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Chukchi Sea Shelf
The Chukchi Sea Shelf or Chukchi Shelf is the westernmost part of the continental shelf of the United States and the easternmost part of the continental shelf of Russia. Within this shelf, the 50-mile Chukchi Corridor acts as a passageway for one of the largest marine mammal migrations in the world. The main geological features of the Chukchi Shelf are the Hope Basin and the Herald Thrust, a basement uplift cored by Cretaceous thrust faults. The latter is named after Herald Island (Arctic), Herald Island. Off the northwestern Alaskan coast there is a Jurassic rift basin, the Hannah Trough. To the north of Alaska the Chukchi Shelf extends to form the Chukchi Plateau which protrudes into the Arctic Ocean geological zone. The Chukchi Shelf is shared between Russia and the United States according to the 1990 USSR–USA Maritime Boundary Agreement. 50-Mile Chukchi Corridor The Chukchi Corridor is a 50-mile wide strip of ocean offshore of Northwest Alaska that acts as a passageway for ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arctic Ocean Bathymetric Features
The Arctic ( or ) is a polar region located at the northernmost part of Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean, adjacent seas, and parts of Canada (Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut), Danish Realm (Greenland), Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia (Murmansk, Siberia, Nenets Okrug, Novaya Zemlya), Sweden and the United States (Alaska). Land within the Arctic region has seasonally varying snow and ice cover, with predominantly treeless permafrost (permanently frozen underground ice) containing tundra. Arctic seas contain seasonal sea ice in many places. The Arctic region is a unique area among Earth's ecosystems. The cultures in the region and the Arctic indigenous peoples have adapted to its cold and extreme conditions. Life in the Arctic includes zooplankton and phytoplankton, fish and marine mammals, birds, land animals, plants and human societies. Arctic land is bordered by the subarctic. Definition and etymology The word Arctic comes from the Greek word (''arkti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bearded Seal
The bearded seal (''Erignathus barbatus''), also called the square flipper seal, is a medium-sized pinniped that is found in and near to the Arctic Ocean. It gets its generic name from two Greek words (''eri'' and ''gnathos'') that refer to its heavy jaw. The other part of its Linnaean name means bearded and refers to its most characteristic feature, the conspicuous and very abundant whiskers. When dry, these whiskers curl very elegantly, giving the bearded seal a "raffish" look. Bearded seals are the largest northern phocid. They have been found to weigh as much as with the females being the largest. However, male and female bearded seals are not very dimorphic. The only member of the genus ''Erignathus'', the bearded seal is unique in that it is an intermediate. Bearded seals belong to the family Phocidae which contains two subfamilies: Phocinae and Monachinae. The bearded seal possesses characteristics of both of these subfamilies. Fossils first described in 2002 indicate ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act
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Spectacled Eider
The spectacled eider (pronounced ) (''Somateria fischeri'') is a large sea duck that breeds on the coasts of Alaska and northeastern Siberia. The spectacled eider is slightly smaller than the common eider at 52–57 cm (20–22 inches) in length. The male is unmistakable with its black body, white back, and yellow-green head with the large circular white eye patches which give the species its name. The drake's call is a weak crooning, and the female's a harsh croak. The female is a rich brown bird, but can still be readily distinguished from all ducks except other eider species on size and structure. The paler goggles are visible with a reasonable view and clinch identification. Immature birds and eclipse adult drakes are similar to the female. The binomial commemorates the German scientist Johann Fischer von Waldheim. Distribution Currently, spectacled eiders occur along the coast of Alaska and easternmost Russia and into the Bering Sea. There are two breeding populations ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Essential Fish Habitat
Essential Fish Habitat (EFH) was defined by the U.S. Congress in the 1996 amendments to the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, or Magnuson-Stevens Act, as "those waters and substrate necessary to fish for spawning, breeding, feeding or growth to maturity." Implementing regulations clarified that waters include all aquatic areas and their physical, chemical, and biological properties; substrate includes the associated biological communities that make these areas suitable for fish habitats, and the description and identification of EFH should include habitats used at any time during the species' life cycle. EFH includes all types of aquatic habitat, such as wetlands, coral reefs, sand, seagrasses, and rivers. NOAA Fisheries works with the regional fishery management councils to designate EFH using the best available scientific information. EFH has been described for more than a 1,000 managed species to date. The main purpose of EFH regulations is to minimiz ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
National Marine Fisheries Service
The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), informally known as NOAA Fisheries, is a United States federal agency within the U.S. Department of Commerce's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) that is responsible for the stewardship of U.S. national marine resources. It conserves and manages fisheries to promote sustainability and prevent lost economic potential associated with overfishing, declining species, and degraded habitats. History Founded in 1871 as the U.S. Commission of Fish and Fisheries, the National Marine Fisheries Service is the oldest federal conservation and environmental research agency in the United States. The commission was formed when President Ulysses S. Grant named zoologist Spencer Fullerton Baird, United States National Museum director and assistant secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, the first commissioner of the United States Fish Commission. The commission was divided into three research categories: the study of U.S. wate ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Utqiagvik, Alaska
Utqiagvik ( ik, Utqiaġvik; , , formerly known as Barrow ()) is the borough seat and largest city of the North Slope Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. Located north of the Arctic Circle, it is one of the northernmost cities and towns in the world and the northernmost in the United States, with nearby Point Barrow which is the country's northernmost land. Utqiagvik's population was 4,927 at the 2020 census, an increase from 4,212 in 2010. It is the 12th-most populated city in Alaska. Name The location has been home to the Iñupiat, an indigenous Inuit ethnic group, for more than 1,500 years. The city's Iñupiaq name refers to a place for gathering wild roots. It is derived from the Iñupiat word , also used for '' Claytonia tuberosa'' (" Eskimo potato"). The name was first recorded, by European explorers, in 1853 as "Ot-ki-a-wing" by Commander Rochfort Maguire, Royal Navy. John Simpson's native map dated 1855 has the name "Otkiawik", which was later misprinted on a Briti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wainwright, Alaska
Wainwright (; ''Ulġuniq'' in Iñupiaq), also known as Ulguniq or Kuuk, is a city in North Slope Borough, Alaska, United States. At the 2010 census the population was 556, making it the third largest city in the North Slope Borough, up from 546 in 2000. The community was named after Wainwright Lagoon, which in turn was named after Lt. John Wainwright, an officer under Capt. F.W. Beechey, who were the first non-native people to travel to the lagoon in 1826. An unincorporated area known as Wainwright Inlet by 1890, Wainwright was founded as an incorporated municipality in 1904. Geography and climate Wainwright is located on the Chukchi Sea about southwest of Utqiaġvik. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which, of it is land and of it (58.63%) is water. Wainwright has a dry-winter Arctic climate (Köppen ETw) with temperatures ranging from . There is little precipitation, mostly snow; however, the dry winters make the annual sno ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Point Lay, Alaska
Point Lay (''Kali ''in Inupiaq- "Mound") is a census-designated place (CDP) in North Slope Borough, Alaska, United States. At the 2010 census the population was 189, down from 247 in 2000. Geography and climate Point Lay is located at (69.741023, -163.008613) on the shores of the Chukchi Sea. According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of , of which, of it is land and of it (11.66%) is water. Point Lay once was on a barrier island of Kasegaluk Lagoon, but moved to the mainland near the mouth of the Kokolik River during the 1970s. A weather station was operated from October 1949 to March 1958. Apart from its landmass that is in mainland Alaska, it also consists two peninsulas that are found on its most northwestern side. Point Lay has a tundra climate (Koppen ET) with long, very cold winters and short, cool to mild summers. Demographics Point Lay first appeared on the 1880 U.S. Census as an unincorporated Inuit village. All 30 of its residen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Point Hope, Alaska
Point Hope ( ik, Tikiġaq, ) is a city in North Slope Borough, Alaska, United States. At the 2010 census the population was 674, down from 757 in 2000. In the 2020 Census, population rose to 830. Like many isolated communities in Alaska, the city has no road or rail connections to the outside world, and must be accessed by sea or by air at Point Hope Airport. History Before any modern settlement, the Ipiutak lived here. The descriptive Inuit name of the place, "Tikarakh" or " Tikiġaq", commonly spelled "Tiagara", means "forefinger". It was recorded as "Tiekagagmiut" in 1861 by P. Tikhmeniev Wich of the Russian Hydrographic Department and on Russian Chart 1495 it became "Tiekaga". This ancient village site was advantageous, because the protrusion of Point Hope into the sea brought the whales close to the shore. At Tikigaq, they built semi-subterranean houses using mainly whalebone and driftwood. Point Hope is one of the oldest continually occupied sites in North America. W ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Saffron Cod
The saffron cod ''(Eleginus gracilis)'' is a commercially harvested fish closely related to true cods (genus ''Gadus''). It is dark grey-green to brown, with spots on its sides and pale towards the belly. It may grow to 55 cm and weigh up to 1.3 kg. Its range spans the North Pacific, from Yellow Sea and the Sea of Okhotsk in the west to the northern Gulf of Alaska and to Sitka, Alaska in the east. It also occurs in the Chukchi Sea (Arctic Ocean). It normally occurs in shallow coastal waters at less than 60 m depth but may also be found at depths up to 200 m. The saffron cod may also enter brackish and even fresh waters, occurring quite far up rivers and streams, but remaining within regions of tidal influence. Saffron cods begin to mature during their third year of life. They feed on fish and small crustaceans. They are commercially fished in many areas of the northwestern Pacific. The country with the largest catch is Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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