Up one level Alaska Peninsula and Aleutian Islands » Overview

Overview
Background information on the Alaska Peninsula and Aleutian Islands.

topo The Aleutian Arc, consisting of the Alaska Peninsula and Aleutian Islands extends about 3000 km from Alaska to the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia. It separates the Bering Sea to the north from the Pacific Ocean to the south. It also marks the boundary of two tectonic plates, and has been the location of very large earthquakes.
modis This MODIS satellite image (acquired in April 2002) shows the places presented in the galleries. The white areas over land are snow, over water clouds.
pavlof Most of the Aleutian Arc is volcanic. These are strato volcanoes, with Pavlof (on the left) being among the most active in recent times.
coneE Other volcanoes consist of big calderas with multiple cones inside them, like this one inside Okmok caldera.
lupins There are almost no trees on the Aleutian Islands, but wildflowers are abundant and colorful, like these lupins.
choclily The chocolate lily.
bear Brown bears are numerous -and large- on the Alaska Peninsula and on Unimak Island, but there are no bears on the other islands.
otter Sea otters used to be numerous in the Aleutian waters and played an important role in the life of the Aleuts. Unfortunately, they were almost extinguished by Russian fur traders in the 18th and 19th century, and recently numbers have declined drastically again for reasons not completely understood.
dh The Russian Orthodox Church in the Aleut village of Unalaska on Unalaska Island reminds of the Russian influence on the Aleutians.
fp_pete Today, life and economy in most villages in the Aleutians is based on fishing, like in False Pass on Unimak Island.
coldbay Cold Bay at the western tip of the Alaska Peninsula was an important base in World War 2, and due to its infrastructure has remained an important hub for the area. The
quonsets Many islands show remnants from their use at bases during World War 2. Umnak Island housed up to about 40000 troops and is peppered with quonset huts.

Album was updated 1/2/05 10:30 PM  |  ©2005 Doerte Mann. All rights reserved.