FLAXMAN ISLAND, A GLACIAL REMNANT 



ERNEST De KOVEN LEFFINGWELL 

 Flaxman Island, Alaska. 



Flaxman Island is located close to the north shore of Alaska, 

 approximately in Lat, 70°, Long. 146°, and a hundred miles west of 

 the international boundary. It is one of the innumerable small 

 islands that fringe the coast between Point Barrow and Demarcation 

 Point. Faihng to reach their goal in Banks Land, this island was 

 chosen as the winter quarters of the Anglo-American Polar Expedi- 

 tion, commanded by Capt. Ejnar Mikklesen, and the writer. 



A couple of miles to the south Hes the mainland, a low tundra 

 plain extending some twenty miles back to the mountains. Both 

 the mountains and the coastal plain are characteristic features of the 

 northern part of Alaska. From Cape Lisburn on the west coast a 

 chain of mountains runs eastward into Canada, separated from the 

 ocean by a plain of greater or less width. At Point Barrow the plain 

 is over a hundred miles wide, but it narrows to the eastward until 

 at Demarcation Point the mountains come within a few miles of the 

 coast. 



Opposite Flaxman Island the nearer mountains have an elevation 

 of between three and four thousand feet, but higher peaks can be 

 seen beyond. The map^ gives seven thousand feet along the Arctic- 

 Yukon divide, but prospectors estimate it higher. From this chain 

 several rivers make their way across the tundra to the Arctic Ocean. 

 The Coville is probably the largest, but the Kugura is reported to 

 be about 280 miles long.^ 



The coastal plain is covered with moss and grass, and with its 

 ponds, lakes, and swamps forms a characteristic tundra. Near the 

 ocean it usually ends in a low mud cHff which seldom reaches a height 

 of thirty feet. Small bays and lagoons, behind sand spits and bar- 

 it Map of Alaska, U. S. Geological Survey, 1904. 



2 Schrader, F. C, Professional Paper, No. 20, p. 31, U. S. Geological Stirvey. 



56 



