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Volcanoes on the Alaska Peninsula

Peulik Volcano and cottongrass meadow

Gorge in Valley of 10,000 Smokes

Hiker near Chiginagak Volcano

Peulik Volcano and Ukinrek Maars

The Alaska Peninsula is a peninsula extending about 800 km (500 miles) to the southwest from the mainland of Alaska and ending in the Aleutian Islands. The peninsula separates the Pacific Ocean from Bristol Bay, an arm of the Bering Sea.

The Aleutians are a highly active volcanic mountain range which runs along its entire length. It contains several U.S. National Parks and Wildlife Refuges, including the Katmai National Park and Preserve, the Aniakchak National Monument and Preserve and the Becharof National Wildlife Refuge, the Alaska Peninsula National Wildlife Refuge, and Izembek National Wildlife Refuge.

The southern-most side of the Alaska Peninsula is rugged and mountainous, created by the uplifting tectonic activity of the North Pacific Plate subsiding under a western section of the North American Plate; whereas the northern side is generally flat and marshy, a result of millennia of erosion and general seismic stability.

The differences between the northern and southern shores of the Alaska Peninsula are a study in contrasts. While the northern Bristol Bay coastal side is generally turbid and muddy, experiences tidal extremes, and is relatively shallow, the Pacific side has relatively small tidal activity and is very deep and clear.

In the south coast of the peninsula temperatures fluctuate between 0 ºC to -2.0 ºC (28 ºF - 32 ºf) in winter and 11º C (52 ºF) in Summer. Rainfalls are fairly steady. The climate of the south coast is only comparable to those of: Aleutian Islands, Iceland, and Tierra del Fuego

The peninsula is devoid of trees. The Alaska Peninsula and Bristol Bay are home to the world's largest sockeye salmon runs in large part because the Alaska Peninsula is host to so many large lakes, which are an important element in the lifecycle of Oncorhynchus nerka, sockeye salmon. These salmon, after returning from their short life at sea, swim into the lakes and their contributing streams to spawn. Their offspring, or fry, overwinter in the deep and food-abundant depths of these lakes until their migration to the sea in one or two years.

The Alaska Peninsula is also home to some of the largest populations of native and undisturbed wildlife in the United States. Besides the famous McNeil River and Katmai brown bear populations, large herds of caribou, moose, wolves and waterfowl inhabit the area.

See also: Lake and Peninsula Borough

Besides the communities on the (see: Bristol Bay) coast, the Alaska Peninsula also is home to several well-known villages: Cold Bay, King Cove, Perryville, Chignik, Chignik Lake, Chignik Lagoon, and Port Moller. Each is primarily inhabited by Alaska Natives and each, likewise, is mostly dependent on the fishing industry for sustinence. The village of Sand Point should be included here, despite its location on Popof Island, an island of the Sumagin Islands, just off the southern coast of the Peninsula.

• Ugashik Area website
• Lake & Peninsula Borough
• Lake and Peninsula School District
• Alaska Peninsula Trek
• Trawl survey of shrimp and forage fish in Alaska's Westward region, 2006 / by David R. Jackson. Hosted by Alaska State Publications Program.