Knik Arm ( Dena'ina: ''Nuti'') is a

waterway A waterway is any navigable body of water. Broad distinctions are useful to avoid ambiguity, and disambiguation will be of varying importance depending on the nuance of the equivalent word in other languages. A first distinction is necessary b ...

into the northwestern part of the

Gulf of Alaska The Gulf of Alaska (Tlingit: ''Yéil T'ooch’'') is an arm of the Pacific Ocean defined by the curve of the southern coast of Alaska, stretching from the Alaska Peninsula and Kodiak Island in the west to the Alexander Archipelago in the east ...

. It is one of two narrow branches of

Cook Inlet Cook Inlet ( tfn, Tikahtnu; Sugpiaq: ''Cungaaciq'') stretches from the Gulf of Alaska to Anchorage in south-central Alaska. Cook Inlet branches into the Knik Arm and Turnagain Arm at its northern end, almost surrounding Anchorage. On its so ...

, the other being

Turnagain Arm Turnagain Arm ( Dena'ina: ''Tutl'uh'') is a waterway into the northwestern part of the Gulf of Alaska. It is one of two narrow branches at the north end of Cook Inlet, the other being Knik Arm. Turnagain is subject to climate extremes and large ti ...

Knik Glacier The Knik Glacier ( Dena'ina: ''Skitnu Łi'a'') is an ice field located east of Anchorage, Alaska on the northern end of the Chugach Mountains. The ice field averages over long and over across, making it one of the largest glaciers in south ...

empties into the Knik Arm. The Port of Anchorage is located on the arm.

Etymology

The Dena'ina name for Knik Arm is ''Nuti'', meaning "salt water". The name "Knik" comes from ''igniq'', the Iñupiaq word for "fire". It has been written Kinik, Kneep, Kneik, Kook, Knuyk, and Kweek.

Geography

Knik Arm begins at the Inlet's northern edge, near Anchorage, before heading north and east. It is about long, and at its upper end, receives the waters of the Matanuska River. West of Knik Arm is the delta of the Susitna River, the largest stream emptying into the inlet. At the head of Knik Arm, at the mouth of Knik River, was the village (ghost town) of Knik. Knik Arm's other major tributaries are

Ship Creek Ship Creek ( Dena'ina: ''Dgheyaytnu'') is an Alaskan river that flows from the Chugach Mountains into Cook Inlet. The Port of Anchorage at the mouth of Ship Creek gave its name ("Knik Anchorage") to the city of Anchorage that grew up nearby. The ...

, Eagle River, Peter's Creek,

Eklutna River The Eklutna River () is approximately long and is located in the Southcentral region of the U.S. state of Alaska. A portion of the river flows through a canyon up to deep, emptying into the Knik Arm of Cook Inlet approximately northeast of Anc ...

and Fish Creek. The greater part of the plain, lying between the Knik Arm and the Susitna River, is drained by the Little Susitna. The upper part of Knik Arm merges into the delta of the Knik and Matanuska rivers, which unite just above tide limits.

History

Knakatnuk and Nitak (or Nitakh) were historic native villages on the arm's shore. The

1964 Alaska earthquake The 1964 Alaskan earthquake, also known as the Great Alaskan earthquake and Good Friday earthquake, occurred at 5:36 PM AKST on Good Friday, March 27.

destroyed or significantly damaged most of the Anchorage neighborhoods adjacent to the Arm, including the downtown area. The proposed

Knik Arm Bridge The Knik Arm Bridge is a dormant proposal for a bridge across Cook Inlet's Knik Arm to link the two fastest growing parts of Alaska – Anchorage and the Matanuska-Susitna Borough. The project consists of a bridge with of connector roads, ...

would measure approximately from Point MacKenzie on the west in the

Matanuska-Susitna Borough Matanuska-Susitna Borough (often referred to as the Mat-Su Borough) is a borough located in the U.S. state of Alaska. Its county seat is Palmer, and the largest community is the census-designated place of Knik-Fairview. The borough is part of ...

to Anchorage on the east. The Knik Arm ferry was a proposed year-round passenger and auto ferry across the arm which was to use the M/V ''Susitna''

SWATH A small waterplane area twin hull, better known by the acronym SWATH, is a catamaran design that minimizes hull cross section area at the sea's surface. Minimizing the ship's volume near the surface area of the sea, where wave energy is located ...

/ barge convertible expedition craft.

References

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External links

* {{Coord, 61.2000, -150.2167, display=title Estuaries of Alaska Bodies of water of Anchorage, Alaska Bodies of water of Kenai Peninsula Borough, Alaska Bodies of water of Matanuska-Susitna Borough, Alaska Denaʼina