Moira Sound

Last updated

Moira Sound is a branching inlet on the east side of the southern end of Prince of Wales Island in U.S. state of Alaska. [1] It is situated within the Tongass National Forest. [2]

Contents

Geography

The entrance to this sound, on the west side of Clarence Strait, 25 miles (40 km) northward of Cape Chacon, lies in about latitude 55° 02’, and is about 2 miles (3.2 km) in width. There are several islets within it. Moira Sound penetrates Prince of Wales Island about 6 miles (9.7 km) to the southwest, then turns sharply to the northwest for 6–8 miles (9.7–12.9 km), heading near the heads of Cholmondeley Sound, which comes from north-northeast, and Tliakak Bay, which comes from the southwest from Cordova Bay. The land in the neighborhood of Moira Sound is high and rather steep towards Clarence Strait; but north of Wedge Island, (in latitude 55° 07’) the straight and compact shores are moderately elevated, and the interior country is composed of lofty though uneven mountains, with a forest of pine trees from the water side nearly to their summits. [3]

Hydrography

The best entrance is between Adams Point and Moira Rock. Soundings indicate generally deep water. There are several small indentations, islands, rocks, and reefs on the southern shore of the sound. At 8 miles (13 km) from Moira Rock the sound divides. Western Arm has a length of 2.5 miles (4.0 km), and then divides into two short arms. South Arm trends about south for 5 miles (8.0 km) and has reefs bare at low water. There are several groups of islands across the entrance to Moira Sound, the two principal ones of which are Moira Rock, bare, 30 feet (9.1 m) high, and marked by a light, and White Bock, which is the bare northeast face of the southeastern one of the two largest wooded islands. There is no passage into Moira Sound south of White Rock. Between Moira Rock and the first island southeastward are three kelp-marked rocks, awash at lowest tides. A kelp patch lies 3/8 to 1/2 mile north-northeast of White Rock, and a ledge bare at low water lies .25 miles (0.40 km) east-northeast of the rock. Adams Point, the north point at the entrance, is the eastern end of a high peninsula formed by the North Arm and Port Johnson. [4]

History

In 1914, prospecting in the vicinity of Moira Sound amounted to little more than the annual assessment work required by law. Between the head of Moira North Arm and Mineral Lake the copper mines, once active, were idle throughout the year and the only person in the region was a man who looked after the various properties and as opportunity offered did a little prospecting. Efforts were made to prospect further the Navaho claim, formerly called the Hope claim, which lies between Cannery Cove and North Arm. No productive work was done during last year on any of the properties adjacent to Niblack. Only one person now lives in this region, and although part of his time is spent in prospecting little new work has been accomplished. The strongly faulted and deformed structures in this region increased the difficulty and expense of mining. A small prospect lies in the small bight north of Black Point, at the entrance of Niblack Anchorage. The lead had been opened by means of a vertical shaft, and by a short adit. The country rock is an agglomeratic or pyroclastic igneous rock trending east and dipping south. Not far away, an infaulted mass of black shales and slates are exposed. [5]

Related Research Articles

Orca Inlet

Orca Inlet is an arm of Prince William Sound in southern Alaska. The town of Cordova was founded on its coast in 1906. All marine traffic reaches the town through Orca Inlet.

Zubof Rock is a small island near Sitka, Alaska, United States, off the northeast coast of Baranof Island. Located in an area of Kelp Bay known as The Basin, it was entered into the United States Geological Survey's Geographic Names Information System on March 31, 1981. Its name dates back to 1895 as Zuboff, which was a Russian surname, as reported by Lieutenant Commander J. F. Moser of the United States Navy.

Cordova Bay

Cordova Bay is a bay in the Alexander Archipelago of southeast Alaska. It opens onto Dixon Entrance to the south, between Cape Muzon on Dall Island and Point Marsh. The name Puerto Cordova y Cordova was given by the Spanish explorer Lieutenant Don Jacinto Caamaño in 1792, in honor of Admiral Luis de Córdova y Córdova. The name was published by George Vancouver in 1798.

Ernest Sound

Ernest Sound is a strait in Southeast Alaska, U.S.A. It extends 48 kilometres (30 mi) southwest, from the mouth of Bradfield Canal to Clarence Strait, separating Wrangell and Etolin Islands from the mainland. It was first traversed and charted in 1793 by James Johnstone, one of George Vancouver's officers during his 1791-95 expedition. Vancouver later named it "Prince Ernest's Sound", after Prince Ernest, Duke of Cumberland.

Windham Bay

Windham Bay is located 45 miles (72 km) southeast of Juneau, in the U.S. state of Alaska. Windham Bay is listed as site 6 within Southeast Alaska's Zone 3 of the Alaska Dept. of Environmental Conservation's Geographic Response Strategy oil spill response plan. Part of the bay is a protected wilderness area; the Chuck River Wilderness, established in 1990 by the United States Congress, covers an area of 74,506 acres (30,152 ha). The Chuck River flows into Windham Bay, which has a protected anchorage north of Port Houghton, where the historic Chuck Mining Camp once operated.

Port Snettisham Fjord in Alaska, United States

Port Snettisham is a narrow fjord 30 miles (48 km) southeast of Juneau in the U.S. state of Alaska. It is a semi protected deep water port that was developed to transport many mineral deposits found in the Snettisham Peninsula. Lieutenant Joseph Whidbey of the Royal Navy discovered the fjord on August 12, 1794; George Vancouver named it after the town of Snettisham in England.

Pennock Island

Pennock Island is located in the U.S. state of Alaska near the city of Ketchikan. The island is situated within the Ketchikan Gateway Borough and is part of the Alexander Archipelago. Most of the island is public land managed by the Tongass National Forest.

George Inlet is a bay in the U.S. state of Alaska. It is situated within the Alexander Archipelago at the southern shore of Revillagigedo Island. It was named by the U.S. National Geodetic Survey in 1880 after pilot W. E. George, who created the first sketch of Revillagigedo Channel and Tongass Narrows.

Brownson Island is located on the west side of Ernest Sound in the U.S. state of Alaska. Situated within the Alexander Archipelago, the island is 7 miles (11 km) above Onslow Point. It is 7 miles (11 km) long, 1–2 miles (1.6–3.2 km) wide and about 1,000 feet (300 m) in elevation. It is separated from Etolin Island by the narrow Canoe Passage, which is navigable only for boats. A number of small islands are southward of Brownson Island. Several rocks are viewable at low water south of the southern end of Brownson Island.

Union Bay is located in the Alexander Archipelago within the U.S. state of Alaska. It is situated on the northeast side of Lemesurier Point, the south point at the entrance to Ernest Sound. It is 3.5 miles (5.6 km) wide at the entrance, 1.25 miles (2.01 km) at its head, and is about 3 miles (4.8 km) long. At its head is a large lagoon, mostly bare at low water, into which empties a large stream. The waters of the bay are deep, but there is anchorage with good protection from southward, on the east side of the head of the bay, in about 18 fathoms. There is a rock with a depth of 18 feet (5.5 m) in the middle of the bay's entrance and 2.5 miles (4.0 km) northward of Lemly Rock.

Vixen Inlet is located within the U.S. state of Alaska. It is situated 6.5 miles (10.5 km) north-northeast of Lemesurier Point, the south point at the entrance to Ernest Sound. The inlet has a small islet—Sunshine Island—in the middle of its entrance, and a stream at its head. A reef is southward from the south side of Vixen Point. A reef, unmarked by kelp, lies in the middle of the entrance, about 1 mile (1.6 km) west-southwestward of Sunshine Island. There is deep water between it and the shore southward. A rock on each side near the entrance, and a rock inside of Sunshine Island, are recorded.

Hunter Bay waterway in Alaska, United States

Hunter Bay is a waterway by Prince Edward Island, part of the Alexander Archipelago, in the U.S. state of Alaska. It is situated 2.5 miles (4.0 km) eastward of Turn Point. The entrance of the bay is about 0.75 miles (1.21 km) wide and is obstructed on its northern side by a number of islets, but the channel close around Turn Point is comparatively clear. About 1 mile (1.6 km) above the entrance, the bay contracts to a width of 825 feet (251 m), with a small grassy islet lying in the middle. The best channel is on the northern side of the islet. At approximately 0.5 miles (0.80 km) eastward of the islet is an arm making northward about 2 miles (3.2 km). The depths are shallow and the tidal currents are strong in the narrowest part. There is good anchorage in Hunter Bay. Near the south shore of the bay is an islet surrounded by a flat of considerable extent. Klinkwan is a native village on the north shore of Hunter Bay at its entrance; it has a white church with two spires. Back of the village is a prominent conical mountain, 2,400 feet (730 m) high. Klakas Inlet joins Cordova Bay westward of the entrance to Hunter Bay.

Isanotski Strait

Isanotski Strait is a strait connecting the northern Gulf of Alaska with the Bering Sea, in the U.S. state of Alaska. Isanax̂ is the Aleut name for present day Isanotski Strait, and means gap, hole, rent, or tear in the Aleut language which was rendered as Isanotski in transliterated Russian. The strait appears as Исанакъ in 1802 and Исаноцкый in 1844 on Russian maps.

Ikatan Bay

Ikatan Bay is a waterway in the U.S. state of Alaska. The bay and Isanotski Strait separate Unimak Island from the Alaska Peninsula. They have been used by light-draft craft, intended for service on the Yukon River, in making the passage from Puget Sound ports to St. Michael.

Ikatan Peninsula

Ikatan Peninsula is the southeastern extremity of Unimak Island in the U.S. state of Alaska.

Unalaska Bay

Unalaska Bay is a waterway of Unalaska Island in the U.S. state of Alaska. It is situated below the eastern slopes of Makushin Volcano. Composed of seven individual bays, Unalaska Bay opens onto the Bering Sea.

Kaigani Strait

Kaigani Strait is a waterway in the U.S. state of Alaska, the southern part of the strait between Long Island and Dall Island. The Alaska Native name, as reported by Etolin is 1833, is Kalgan.

American Bay is a waterway in the U.S. state of Alaska. It is located on the east side of Dall Island, facing Long Island across Kaigani Strait.

Stikine Sound

Stikine Sound is a body of water in the U.S. state of Alaska, 12 miles (19 km) north of Wrangell. It was named by Mikhail Tebenkov. It forms where the Stikine River finally reaches salt walter. The delta of the river is the silted-up inland extension of this channel. It is 4 miles (6.4 km) wide and about 20 miles (32 km) in length, with a large number of islands near its eastern end, and lying directly off the flats of the Stikine River.

Cholmondeley Sound is a deep bay or inlet on the southeast side of Prince of Wales Island, in the Alexander Archipelago of southeast Alaska, in Tongass National Forest and connecting to Clarence Strait. The sound's entrance lies between Chasina Point and Skin Island. It is about 20 miles (32 km) west of Ketchikan, Alaska. Cholmondeley Sound has several bays and inlets within it, including Kitkun Bay, Dora Bay, Brennan Bay, and Sunny Cove. At its western end Cholmondeley Sound splits into two fjord-like inlets: West Arm Chomondeley Sound, about 7.5 miles (12.1 km) long, and South Arm Cholmondeley Sound, about 8 miles (13 km) long. The full length from the entrance of the sound to the head of West Arm is about 16 miles (26 km).

References

  1. ↑ Chamberlain, Frederick M. (1907). Some Observations on Salmon and Trout in Alaska (Public domain ed.). U.S. Government Printing Office. pp.  111–.
  2. ↑ "Kegan Cove Cabin Site Lookout/cabin". U.S. Forest Service. Retrieved 13 August 2014.
  3. ↑ Davidson, George (1869). Pacific Coast. Coast Pilot of Alaska: From southern boundary to Cook's Inlet (Public domain ed.). U.S. Government Printing Office. pp. 78–.
  4. ↑ United States Coast Pilot (1917). United States Coast Pilot: Alaska. Dixon Entrance to Yakutat Bay. Pt. 1 (Public domain ed.). U.S. Government Printing Office. pp. 68–.
  5. ↑ U.S. Geological Survey (1914). Mineral Resources of Alaska: Bulletin (Public domain ed.). pp. 82–.

Coordinates: 55°02′12″N132°04′12″W / 55.0367°N 132.0700°W / 55.0367; -132.0700

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.