geo.wikisort.org - River

The Yukon River (Gwich'in: Ųųg Han or Yuk Han, Yup'ik: Kuigpak, Inupiaq: Kuukpak, Deg Xinag: Yeqin, Hän: Tth'echù or Chuu k'onn, Southern Tutchone: Chu Nìikwän, Russian: Юкон, romanized: Yukon) is a major watercourse of northwestern North America. From its source in British Columbia, Canada, it flows through Canada's territory of Yukon (itself named after the river). The lower half of the river continues westwards through the U.S. state of Alaska. The river is 3,190 kilometres (1,980 mi)[10][11] long and empties into the Bering Sea at the Yukon–Kuskokwim Delta. The average flow is 6,400–7,000 m³/s (230,000–250,000 cu ft/s).[2] The total drainage area is 833,000 km² (321,500 sq mi),[2] of which 323,800 km² (125,000 sq mi) lies in Canada.[12] The total area is more than 25% larger than Texas or Alberta.

Yukon River
Canoeing the Yukon River
Location of the Yukon River and watershed
Native name	Ųųg Han (Gwichʼin) Yuk Han (Gwichʼin) Kuigpak (Central Yupik) Kuukpak (Inupiaq) Yeqin (Degexit'an) Tth'echù' (Hän) Chuu k'onn (Hän) Chu Nìikwän (Southern Tutchone)
Location
Countries	United States Canada
State	Alaska
Province/Territory	British Columbia Yukon
Physical characteristics
Source	Llewellyn Glacier at Atlin Lake
• location	Atlin District, British Columbia, Canada
• coordinates	59°10′N 133°50′W
• elevation	669 m (2,195 ft)[1]
Mouth	Bering Sea
• location	Kusilvak, Alaska, U.S.
• coordinates	62°35′55″N 164°48′00″W
• elevation	0 m (0 ft)
Length	3,190 km (1,980 mi)
Basin size	833,232 km2 (321,713 sq mi) to 854,700 km2 (330,000 sq mi)[2]
Width
• average	0.8 km (0.50 mi) Rampart to Tanana;[3] 820 m (2,690 ft) to 1,000 m (3,300 ft) (Pilot Station)[4]
Depth
• average	9.1 m (30 ft)-12.1 m (40 ft) (Rampart to Tanana);[3]
• maximum	40 m (130 ft) (Rampart);[3] 24.4 m (80 ft) (Pilot Station)[4]
Discharge
• location	Pilot Station, Alaska, U.S.— (121 miles upstream of mouth; Basin size: 820,856 km2 (316,934 sq mi);[5] 831,386 km2 (321,000 sq mi)[2][6]
• average	(Period of data: 2001-2022) 6,840.3 m3/s (241,560 cu ft/s)[2] (Period of data: 1971–2015) 6,576 m3/s (232,200 cu ft/s)[5] (Period of data: 1977–2006) 6,428 m3/s (227,000 cu ft/s)[7]
• minimum	340 m3/s (12,000 cu ft/s)
• maximum	24,600 m3/s (870,000 cu ft/s) 34,000 m3/s (1,200,000 cu ft/s) (2005)[2]
Discharge
• location	Yukon Delta, U.S., Alaska, Bering Sea
• average	(Period of data: 1984–2018) 212 km3/a (6,700 m3/s) (Period of data: 1951–2017) 214 km3/a (6,800 m3/s)[7] (Period: 1980–2017) 206 km3/a (6,500 m3/s)[7] (Period: 1951–1979) 225 km3/a (7,100 m3/s)[7]
Discharge
• location	Kaltag (450 miles upstream of mouth; Basin size: 767,000 km2 (296,000 sq mi)[2]
• average	6,040.2 m3/s (213,310 cu ft/s)[6] to 6,130.6 m3/s (216,500 cu ft/s)[2]
Discharge
• location	Stevens Village (Basin size: 508,417 km2 (196,301 sq mi)[6]
• average	(Period of data: 1977-2022) 3,471.1 m3/s (122,580 cu ft/s)[2]
Discharge
• location	Dawson (1,300 miles upstream of mouth; Basin size: 264,000 km2 (102,000 sq mi)[6]
• average	2,160 m3/s (76,000 cu ft/s)[6] to 2,319.1 m3/s (81,900 cu ft/s)[8]
Basin features
Tributaries
• left	White River, Tanana River, Innoko River
• right	Tagish River, Takhini River, Teslin River, Big Salmon River, Pelly River, Stewart River, Klondike River, Birch Creek, Koyukuk River
[9][10]

The longest river in Alaska and Yukon, it was one of the principal means of transportation during the 1896–1903 Klondike Gold Rush. A portion of the river in Yukon—"The Thirty Mile" section, from Lake Laberge to the Teslin River—is a national heritage river and a unit of Klondike Gold Rush International Historical Park.[13][14] Paddle-wheel riverboats continued to ply the river until the 1950s, when the Klondike Highway was completed. After the purchase of Alaska by the United States in 1867, the Alaska Commercial Company acquired the assets of the Russian-American Company and constructed several posts at various locations on the Yukon River.

The Yukon River has a recent history of pollution from military installations, dumps, wastewater, and other sources.[15]^{[failed verification][citation needed]} However, the Environmental Protection Agency does not list the Yukon River among its impaired watersheds, and water-quality data from the U.S. Geological Survey shows relatively good levels of turbidity, metals, and dissolved oxygen.[16] The Yukon and Mackenzie rivers have much higher suspended sediment concentrations than the great Siberian Arctic rivers.[17]

The Yukon River Inter-Tribal Watershed Council, a cooperative effort of 70 First Nations and tribes in Alaska and Canada, has the goal of making the river and its tributaries safe to drink from again by supplementing and scrutinizing government data.

Name

The name Yukon, or ųųg han, is a contraction of the words in the Gwich'in phrase chųų gąįį han, which means white water river and refers to "the pale colour" of glacial runoff in the Yukon River.[18][19] The contraction is Ųųg Han, if the /ųų/ remains nasalized, or Yuk Han, if there is no vowel nasalization.[20] In the 1840s, different tribes had different opinions as to the literal meaning of Yukon. In 1843, the Holikachuks had told the Russian-American Company that their name for the river was Yukkhana and that this name meant big river.[21] However, Yukkhana does not literally correspond to a Holikachuk phrase that means big river.[22][23] Then, two years later, the Gwich'ins told the Hudson's Bay Company that their name for the river was Yukon and that the name meant white water river.[18] White water river in fact corresponds to Gwich'in words that can be shortened to form Yukon.[19] Because the Holikachuks had been trading regularly with both the Gwich’ins and the Yup'iks,[24] the Holikachuks were in a position to borrow the Gwich'in contraction and to conflate its meaning with the meaning of Kuig-pak [River-big], which is the Yup'ik name for the same river. For that reason, the documentary evidence suggests that the Holikachuks had borrowed the contraction Ųųg Han [White Water River] from Gwich'in, and erroneously assumed that this contraction had the same literal meaning as the corresponding Yup'ik name Kuig-pak [River-big].

The Lewes River is the former name of the upper course of the Yukon, from Marsh Lake to the confluence of the Pelly River at Fort Selkirk.

The following table lists the Indigenous names for the Yukon.

Literal meaning	Native language	Spelling in the local alphabet	Spelling in a standardized alphabet	IPA transcription
'big river'	Yup'ik	Kuigpak	Kuigpak	/kuix'pak/
	Inupiaq	Kuukpak	Kuukpak	/ku:k'pak/
'white water river'	Gwich'in	Yuukan or Ųųg Han	Yuukan or Ųųk Han	/ju:kan/ /ų:k han/
[citation needed]	Deg Xinag	Yeqin	Yeqin	/jəqɪn'/
	Holikachuk	Yooqin	Yuuqin	/ju:qɪn/
	Denaakk'e	Yookkene	Yuuqene	/ju:qʰənə/
	Hän	Tth’echù or Chuu k'onn	Tth'echù or Chuu k'onn	/tθʰ'etʃʰuʔ/ /tʃʰu: k'onn/
	Southern Tutchone	Chu Nìikwän	Chu Nìikwen	/tʃʰu ni:kʷʰən/

Course

This section does not cite any sources. (September 2009)

The generally accepted source of the Yukon River is the Llewellyn Glacier at the southern end of Atlin Lake in British Columbia. Others suggest that the source is Lake Lindeman at the northern end of the Chilkoot Trail. Either way, Atlin Lake flows into Tagish Lake (via the Atlin River), as eventually does Lake Lindeman after flowing into Bennett Lake. Tagish Lake then flows into Marsh Lake (via the Tagish River). The Yukon River proper starts at the northern end of Marsh Lake, just south of Whitehorse. Some argue that the source of the Yukon River should really be Teslin Lake and the Teslin River, which has a larger flow when it reaches the Yukon at Hootalinqua. The upper end of the Yukon River was originally known as the Lewes River until it was established that it actually was the Yukon. North of Whitehorse, the Yukon River widens into Lake Laberge, made famous by Robert W. Service's "The Cremation of Sam McGee". Other large lakes that are part of the Yukon River system include Kusawa Lake (into the Takhini River) and Kluane Lake (into the Kluane and then White River).

The river passes through the communities of Whitehorse, Carmacks, (just before the Five Finger Rapids) and Dawson City in Yukon, and crossing Alaska into Eagle, Circle, Fort Yukon, Stevens Village, Rampart, Tanana, Ruby, Galena, Nulato, Grayling, Holy Cross, Russian Mission, Marshall, Pilot Station, St. Marys (which is accessible from the Yukon at Pitkas Point), and Mountain Village. After Mountain Village, the main Yukon channel frays into many channels, sprawling across the delta. There are a number of communities after the "head of passes," as the channel division is called locally: Nunum Iqua, Alakanuk, Emmonak, and Kotlik. Of those delta communities, Emmonak is the largest with roughly 760 people in the 2000 census. Emmonak's gravel airstrip is the regional hub for flights.

Hazards

Navigational obstacles on the Yukon River are the Five Finger Rapids and Rink Rapids downstream from Carmacks.

Bridges

Despite its length, there are only four vehicle-carrying bridges across the river, listed from upstream to downstream:

• The Lewes Bridge, north of Marsh Lake, Yukon, on the Alaska Highway;
• The Robert Campbell Bridge, which connects the Whitehorse suburb of Riverdale to the downtown area;
• The Yukon River Bridge in Carmacks, Yukon, on the Klondike Highway; and
• The Yukon River Bridge, north of Fairbanks, Alaska on the Dalton Highway.

A car ferry crosses the river at Dawson City in the summer; it is replaced by an ice bridge over the frozen river during the winter. Plans to build a permanent bridge were announced in March 2004, although they are currently on hold because bids came in much higher than budgeted.

There are also two pedestrian-only bridges in Whitehorse, as well as a dam across the river and a hydroelectric generating station. The construction of the dam flooded the White Horse Rapids, which gave the city its name, and created Schwatka Lake.

Transportation is also performed along the river in summer by barge, enabling heavy goods, oil, and vehicles to be transported to communities along the Yukon, Tanana, Innoko, and Koyukuk rivers. This service is performed by Ruby Marine and reaches Tanana on the Yukon River and Nenana on the Tanana River.[25]

Geography and ecology

Some of the upper slopes of this watershed (e.g. Nulato Hills) are forested by Black Spruce.[26] This locale near the Seward Peninsula represents the near westernmost limit of the Black Spruce, Picea mariana,[27] one of the most widespread conifers in northern North America.

The river flows into several parklands and refuges including:

• Innoko National Wildlife Refuge
• Nowitna National Wildlife Refuge
• Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve
• Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge
• Yukon Flats National Wildlife Refuge

Discharge

Yukon at Pilot Station (121 miles upstream of mouth) multiannual average discharge, 1975-10-01 to 2022-09-30:

Year	cfs	m3/s	km3
1976	218,300	6,182	195
1977	204,100	5,779	182
1978	185,300	5,247	166
1979	224,200	6,349	200
1980	236,900	6,708	212
1981	229,600	6,502	205
1982	240,800	6,819	215
1983	218,900	6,199	196
1984	231,900	6,567	207
1985	239,200	6,773	214
1986	231,400	6,553	207
1987	223,800	6,337	200
1988	218,700	6,193	195
1989	225,500	6,385	202
1990	235,400	6,666	210
1991	249,800	7,074	223
1992	239,500	6,782	214
1993	240,400	6,807	215
1994	253,700	7,184	227
1995	218,300	6,182	195
1996	209,700	5,938	187
1997	-	-	-
1998	-	-	-
1999	-	-	-
2000	-	-	-
1976 to 1996	227,400	6,439	203
2001	249,500	7,067	223
2002	210,400	5,958	188
2003	236,500	6,697	211
2004	211,800	5,998	189
2005	254,600	7,209	228
2006	252,300	7,144	226
2007	213,600	6,048	191
2008	231,600	6,558	207
2009	231,900	6,567	207
2010	205,600	5,822	184
2011	227,000	6,428	203
2012	247,700	7,014	221
2013	231,700	6,561	207
2014	266,400	7,544	238
2015	229,400	6,499	205
2016	274,600	7,776	245
2017	214,900	6,085	192
2018	257,600	7,294	230
2019	233,300	6,606	208
2020	290,900	8,237	260
2021	262,200	7,425	234
2022	280,800	7,952	251
2001 to 2022	241,600	6,840	216
1976 to 2022	232,750	6,591	208

[2]

Fisheries

The Yukon River is home to one of the longest salmon runs in the world. Each year Chinook, coho, and chum salmon return to their terminal streams in Alaska, the Yukon Territory, and British Columbia. The Chinook have the longest journey, with an estimated 35–50% bound for Canada. As salmon do not eat during their spawning migration, Yukon River salmon must have great reserves of fat and energy to fuel their thousands-mile-long journey. As a result, Yukon River salmon are noted for their especially rich and oily meat.

The villages along the Yukon have historically relied on and continue to rely on salmon for their cultural, subsistence, and commercial needs. Salmon are traditionally dried, smoked, and frozen for both human and sled dog consumption. Common methods of fishing on the Yukon include set gillnets, drift nets, dip nets, and fish wheels. The preference of certain gear is largely dependent on the river's varied characteristics in different areas. Some parts of the river do not have eddies to make set-nets successful, whereas in other places the tributaries are small enough to make drifting impractical.

Over the last 20 years salmon recruitment, the number of returning adults, has taken several shocks. The late 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s have been marked by radically reduced runs for various salmon species. The United States Department of Commerce issued a Federal Disaster Declaration for the 2008 and 2009 Commercial Chinook Yukon River fisheries, calling for the complete closure of commercial fishing along with restrictions on subsistence fishing. The root cause of these poor returns remains debated, with questions about the effects of climate change on ocean food-supply & disease prevalence in returning adults, the methods of fishing used on the river, and the effects of the Bering Sea Pollock trawl fleet on food supply and salmon bycatch.[28][29] In 2010, the Alaska Department of Fish & Game's Board of Fisheries issued the first-ever restriction for net mesh size on the Yukon, reducing it to 7.5 inches (190 mm).[30]

Various organizations are involved to protect healthy salmon runs into the future. The Yukon River Drainage Fisheries Association was formed in 1990 by a consensus of fishers representing the entire drainage in response to recent disaster years. Its organizational goals include giving voice to the village fishers that have traditionally managed these resources, enabling communication between fishers and fishery managers, and helping to preserve the ecological integrity of salmon runs and local cultures' Traditional Ecological Knowledge[31]

In March 2001, the U.S. & Canadian governments passed the Yukon River Salmon Agreement to better manage an internationally shared resource and ensure that more Canadian-originated salmon return across the border.[32] The agreement is implemented through the Yukon River Panel, an international body of 12 members, equal-parts American and Canadian, that advises managers of Yukon River fisheries concerning restoration, conservation, and coordinated management.[33]

Tribal organizations such as the Association of Village Council Presidents (AVCP), Council of Athabascan Tribal Governments (CATG), and Tanana Chiefs Conference (TCC) work to sustain Yukon River salmon to promote healthy people, cultures, and communities.

Tributaries

This section's use of red links may not follow Wikipedia's guidelines. (June 2022)

Yukon Territory

• Takhini River
• Big Salmon River
• Little Salmon River (Yukon)
• Nordenskiold River
• Teslin River
• Pelly River
  • Macmillan River
• Stewart River
  • Nadaleen River
  • Lansing River
  • Hess River
  • Mayo River
  • McQuesten River
• White River
  • Donjek River
    • Kluane River
    • Nisling River
  • Beaver Creek
• Sixtymile River
• Indian River
• Klondike River
• Fortymile River

Alaska

• Tatonduk River
• Seventymile River
• Nation River
• Kandik River
• Charley River
• Porcupine River

  (tributaries in the Yukon)

  • Miner tributaries
    • Fishing Branch
  • Bell River
    • Eagle River
    • Rock River (Yukon)
  • Driftwood River (Yukon)
  • Old Crow River
  • Bluefish River

  (tributaries in Alaska)

  • Coleen River
  • Black River
    • Wood River
    • Bear Mountain Creek
    • Mountain Creek
  • Chandalar Creek
  • Sheenjek River
    • Sheenjek River East Fork
    • Koness River
    • Eskimo Creek
• Christian River
• Chandalar River
  • East Fork Chandalar River
    • Junjik River
    • Wind River
  • Middle Fork Chandalar River
  • North Fork Chandalar River
  • West Fork Chandalar River
  • Marten Creek
• Birch Creek
• Hadweenzic River
• Beaver Creek
• Hodzana River
• Dall River
• Ray River
• Big Salt River
• Hess Creek
• Garnet Creek
  • Fish Creek
• Texas Creek
• Coal Creek
• Tanana River
  • Nabesna River
  • Chisana River
  • Tetlin River
  • Goodpaster River
  • Delta River
  • Salcha River
  • Chena River
  • Wood River
  • Nenana River
  • Tolovana River
  • Kantishna River
• NC Creek
• Tozitna River
  • Bluebell Creek
  • Dagislakhna Creek
    • Banddana Creek
• Blind River
• Bering Creek
• Nowitna River
  • Sulatna River
• Big Creek
  • Beaver Creek
  • Glacier Creek
• Melozitna River
  • Black Sand Creek
  • Little Melozitna River
• Ruby Slough
• Yuki River
  • East Fork Yuki River
• Kala Creek
  • Kelly Creek
• Galena Creek
• Bishop Creek

• Koyukuk River
  • Workyard Creek
  • Gisasa River
  • Kateel River
  • Dulbi River
  • Huslia River
    • Nulitna River
    • Tom Cook Slough
    • Billy Hawk Creek
  • Cutoff Slough
  • Hogatza River
    • Clear Creek
  • Batza River
  • Matthews Slough
    • Little Indian River
    • Indian River
      • Calamity Creek
    • Pocahontas Creek
  • Kanuti River
  • Discovery Creek
  • Alatna River
    • Siruk Creek
  • South Fork Koyokouk River
    • Jim River
  • Jane Creek
  • John River
  • North Fork Koyukuk River
• Nulato River
• Khotol River
• Anvik River
• Bonasila River
  • Stuyahok River
• Innoko River
  • Paimiut Slough
    • Reindeer River
  • Iditarod River
    • Yetna River
    • First Chance Creek
  • Mud River
  • Dishna River
    • Coffee Creek
    • Tolstoi Creek
      • Madison Creek
      • Mastodon Creek
        • Hurst Creek
  • Taft Creek
  • Finland Creek
  • Scandinavian Creek
  • North Fork Innoko River
    • Tango Creek
    • West Fork North Fork Innoko River
  • Colorado Creek
• Kako Creek
• Engineer Creek
• Reindeer River
• Atchuelinguk River
• Andreafsky River
• Kashunuk River (distributary)

List of major tributaries

The main river and tributaries are (sorted in order from the mouth heading upstream):

Left tributary	Right tributary	Length (km)	Basin size (km²)	Average discharge (m3/s)
	Nanvaranak Slough		1,735	28.1
	Archuelinguk		705	12.8
	Andreafsky	193	5,369	91.4
Kashunuk (distributary)		362	2,906	51.7
	Atchuelinguk	266	5,439	73.8
Reindeer		97	1,191	22
Talbiksok			1,857	26.5
	Kako Creek		550	9.8
Innoko		805	36,517	335.5
Koserefski			897	13.1
	Bonasila	201	3,108	43.7
	Anvik	225	4,610	65
Khotol		137	2,331	40.1
	Nulato	114	2,287	54.2
	Koyukuk	805	81,326	770
	Bear Creek		789	10.8
Kala Creek			893	13
Yuki		137	2,771	33.4
	Melozitna	217	7,045	67.6
Big Creek			814	4.6
Nowitna		455	18,596	102.4
Blind			587	3.4
Boney Creek			788	3.9
	Tozitna	134	4,248	28.2
Tanana		1,061	113,959	1,246
Hess Creek		80	3,082	15.6
	Ray	69	1,751	14.2
	Dall	129	3,714	17.6
Old Lost Creek				10.3
	Hodzana	201	4,323	19.5
Beaver Creek		290	5,426	54.9
	Hadweenzic	150	2,422	19.4
Birch Creek		241	13,064	127
	Chandalar	328	24,165	141.8
	Christian	225	8,827	67.8
	Porcupine	916	116,431	623
Charley		142	4,377	22.7
	Kandik	132	2,840	19.7
	Nation	113	2,411	24.6
	Tatonduk	110		15.6
Seventymile		93		7.5
Fortymile		97	16,602	79.4
	Klondike	161	8,044	63.9
	Indian		2,242	20.4
Sixtymile		137	3,719	25.4
	Stewart	533	51,023	510
White		322	46,900	566
	Pelly	608	48,174	412
Nordenskiöld			6,371	16
	Little Salmon		3,626	9.7
	Big Salmon	240	6,760	67.6
	Teslin	393	35,014	331
Takhini		180	6,993	103.1
	Atlin		6,812	110

[2][8]

In media

• The Yukon River features as the setting for the 2015 National Geographic Channel series Yukon River Run.[34]
• The industrial metal band Lindemann wrote a song named "Yukon" on their first album Skills in Pills.

See also

• Alaska salmon fishery
• List of longest rivers of Canada
• List of longest rivers of the United States (by main stem)
• List of rivers of Alaska
• List of Yukon rivers
• Steamboats of the Yukon River

References

External links

• Arctic Great Rivers Observatory
• Canadian Council for Geographic Education page with a series of articles on the history of the Yukon River
• The Yukon River Bridge at Dawson City
• Yukon River Inter-Tribal Watershed Council
• Yukon River Drainage Fisheries Association
• Yukon River Panel

На других языках

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[de] Yukon River

Der Yukon River (französisch Fleuve Yukon) ist ein Strom, der in der kanadischen Provinz British Columbia entspringt und danach das nach ihm benannte Territorium Yukon durchfließt, bevor er im US-Bundesstaat Alaska in das Beringmeer mündet.

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- [en] Yukon River

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[it] Yukon (fiume)

Lo Yukon (AFI: [ˈjukon][1]) è un fiume artico del Nordamerica. Nasce nell'omonimo territorio canadese, attraversa l'Alaska e sfocia nel Mare di Bering. Ha una lunghezza complessiva di 3.185 km e un bacino idrografico di 839.200 km². Il fiume fu teatro della corsa all'oro dell'Ottocento.

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[ru] Юкон (река)

Ю́кон[1] (англ. Yukon River) — река на северо-западе Северной Америки, протекающая в основном по территории Юкон (Канада) и штату Аляска (США). Впадает в залив Нортон Берингова моря, формируя мно­го­ру­кав­ную дель­ту.

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