Niukluk River 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 ...
in the
U.S. state
In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...
of
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 rises in the
Bendeleben Mountains
The Bendeleben (/ˈbɛn.dəˌleɪ.bɨn/) Mountains are a mountain range on the heart of the Seward Peninsula in Nome Census Area, Alaska, United States. This range forms a major divide between drainage basins draining into the Pacific Ocean and t ...
and, after flowing across a broad valley lowland for about , enters a narrower valley, in which it flows for about . Below the mouth of Melsing Creek, the valley broadens out and merges with that of
Fish River, to which the Niukluk is tributary. It receives many tributaries, of which the
Koksuktapaga, joining it from the south, is the largest. In Niukluk River itself, gold was found at its head, though most abundant below the mouth of American Creek. Just below the mouth of Ophir Creek, a little gold has been rocked out on the bars. The broad gravel flood plain in this part of the basin is said to be auriferous. Below the mouth of Ophir Creek the river has cut a small rock canyon below an old valley floor, leaving broad benches on either side. These benches are sheeted over by a few feet of gravel.
See also
*
List of rivers of Alaska
This is a List of rivers in Alaska, which are at least fifth-order according to the Strahler method of stream classification, and an incomplete list of otherwise-notable rivers and streams. Alaska has more than 12,000 rivers, and thousands more st ...
References
*
Rivers of the Seward Peninsula
Rivers of Alaska
Rivers of Nome Census Area, Alaska
Rivers of Unorganized Borough, Alaska
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