TOPOGRAPHIC AND CLIMATIC SETTING 



529 



Regal Mountain, another lofty peak of the Wrangell Mountains. The 

 glacier flows down Kennecott Valley (figure 2) the sides of which rise 

 steeply to over 6,000 feet above the top of the glacier. The glacier is a 



Figure 2. — Kennecott Glacier, showing Moraines, Mount Blackburn in Distance 



remnant of a greater ice-tongue whose surface at the time of maximum 

 glaciation, stood at a level about 3,000 feet higher than the present 

 terminus. 4 The latitude at this point is 61° 30' north. 



Climatic Setting 



The coastal region of this section of Alaska is characterized by excep- 

 tionally heavy precipitation and much overcast weather. The summer 

 temperatures are moderate and in winter the thermometer rarely reaches 

 0° Fahrenheit. Snowfall is abundant and the mountains near the coast 

 contain extensive snowfields and are the seat of the greatest glacier 

 development in Alaska. They are the gathering grounds for the great 

 Malaspina and Bering Eiver piedmont glaciers, in addition to numerous 

 valley glaciers. 



Inland from the mountains that border the coast the climate is differ- 

 ent. The prevailing winds from the ocean lose much of their moisture 

 in crossing the coastal mountains; the precipitation is lighter; the sum- 

 mers are short, sunshiny, and warm; the winters are long and cold and 

 temperatures down to 65° below zero are not uncommon. Glaciers are 

 abundant and of the valley type. 



Unfortunately, climatological records for Kennecott are incomplete. 

 From 1910 to 1920 there are only two years during which complete 

 monthly temperatures are recorded and one year of complete 1 monthly 



4 See Plate III accompanying U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 44K, inn, by F. 11. Moffitl and 

 S. R. Capps. 



