Kotzebue Sound
Kotzebue Sound is an arm of the Chukchi Sea in the western region of the U.S. state of Alaska. It is on the north side of the Seward Peninsula and bounded on the east by the Baldwin Peninsula. It is Template:Convert long and Template:Convert wide.
Kotzebue Sound is located in the transitional climate zone, which is characterized by long, cold winters and cool summers. The average low temperature during January is Template:Convert; the average high during July is Template:Convert. Temperature extremes have been measured from Template:Convert to Template:Convert. Snowfall averages Template:Convert, with total precipitation of Template:Convert per year. Kotzebue Sound is ice-free from early July until early October.
The towns of Kotzebue, Kiwalik and Deering are on the shores of Kotzebue Sound. Kotzebue Sound was explored and named in 1816 by Baltic German Lieutenant Otto von Kotzebue<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> while searching for the Northeast Passage in the service of Russia.
FaunaEdit
A wide variety of birdlife is apparent at Kotzebue Sound including the tufted puffin, black-throated diver and red-throated loon.<ref>J. Grinnell, 1900</ref>
The sound is a location for the presence of the polar bear, Ursus maritimus; in fact, the world's record largest polar bear at 2,210 pounds (1,002 kg) was observed at Kotzebue Sound in 1960.<ref>C. Michael Hogan (2008) Polar Bear: Ursus maritimus, Globaltwitcher.com, ed. N. Stromberg Template:Webarchive</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
NotesEdit
ReferencesEdit
- Giddings, J. Louis, and Douglas D. Anderson. Beach Ridge Archeology of Cape Krusenstern Eskimo and Pre-Eskimo Settlements Around Kotzebue Sound, Alaska. Washington DC: National Park Service, U.S. Dept. of the Interior, 1986.
- Lucier, Charles V., and James W. VanStone. Traditional Beluga Drives of the Iñupiat of Kotzebue Sound, Alaska. Fieldiana, new ser., no. 25. Chicago: Field Museum of Natural History, 1995.
- Template:Cite book
External linksEdit
- Robert L. Dey Typescript and Correspondence on a Trip to Kotzebue Sound at Dartmouth College Library