Sarichef Island (
Inupiaq: ''Qigiqtaq'' or ''Kigiqtaq'') is a long and narrow coastal island on the
Chukchi Sea
Chukchi Sea ( rus, Чуко́тское мо́ре, r=Chukotskoye more, p=tɕʊˈkotskəjə ˈmorʲɪ), sometimes referred to as the Chuuk Sea, Chukotsk Sea or the Sea of Chukotsk, is a marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean. It is bounded on the west ...
-facing coast of
Alaska
Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S ...
. It is located at the mouth of the
Shishmaref Inlet
The Shishmaref Inlet ( Inupiaq: ''Qigiqtam Imaġzrua'') is a coastal lagoon on the Chukchi Sea-facing shores of Alaska. It is 5 miles in length.
The location of the Shishmaref Inlet is SW 17 mi. to the SW from Sarichef Island, at the mouth ...
,
Kotzebue-Kobuk Low. It is located hundred miles east of Russia, which can be seen on clear days. The highest point on the island is the 6-meter cemetery in
Shishmaref. The island is rapidly disappearing due to the
sea level rise
Globally, sea levels are rising due to human-caused climate change. Between 1901 and 2018, the globally averaged sea level rose by , or 1–2 mm per year on average.IPCC, 2019Summary for Policymakers InIPCC Special Report on the Ocean and Cry ...
associated with global warming.
Sarichef Island is in length. The highest point on the island is
above sea level
Height above mean sea level is a measure of the vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) of a location in reference to a historic mean sea level taken as a vertical datum. In geodesy, it is formalized as '' orthometric heights''.
The ...
.
Shishmaref town and
Shishmaref Airport are located on this island.
This island was named in 1816 by explorer Lt.
Otto von Kotzebue
Otto von Kotzebue (russian: О́тто Евста́фьевич Коцебу́, tr. ; – ) was a Russian officer and navigator in the Imperial Russian Navy. He was born in Reval. He was known for his explorations of Oceania.
Early life ...
, of the
Imperial Russian Navy
The Imperial Russian Navy () operated as the navy of the Russian Tsardom and later the Russian Empire from 1696 to 1917. Formally established in 1696, it lasted until dissolved in the wake of the February Revolution of 1917. It developed from ...
, "in the honor of his worthy" Vice Admiral
Gavril Sarychev
Gavril (also Gavriil) Andreyevich Sarychev (russian: Гаврии́л Андре́евич Са́рычев) (1763 — 11 August ( O.S. 30 July) 1831), spelt "Sarichef" in the United States, was a Russian navigator, hydrographer, admiral (1829) a ...
(1763–1831).
See also
*
Arctic shrinkage
Arctic sea ice decline has occurred in recent decades due to the effects of climate change on oceans, with declines in sea ice area, extent, and volume. Sea ice in the Arctic Ocean has been melting more in summer than it refreezes in the winter. ...
*
Sea Islands
The Sea Islands are a chain of tidal and barrier islands on the Atlantic Ocean coast of the Southeastern United States. Numbering over 100, they are located between the mouths of the Santee and St. Johns Rivers along the coast of South Caroli ...
References
External links
USGS
Islands of Alaska
Islands of Nome Census Area, Alaska
Islands of the Chukchi Sea
Islands of Unorganized Borough, Alaska
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