The Aleutian Range is a major

mountain range A mountain range or hill range is a series of mountains or hills arranged in a line and connected by high ground. A mountain system or mountain belt is a group of mountain ranges with similarity in form, structure, and alignment that have arise ...

located in southwest

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S ...

. It extends from Chakachamna Lake (80 miles/130 km southwest of Anchorage) to Unimak Island, which is at the tip of the

Alaska Peninsula The Alaska Peninsula (also called Aleut Peninsula or Aleutian Peninsula, ale, Alasxix̂; Sugpiaq: ''Aluuwiq'', ''Al'uwiq'') is a peninsula extending about to the southwest from the mainland of Alaska and ending in the Aleutian Islands. The ...

. It includes all of the mountains of the Peninsula. The Aleutian Range is special because of its large number of active

volcano A volcano is a rupture in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most often found where tectonic plates ...

es, which are also part of the larger Aleutian Arc. The mainland part of the range is about 600 miles (1000 km) long. The

Aleutian Islands The Aleutian Islands ( ; ; ale, Unangam Tanangin, "land of the Aleuts"; possibly from the Chukchi ''aliat'', or "island")—also called the Aleut Islands, Aleutic Islands, or, before 1867, the Catherine Archipelago—are a chain of 14 main, ...

are (geologically) a partially submerged western extension of the range that stretches for another 1,600 km (1000 mi). However the official designation "Aleutian Range" includes only the mainland peaks and the peaks on Unimak Island. The range is almost entirely roadless wilderness.

Katmai National Park and Preserve Katmai National Park and Preserve is an American national park and preserve in southwest Alaska, notable for the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes and for its brown bears. The park and preserve encompass , which is between the sizes of Connecticut ...

, a large national park within the range, must be reached by boat or plane. The core Aleutian Range can be divided into three mountain groups. Listed from southwest to northeast, they are: * Mountains of the

and Unimak Island * Chigmit Mountains * Neacola Mountains See

for the continuation of the range to the west of Unimak Island. Just to the north of the Aleutian Range are the Tordrillo Mountains, the southeasternmost extent of the

Alaska Range The Alaska Range is a relatively narrow, 600-mile-long (950 km) mountain range in the southcentral region of the U.S. state of Alaska, from Lake Clark at its southwest endSources differ as to the exact delineation of the Alaska Range. ThBo ...

. Selected mountains: * Mount Redoubt (3,108 m), Chigmit Mountains * Iliamna Volcano (3,054 m), Chigmit Mountains * Mount Neacola, (2,873 m), Neacola Mountains * Mount Shishaldin (2,857 m), Unimak Island * Mount Pavlof (2,715 m),

Mount Veniaminof Mount Veniaminof (russian: Вулкан Вениаминова) is an active stratovolcano on the Alaska Peninsula. The mountain was named after Ioann (Ivan Popov) Veniaminov (1797–1879), a Russian Orthodox missionary priest (and later a pro ...

(2,508 m),

Isanotski Peaks Isanotski Peaks or Isanotski Volcano, known locally as "Ragged Jack", is a multipeaked mountain on Unimak Island, the easternmost Aleutian Island in Alaska, United States. It is an old, highly dissected stratovolcano, lying about 10 miles (16 ...

(2,446 m), Unimak Island * Mount Denison (2,318 m),

Mount Griggs Mount Griggs, formerly known as Knife Peak Volcano, is a stratovolcano, which lies 10 km behind the volcanic arc defined by other Katmai group volcanoes. Although no historic eruptions have been reported from Mount Griggs, vigorously active ...

, (2,317+ m),

* Mount Douglas (2,153 m),

* Mount Chiginagak (2,134 m),

Double Peak A double summit, double peak, twin summit, or twin peak refers to a mountain or hill that has two summits, separated by a col or saddle. One well-known double summit is Austria’s highest mountain, the Großglockner, where the main summit of t ...

(2,078 m), Chigmit Mountains * Mount Katmai (2,047 m),

* Pogromni Volcano (2,002 m), Unimak Island

Volcanic eruptions

Two volcanoes erupted during the summer of 2008 on the eastern Aleutian Islands. On July 12, 2008, Mount Okmok erupted, and it continued to erupt for a month. A giant, rapidly moving ash and gas cloud shot up to a height of 15,240 m as a result of this eruption. Mount Kasatochi was home to the other eruption, which occurred on August 7 and 8. This eruption also sent up a gas cloud about 15,000 high. Together, these two power volcanic eruptions deposited emissions of trace gases an aerosols into the atmosphere. These emissions formed a sulfate aerosol layer that totaled a transfer of 1.6 Tg of SO₂ into the stratosphere and disturbed flights over this area for a short period following the eruptions.

Earthquakes

The 7.9 Mw Aleutian Islands earthquake occurred in June 2014 at an intermediate depth of 107 km. The quake was caused by oblique normal faulting along the Aleutian Trench, a convergent boundary where the Pacific plate is subducting underneath the North American plate at around 59 mm/year.

References

External links

* {{Gnis, 1893258, Aleutian Range Mountains of Aleutians East Borough, Alaska Mountains of Kenai Peninsula Borough, Alaska Mountains of Kodiak Island Borough, Alaska Mountains of Lake and Peninsula Borough, Alaska Volcanic arcs Mountains of Alaska Mountain ranges of Alaska

Volcanic eruptions

Earthquakes

See also

References

External links