The Gulf of Alaska is washed by the Pacific Ocean, its border runs along the coastline in the form of a horseshoe, stretching from the east from the Alexander Archipelago to the western Kodiak Island. It is heavily indented, since most of the territory is occupied by glaciers, which, when the ice melts, descend into the Pacific Ocean in rivers and streams. There are forests and mountains on the shore.
Alaska Gulf Coast
Glaciers cover most of the coastal area of the named bay. The Hubbard Valley Glacier, the largest in the American North, is located here, as well as many coves and estuaries (single-branch mouths of rivers expanding towards the sea). Since all this is located in the southern part of the peninsula, there are many forests and desert mountains. The depth of the bay is not at all small, it is 5600 meters.
Meaning of the bay
The bay has great prospects in terms of hydrocarbon production. The prospects in this area are promising, so the value of the bay in this case is difficult.underestimate.
The western part of the mainland belongs to the United States of America, the eastern part belongs to Canada. There are several villages on the coast, among them are Seward (USA) and Prince Rupert (Canada).
Alaska Reserve
In 1980, the US government signed a document on the formation of the Alaska Marine National Reserve, which is partially located in the north and northeast of Alaska Bay. The nature here is harsh, but beautiful in its own way. The peninsula is sparsely populated, which contributes to the preservation of the environment.
The reserve was created as a reserve of pristine nature, based on protected areas, and is located on multiple coastal islands, such as St. Lazaria, Hazy, Forrester, Lowry, Wolf Rock, Barren, Chisik, Doug, Egg, Middleton, Chiswellian and Trinity.
Here are nesting sea birds, seals and walrus rookeries. The total number of animals here is 40 million, many of which live exclusively in this area, in particular on the coast of Alaska Bay. In coastal waters, there are a large number of whales, fish and marine animals.
Alaska Bay Meteorology
The bay off the coast of Alaska has a great influence on the weather in the western regions of the American mainland. From a meteorological point of view, storms form here and move south along the coast of British Columbia, Oregon and Washington. They bring rainfall to the west coast of the United States and Canada. The Alaska Peninsula has meteorological stations that collect weather data.
Halocline
In the media, you can often see articles about the meeting of two oceans in the Gulf of Alaska. This is sheer nonsense, since the coast of the Gulf of Alaska is washed by the waters of the Pacific Ocean. In fact, here you can see a strange natural phenomenon - the watershed of coastal and oceanic waters, which, as if by an invisible vertical wall, separates them. Surprisingly, the watershed line is so obvious and clear that it creates an indescribable mystical impression.
It seems that the ocean and coastal waters have frozen, occasionally rolling over each other in small waves, forming small “lambs”. This phenomenon has long been studied, its origin is explained by scientists. It is called a halocline, and it is formed when the salinity of two water bodies differs. In this case, the salinity of one should exceed the salinity of the other five times. The formation of a halocline is affected by the density of water, as well as its temperature and chemical composition.
As we have already said, in the media you can read that two seas merge into one near the Gulf of Alaska, but this is not true. The Alaska Peninsula is indeed washed by two seas and oceans, but the Gulf of Alaska is washed only by the Pacific Ocean. The coast of the bay is very indented, with coves and estuaries, of which there are a great many on the peninsula. It is here that the largest valley glacier Hubbard is located. All of them carry their fresh waters into the bay, making it slightly s alty, which cannot be said about the Pacific Ocean.
ExceptIn addition, coastal waters replenished by rivers and glacial meltwater are much lighter than the Pacific Ocean, so the boundary of their confluence is striking here. This is what led to the formation of the classical vertical halocline. Studying the horizontal halocline in the Strait of Gibr altar, French researcher Jacques-Yves Cousteau came to the conclusion that they have different flora and fauna, completely different composition of water and different temperatures. No wonder if this applies to the Gulf of Alaska as well.
