RECONNAISSANCE ON THE PACIFIC COAST FROM 
YAKUTAT TO ALSEK RIVER. 
By Eliot Blackweldee.° 
GEOGRAPHY. 
The region explored in the reconnaissance which forms the subject 
of this paper lies in the northwestern part of the coastal strip of 
southeastern Alaska. Roughly the area is about 70 miles long par- 
allel to the coast and extends from 5 to 20 miles back from it. 
The most prominent feature of this coast is the steep-fronted range 
of mountains which extends in a nearty unbroken line from Yakutat 
Bay to Alsek River and beyond. This coastal range is comparatively 
low, averaging from 3,000 to 4,000 feet in elevation; but back of it 
rise serrate snowy ranges of greater altitude. North of or within the 
mountain front the valleys are filled with ice, so that the region is 
essentially an ice plateau, which is relatively level in the interior but 
descends about its edges in the form of protruding glacial lobes. 
Buried ranges of mountains projecting above this interior ice plateau 
form nunataks. The front range is separated from the ocean by a] 
coastal plain, which varies from 6 to 15 miles in width. This fore- 
land is without notable relief, except for a few low hills close to the 
base of the mountains and here and there sand dunes near the coast. 
From Cross Sound to Copper River, a distance of more than 350 
miles, only one valley penetrates back into the interior of the country, 
namely, that of Alsek River. This powerful stream rises in the 
interior plateau of the Yukon Territory and after traversing the coastal 
mountain belt in a series of narrow canyons emerges suddenly upoi 
the foreland and flows into the Pacific through the divided channels 
of its delta. 
GEOLOGY. 
GENERAL STATEMENT. 
The ages of the indurated rocks of this region have not yet been 
determined, but on account of their resemblance to formations in 
adjacent regions it is thought that they belong largely to the Paleozoic 
a My associate, Mr. A. G. Maddren, deserves commendation here for his excellent service to the expe- 
dition, especially in his capacity as topographer.— E. B. 
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