwestern Brooks Range, Alaska [U.S. Geological Survey Open-file Report 97-704]. Menlo Park, CA: U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey.
Mull, C.G. et al. (1994). Geologic map of the Killik River quadrangle, Brooks Range, Alaska [U.S. Geological Survey Open-file Report 94-679]. Reston, Va: U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey.
Nelson, P.H. et al. (2006). Potential tight gas resources in a frontier province, Jurassic through Tertiary strata beneath the Brooks Range foothills, Arctic Alaska U.S. Geological Survey Open-file Report 2006–1172. Reston, VA: U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey.
U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey. (2003). The natural dispersal of metals to the environment in the Wulik River-Ikalukrok Creek area, western Brooks Range, Alaska U.S. Geological Survey Fact Sheet 107–03. Reston, VA: author.
U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey. (1995). Natural environmental effects of silver-lead-zinc deposits in the Brooks Range, Alaska U.S. Geological Survey Fact Sheet 092–95. Reston, VA: author.
January 18, 2023
brooks, range, gwich, gwazhał, mountain, range, northern, north, america, stretching, some, miles, from, west, east, across, northern, alaska, into, canada, yukon, territory, reaching, peak, elevation, feet, mount, isto, range, believed, approximately, million. The Brooks Range Gwich in Gwazhal 1 is a mountain range in far northern North America stretching some 700 miles 1 100 km from west to east across northern Alaska into Canada s Yukon Territory Reaching a peak elevation of 8 976 feet 2 736 m on Mount Isto the range is believed to be approximately 126 million years old Brooks RangeBrooks Range from near Galbraith LakeHighest pointPeakMount IstoElevation8 976 ft 2 736 m Coordinates69 12 09 N 143 48 08 W 69 20250 N 143 80222 W 69 20250 143 80222DimensionsLength700 mi 1 100 km East westWidth150 mi 240 km North southNamingNative nameGwazhal Gwichʼin GeographyCountriesUnited States and CanadaStates ProvincesAlaska and YukonRange coordinates68 12 N 152 15 W 68 200 N 152 250 W 68 200 152 250 Coordinates 68 12 N 152 15 W 68 200 N 152 250 W 68 200 152 250GeologyOrogenyLaramideAge of rockCretaceousIn the United States these mountains are considered a subrange of the Rocky Mountains whereas in Canada they are considered separate as the northern border of the Rocky Mountains is considered to be the Liard River far to the south in the province of British Columbia 2 3 While the range is mostly uninhabited the Dalton Highway and Trans Alaska Pipeline System run through the Atigun Pass 1 415 m 4 643 ft on their way to the oil fields at Prudhoe Bay on Alaska s North Slope The Alaska Native villages of Anaktuvuk and Arctic Village as well as the very small communities of Coldfoot Wiseman Bettles and Chandalar are the range s only settlements In the far west near the Wulik River in the De Long Mountains is the Red Dog mine the largest zinc mine in the world The range was named by the United States Board on Geographic Names in 1925 after Alfred Hulse Brooks 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 of the range is officially called the British Mountains 4 Ivvavik National Park is located in Canada s British Mountains Contents 1 Peaks 2 History 3 Ecology 4 Paleontology 5 Climate 6 Films 7 See also 8 Notes 9 Further readingPeaks Edit Brooks Range Mountains Limestack Mountain in the central Brooks Range Mount Isto 8 975 1 ft 2 735 6 m Mount Hubley 8 914 ft 2 717 m Mount Chamberlin 8 898 6 ft 2 712 3 m Mount Michelson at 8 855 ft 2 699 m The Gates of Kiev at 7 775 ft 2 370 m the highest point in the central part of the range Black Mountain at 5 020 ft 1 530 m the highest point in the far western part of the range Mount Doonerak 7 457 ft 2 273 m Mount Igikpak 8 276 ft 2 523 m Frigid Crags West Gate 5 501 ft 1 677 m Boreal Mountain East Gate 6 654 ft 2 028 m Limestack Mountain 6 250 ft 1 900 m Cockedhat Mountain 7 410 ft 2 260 m History EditBob Marshall explored the North Fork Koyukuk River area of the range in 1929 He named Mount Doonerak explaining the name Doonerak I took from an Eskimo word which means a spirit or as they would translate it a devil Marshall described the mountain as a towering black unscalable looking giant the highest peak in this section of the Brooks Range 5 Ecology Edit Area of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge coastal plain looking south toward the Brooks Range The Brooks 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 the tree line with little beyond isolated balsam poplar stands occurring north of the continental drainage divide Trembling aspen and white spruce also occur north of the Brooks Range though they are limited to sites that have been disturbed by human activity 6 7 Southern slopes have some cover of black spruce Picea mariana marking the northern limit of those trees 8 As the global mean temperature increases tree line has been observed to move further north changing the boundaries of where these trees are found 9 An increase in shrub abundance is also being experienced in areas which were previously dominated by tundra impacting the ecology of the area 10 11 As one of the most remote and least disturbed wildernesses of North America the mountains are home to Dall sheep grizzly bears black bear gray wolf moose and porcupine caribou In Alaska the Western Arctic Caribou herd 490 000 strong in 2004 traverses the Brooks Range in its annual migration The smaller Central Arctic herd 32 000 in 2002 as well as the 123 000 animal Porcupine Caribou herd likewise migrate through the Brooks range on their annual journeys in and out of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge The migration path of the Porcupine Caribou herd is the longest of any terrestrial mammal on earth 12 13 Paleontology Edit Fossilized corals in the Brooks Range near Limestack Mountain Because the rocks of the range were formed in an ancient seabed the Brooks Range contains fossils of marine organisms In addition to the coral fossils shown trilobites and brachiopods from the middle Cambrian have been found in the sandy limestones of the Central Brooks Range 14 Remains of a woolly mammoth that died about 17 100 years ago were found north of the Brooks Range A research report on its movement range was published in 2021 15 Climate EditWhile other Alaskan ranges to the south and closer to the coast can receive 250 inches 640 cm to 500 inches 1 300 cm of snow the average snow precipitation on the Brooks Range is reported at 30 inches 76 cm 16 to 51 inches 130 cm 17 Due to a changing climate between the years 1969 2018 the Eastern and Western portions of the Brooks Range have experienced a 17 2 increase in annual precipitation 18 As measured at the Anaktuvuk Pass weather station elevation 770 metres 2 530 ft the average summer temperatures are 16 C 61 F as a high and 3 C 37 F as a low During the winter the average high is 22 C 8 F while the average low is 30 C 22 F 17 Polar amplification is a force experienced in this region as global temperatures are rising The northern and western regions of Alaska where the Brooks Range lies is experiencing a warming rate twice that of southeastern Alaska The Brooks Range has experienced an increase in average summer temperature between 4 2 F and 5 8 F between the years 1969 2018 18 In certain areas of the Brooks Range year round snow cover or perennial snowfields can be found In 1985 34 square miles of snowfields were recorded where as that number has dropped to under four square miles in 2017 18 Films Edit2007 Gates of the Arctic Alaska s Brooks Range 2008 Alone Across Alaska 1 000 Miles of Wilderness 2011 The Edge of the Earth short film 2014 The World Beyond the World short film See also EditPhilip Smith Mountains Richardson MountainsNotes Edit GNIS Account Login geonames usgs gov Retrieved 23 April 2018 The Encyclopedia Americana Volume 23 page 618 Grolier 2000 Safire William The New York Times guide to essential knowledge a desk reference for the curious mind page 623 Macmillan 2007 Download Geographical Names Data www nrcan gc ca 2011 06 02 Retrieved 23 April 2018 Marshall Robert 1956 Marshall George ed Arctic Wilderness Berkeley University of California Press p 22 Ackerman Daniel Breen Amy 2016 06 06 Infrastructure Development Accelerates Range Expansion of Trembling Aspen Populus tremuloides Salicaceae into the Arctic Arctic 69 2 130 136 doi 10 14430 arctic4560 ISSN 1923 1245 Archived from the original on 2017 10 15 Retrieved 2016 06 13 Elsner Wendy K Jorgenson Janet C 2009 09 11 White Spruce Seedling Picea glauca Discovered North of the Brooks Range Along Alaska s Dalton Highway Arctic 62 3 342 344 doi 10 14430 arctic155 ISSN 1923 1245 Archived from the original on 2017 10 15 Retrieved 2016 06 13 C Michael Hogan Black Spruce Picea mariana GlobalTwitcher com ed Nicklas Stromberg November 2008 Archived October 5 2011 at the Wayback Machine Larsen J N O A Anisimov A Constable A B Hollowed N Maynard P Prestrud T D Prowse and J M R Stone 2014 Polar regions In Climate Change 2014 Impacts Adaptation and Vulnerability Part B Regional Aspects Contribution of Working Group II to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Barros V R C B Field D J Dokken M D Mastrandrea K J Mach T E Bilir M Chatterjee K L Ebi Y O Estrada R C Genova B Girma E S Kissel A N Levy S MacCracken P R Mastrandrea and L L White eds Cambridge University Press Cambridge United Kingdom and New York NY USA pp 1567 1612 https www ipcc ch site assets uploads 2018 02 WGIIAR5 Chap28 FINAL pdf Anisimov O A D G Vaughan T V Callaghan C Furgal H Marchant T D Prowse H Vilhjalmsson and J E Walsh 2007 Polar regions Arctic and Antarctic Climate Change 2007 Impacts Adaptation and Vulnerability Contribution of Working Group II to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change M L Parry O F Canziani J P Palutikof P J van der Linden and C E Hanson Eds Cambridge University Press Cambridge 653 685 https www ipcc ch site assets uploads 2018 02 ar4 wg2 chapter15 1 pdf Ramsayer Kate August 6 2017 NASA Studies Details of a Greening Arctic NASA gov Porcupine Caribou News PDF Alaska Department of Fish and Game Summer 2017 Porcupine Caribou News PDF Alaska Department of Fish and Game Summer 2017 J T Dutro et al November 1984 Middle Cambrian Fossils from the Doonerak Anticlinorium Central Brooks Range Alaska Journal of Paleontology Vol 58 No 6 pages 1364 1371 Woolly mammoth walked far enough to circle Earth twice study finds theguardian com 12 Aug 2021 Shulski Martha Wendler Gerd 2007 12 15 The Climate of Alaska University of Alaska Press pp 148 ISBN 9781602230071 Retrieved 16 December 2012 a b Gallant Alisa L 1998 05 01 EcoRegions of Alaska DIANE Publishing pp 15 ISBN 9780788148965 Retrieved 16 December 2012 a b c Thoman R amp J E Walsh 2019 Alaska s changing environment documenting Alaska s physical and biological changes through observations H R McFarland Ed International Arctic Research Center University of Alaska Fairbanks Further reading EditAllan C 2013 Arctic citadel a history of exploration in the Brooks Range region of Northern Alaska Washington D C U S Department of the Interior National Park Service Witmer Dennis Far to the North Photographs from the Brooks Range Far to the North Press 2008 ISBN 0 9771028 0 7 Kauffmann John M Alaska s Brooks Range The Ultimate Mountains Second Edition Mountaineers Books 2005 ISBN 1 59485 008 9 Brown William E History of the Central Brooks Range Gaunt Beauty Tenuous Life University of Alaska Press 2007 ISBN 1 60223 009 9 Cooper David Brooks Range Passage Mountaineers Books 1983 ISBN 0 89886 061 X Dover J H I L Tailleur and J A Dumoulin 2004 Geologic and fossil locality maps of the west central part of the Howard Pass quadrangle and part of the adjacent Misheguk Mountain quadrangle Western Brooks Range Alaska Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF 2413 Reston Va U S Department of the Interior U S Geological Survey Krumhardt A P A G Harris and K F Watts 1996 Lithostratigraphy microlithofacies and conodont biostratigraphy and biofacies of the Wahoo Limestone Carboniferous eastern Sadlerochit Mountains northeast Brooks Range Alaska U S Geological Survey Professional Paper 1568 Washington D C U S Department of the Interior U S Geological Survey Marshall R 1970 Alaska wilderness exploring the Central Brooks Range 2nd ed Berkeley University of California Press ISBN 0 520 24498 2 Mayfield C F et al 1984 Reconnaissance geologic map of southeastern Misheguk Mountain quadrangle Alaska Miscellaneous Investigations Series Map I 1503 Reston Va U S Department of the Interior U S Geological Survey Morin R L 1997 Gravity and magnetic maps of part of the Drenchwater Creek stratiform zinc lead silver deposit Howard Pass quadrangle northwestern Brooks Range Alaska Open file report 97 705 Menlo Park CA U S Department of the Interior U S Geological Survey Morin R L 1997 Gravity models of Abby Creek and Bion barite deposits Howard Pass quadrangle northwestern Brooks Range Alaska U S Geological Survey Open file Report 97 704 Menlo Park CA U S Department of the Interior U S Geological Survey Mull C G et al 1994 Geologic map of the Killik River quadrangle Brooks Range Alaska U S Geological Survey Open file Report 94 679 Reston Va U S Department of the Interior U S Geological Survey Nelson P H et al 2006 Potential tight gas resources in a frontier province Jurassic through Tertiary strata beneath the Brooks Range foothills Arctic Alaska U S Geological Survey Open file Report 2006 1172 Reston VA U S Department of the Interior U S Geological Survey U S Department of the Interior U S Geological Survey 2003 The natural dispersal of metals to the environment in the Wulik River Ikalukrok Creek area western Brooks Range Alaska U S Geological Survey Fact Sheet 107 03 Reston VA author U S Department of the Interior U S Geological Survey 1995 Natural environmental effects of silver lead zinc deposits in the Brooks Range Alaska U S Geological Survey Fact Sheet 092 95 Reston VA author Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Brooks Range amp oldid 1127416872, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
