Koyuk River
| Koyuk River (Kvyguk River) | |
| River | |
Bering Land Bridge National Preserve in the Koyuk River Valley
|
|
| Name origin: Inuit people | |
| Country | United States |
|---|---|
| State | Alaska |
| District | Nome Census Area |
| Source | small lake 3 miles (4.8 km) north of Kuzitrin Lake |
| - location | Bering Land Bridge National Preserve, Seward Peninsula |
| - elevation | 1,526 ft (465 m) |
| - coordinates | 65°25′44″N 163°13′00″W / 65.42889°N 163.21667°W |
| Mouth | Norton Bay |
| - location | Koyuk |
| - elevation | 0 ft (0 m) |
| - coordinates | 64°55′45″N 161°08′03″W / 64.92917°N 161.13417°WCoordinates: 64°55′45″N 161°08′03″W / 64.92917°N 161.13417°W |
| Length | 115 mi (185 km) |
 Location of the mouth of the Koyuk River in Alaska
|
|
The Koyuk River (also spelled, Kuyuk) is a river on the Seward Peninsula of western Alaska, in the United States. The river originates in the interior of the peninsula, at the Lost Jim Lava Flow of the Bering Land Bridge National Preserve, where it flows southeast towards the mouth of Norton Bay on Norton Sound. The native village of Koyuk is located at its mouth. The two major tributaries are the Peace and Salmon rivers; other tributaries include Dime and Sweepstakes.
Its Inuit named as Tebenkof Eskimos, reported by Captain Tebenkov (1852, map 2), IRN, as Kvyguk or Kvieguk. The Western Union Telegraph Expedition spelled the name Koikpak ("big river"). The Seward map of 1867 gives Koipak, and later as Kayuk, Koyuk, and Kuyuk. The Kanguksuk is also known as the Left Fork of the Kviguk (Koyuk). The present spelling comes from Alfred Hulse Brooks', 1900 United States Geological Survey.
The Koyuk River, one of the largest in the Seward Peninsula, originates in a lake (no designated name) bounded on the north by the Bendeleben Mountains, in the upper reaches of the Bering Land Bridge National Preserve, in Northwest Alaska. The upper reach is also reported as being made up of flat lava fields to the north of the mountains.
The 115-mile (185 km) long river flows southeast for 90 miles (140 km), then south for another 25 miles (40 km). The river empties into Norton Bay, which it enters via a tidal estuary downstream of the river's confluence with the East Fork Koyuk River near the village of Koyuk. The last stretch of the river, is in a southeasterly direction as it joins the bay, and flows through the tundra wetland area. The catchment in the middle and upper reaches has a horse-shoe shape, and the hills surrounding the valley lie in an elevation range of 2,000 to 3,000 feet (610 to 910 m); the two prominent mountains are the Bendeleben Mountains and Domes of Granite Mountain, the latter named after the granite geological formations.
...
Wikipedia