The Wrangell Mountains are a high
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 ...
of eastern
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., ...
in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
. Much of the range is included in
Wrangell-Saint Elias National Park and Preserve. The Wrangell Mountains are almost entirely volcanic in origin, and they include the second and third highest volcanoes in the United States,
Mount Blackburn
Mount Blackburn is the highest peak in the Wrangell Mountains of Alaska in the United States. It is the fifth-highest peak in the United States and the twelfth-highest peak in North America. The mountain is an old, eroded shield volcano, the se ...
and
Mount Sanford. The range takes its name from
Mount Wrangell
Mount Wrangell, in Ahtna K’ełt’aeni or K’ełedi when erupting, is a massive shield volcano located in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve in southeastern Alaska, United States. The shield rises over above the Copper River to it ...
, which is one of the largest
andesite
Andesite () is a volcanic rock of intermediate composition. In a general sense, it is the intermediate type between silica-poor basalt and silica-rich rhyolite. It is fine-grained (aphanitic) to porphyritic in texture, and is composed predomi ...
shield volcano
A shield volcano is a type of volcano named for its low profile, resembling a warrior's shield lying on the ground. It is formed by the eruption of highly fluid (low viscosity) lava, which travels farther and forms thinner flows than the more v ...
es in the world, and also the only presently active volcano in the range. The Wrangell Mountains comprise most of the
Wrangell Volcanic Field
The Wrangell Volcanic Field is a volcanic field stretching from eastern Alaska in the United States to the southwestern Yukon Territory in Canada. The field includes the four highest volcanoes in the United States, Mount Bona, Mount Blackburn, ...
, which also extends into the neighboring
Saint Elias Mountains
The Saint Elias Mountains (french: Chaîne Saint-Élie) are a subgroup of the Pacific Coast Ranges, located in southeastern Alaska in the United States, Southwestern Yukon and the very far northwestern part of British Columbia in Canada. The range ...
and the
Yukon Territory
Yukon (; ; formerly called Yukon Territory and also referred to as the Yukon) is the smallest and westernmost of Canada's three territories. It also is the second-least populated province or territory in Canada, with a population of 43,964 as ...
in
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
.
The Wrangell Mountains are just to the northwest of the
Saint Elias Mountains
The Saint Elias Mountains (french: Chaîne Saint-Élie) are a subgroup of the Pacific Coast Ranges, located in southeastern Alaska in the United States, Southwestern Yukon and the very far northwestern part of British Columbia in Canada. The range ...
and northeast of the
Chugach Mountains
The Chugach Mountains of southern Alaska are the northernmost of the several mountain ranges that make up the Pacific Coast Ranges of the western edge of North America. The range is about long and wide, and extends from the Knik and Turnagain ...
, which are along the coast 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, ...
. These ranges have the combined effect of blocking the inland areas from warmer moist air over the
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...
. The inland areas to the north of the Wrangell Mountains are therefore among the coldest areas of
North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...
during the winter.
Major peaks
The Wrangell Mountains include 12 of the 40+ Alaskan peaks over (see
fourteener
In the mountaineering parlance of the Western United States, a fourteener is a mountain peak with an elevation of at least . The 96 fourteeners in the United States are all west of the Mississippi River. Colorado has the most (53) of any single ...
s and
thirteener
In mountaineering in the United States, a thirteener (abbreviated 13er) is a mountain that exceeds above mean sea level, similar to the more familiar "fourteeners," which exceed . In most instances, "thirteeners" refers only to those peaks betwe ...
s):
*
Mount Blackburn
Mount Blackburn is the highest peak in the Wrangell Mountains of Alaska in the United States. It is the fifth-highest peak in the United States and the twelfth-highest peak in North America. The mountain is an old, eroded shield volcano, the se ...
, , and East Summit,
*
Mount Sanford, , and South Peak,
*
Mount Wrangell
Mount Wrangell, in Ahtna K’ełt’aeni or K’ełedi when erupting, is a massive shield volcano located in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve in southeastern Alaska, United States. The shield rises over above the Copper River to it ...
, , and West Summit,
*
Atna Peaks
Atna Peaks is an eroded stratovolcano or shield volcano in the Wrangell Mountains of eastern Alaska. It is located in Wrangell–Saint Elias National Park about east of Mount Blackburn, the second-highest volcano in the United States, and just ...
,
*
Regal Mountain
Regal Mountain is an eroded stratovolcano or shield volcano in the Wrangell Mountains of eastern Alaska. It is located in Wrangell-Saint Elias National Park about east of Mount Blackburn, the second highest volcano in the United States, and ...
,
*
Mount Jarvis
Mount Jarvis is an eroded shield volcano in the Wrangell Mountains of eastern Alaska. It is located in Wrangell-Saint Elias National Park about east of the summit of Mount Wrangell. The mountain sits at the northeastern edge of the massive ic ...
, , and North Peak,
*
Parka Peak
Atna Peaks is an eroded stratovolcano or shield volcano in the Wrangell Mountains of eastern Alaska. It is located in Wrangell–Saint Elias National Park about east of Mount Blackburn, the second-highest volcano in the United States, and just ...
,
*
Mount Zanetti
Mount Wrangell, in Ahtna K’ełt’aeni or K’ełedi when erupting, is a massive shield volcano located in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve in southeastern Alaska, United States. The shield rises over above the Copper River to ...
,
Other prominent mountains include:
*
Mount Drum
Mount is often used as part of the name of specific mountains, e.g. Mount Everest.
Mount or Mounts may also refer to:
Places
* Mount, Cornwall, a village in Warleggan parish, England
* Mount, Perranzabuloe, a hamlet in Perranzabuloe parish, C ...
,
*
Castle Peak,
Name origin and references in popular culture
The mountains are named after explorer, president of
Russian-American Company
The Russian-American Company Under the High Patronage of His Imperial Majesty (russian: Под высочайшим Его Императорского Величества покровительством Российская-Американс ...
, and admiral
Ferdinand von Wrangel
Baron Ferdinand Friedrich Georg Ludwig von Wrangel (russian: Барон Фердина́нд Петро́вич Вра́нгель, tr. ; – ) was a Baltic German explorer and seaman in the Imperial Russian Navy, Honorable Member of the Saint ...
. American folk singer
John Denver
Henry John Deutschendorf Jr. (December 31, 1943 – October 12, 1997), known professionally as John Denver, was an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, actor, activist, and humanitarian whose greatest commercial success was as a solo singe ...
wrote a song, "The Wrangell Mountain Song", in reference to the range.
See also
*
Wrangellia Terrane
The Wrangellia Terrane (named for the Wrangell Mountains, Alaska) is a crustal fragment (terrane) extending from the south-central part of Alaska and along the Coast of British Columbia in Canada. Some geologists contend that Wrangellia extends ...
References
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External links
Wrangell-St. Elias National Park & PreserveWrangell Mountains Center
{{Authority control
Landforms of Copper River Census Area, Alaska
Mountain ranges of Alaska
Mountains of Unorganized Borough, Alaska