Kanuti Hot Springs is a geothermal spring in an area of critical environmental concern in the
Kanuti National Wildlife Refuge
Kanuti National Wildlife Refuge is a national wildlife refuge in central Alaska, United States. One of 16 refuges in Alaska, it was established in 1980 when Congress passed The Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA). At , Kanuti ...
,
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., ...
, 15 miles north of the
Arctic Circle
The Arctic Circle is one of the two polar circles, and the most northerly of the five major circles of latitude as shown on maps of Earth. Its southern equivalent is the Antarctic Circle.
The Arctic Circle marks the southernmost latitude at w ...
.
Water profile and geology
The hot mineral water emerges from the ground between 110 °F to 151 °F.
Colonies
In modern parlance, a colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule. Though dominated by the foreign colonizers, colonies remain separate from the administration of the original country of the colonizers, the '' metropolitan state'' ...
of
cyanobacteria
Cyanobacteria (), also known as Cyanophyta, are a phylum of gram-negative bacteria that obtain energy via photosynthesis. The name ''cyanobacteria'' refers to their color (), which similarly forms the basis of cyanobacteria's common name, blu ...
grow in the spring, coloring areas along the edges with white, yellow and orange residue.
Rainwater percolates through a deep fracture in the bedrock where it is heated by magma and emerges through rocks near the surface.
Granitic rocks
A granitoid is a generic term for a diverse category of coarse-grained igneous rocks that consist predominantly of quartz, plagioclase, and alkali feldspar. Granitoids range from plagioclase-rich tonalites to alkali-rich syenites and from quart ...
of the hot springs
pluton
In geology, an igneous intrusion (or intrusive body or simply intrusion) is a body of intrusive igneous rock that forms by crystallization of magma slowly cooling below the surface of the Earth. Intrusions have a wide variety of forms and com ...
have intruded on the south side of the Caribou Mountain complex. There is no indication of asymmetrical profiles that are characteristic of
ultramapfic complexes.
Location
The hot springs are located in a very remote area and are accessible during the winter months only via the
Dalton Highway
The James W. Dalton Highway, usually referred to as the Dalton Highway (and signed as Alaska Route 11), is a road in Alaska. It begins at the Elliott Highway, north of Fairbanks, and ends at Deadhorse (an unincorporated community within the ...
(mile marker 103).
See also
*
List of hot springs in the United States
__NOTOC__
This is a dynamic list of hot springs in the United States. The Western states in particular are known for their thermal springs: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, Wyomin ...
*
List of hot springs in the world
References
{{Reflist
Hot springs of Alaska
Geothermal areas in the United States