Wrangell Mountains

Wrangell Mountains
Range
Mt. Wrangell as seen from the southwest in 1987.
Country	United States
State	Alaska
Part of	Yukon Ranges
Borders on	Saint Elias Mountains, Chugach Mountains
Highest point	Mount Blackburn
- elevation	16,390 ft (4,996 m)
- coordinates	61°43′54″N 143°25′59″W / 61.73167°N 143.43306°W / 61.73167; -143.43306

The Wrangell Mountains are a high mountain range of eastern Alaska in the United States. Much of the range is included in Wrangell-Saint Elias National Park and Preserve. The Wrangell Mountains are almost entirely volcanic in origin, and they include the second and third highest volcanoes in the United States, Mount Blackburn and Mount Sanford. The range takes its name from Mount Wrangell, which is one of the largest andesite shield volcanoes in the world, and also the only presently active volcano in the range. The Wrangell Mountains comprise most of the Wrangell Volcanic Field, which also extends into the neighboring Saint Elias Mountains and the Yukon Territory in Canada.

The Wrangell Mountains are just to the northwest of the Saint Elias Mountains and northeast of the Chugach Mountains, which are along the coast of the Gulf of Alaska. These ranges have the combined effect of blocking the inland areas from warmer moist air over the Pacific Ocean. The inland areas to the north of the Wrangell Mountains are therefore among the coldest areas of North America during the winter.

Major peaks

Mount Sanford

Hikers on a pass between Mt. Sanford and Mt. Drum

The Wrangell Mountains include 12 of the 40+ Alaskan peaks over 13,000 ft (see fourteeners and thirteeners):

• Mount Blackburn, 16,390 feet (4,996 m), and East Summit, 16,286 ft (4,964 m)
• Mount Sanford, 16,237 feet (4,949 m), and South Peak, 13,654 ft (4,162 m)
• Mount Wrangell, 14,163 feet (4,317 m), and West Summit, 14,013 ft (4,271 m)
• Atna Peaks, 13,860 ft (4,225 m)
• Regal Mountain, 13,845 ft (4,220 m)
• Mount Jarvis, 13,421 feet (4,091 m), and North Peak, 13,025 ft (3,970 m)
• Parka Peak, 13,280 ft (4,048 m)
• Mount Zanetti, 13,009 ft (3,965 m)

Other prominent mountains include:

• Mount Drum, 12,010 ft (3,661 m)

Name origin and references in popular culture

Mountains named after explorer, president of Russian-American Company, admiral Ferdinand von Wrangel. American folk singer John Denver wrote a song, "Wrangell Mountain Song", in reference to the range.

References

• Richter, Donald H.; Danny S. Rosenkrans and Margaret J. Steigerwald (1995). Guide to the Volcanoes of the Western Wrangell Mountains, Alaska. USGS Bulletin 2072. http://www.nps.gov/wrst/naturescience/guide-to-the-wrangell-volcanoes.htm. 

• Winkler, Gary R. (2000). A Geologic Guide to Wrangell—Saint Elias National Park and Preserve, Alaska: A Tectonic Collage of Northbound Terranes. USGS Professional Paper 1616. ISBN 0-607-92676-7. http://pubs.usgs.gov/pp/p1616/. 

• Richter, Donald H.; Cindi C. Preller, Keith A. Labay, and Nora B. Shew (2006). Geologic Map of the Wrangell-Saint Elias National Park and Preserve, Alaska. USGS Scientific Investigations Map 2877. http://pubs.usgs.gov/sim/2006/2877/. 

• Wood, Charles A.; Jürgen Kienle, eds. (1990). Volcanoes of North America. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-43811-X. 

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Wrangell Mountains

• Wrangell-St. Elias National Park & Preserve
• Wrangell Mountains Center

Coordinates: 61°48′00″N 143°30′00″W / 61.8°N 143.5°W / 61.8; -143.5