Tukgahgo Mountain

Tukgahgo Mountain
Tukgahgo Mountain
	Mount Tukgahgo in early fall.
Highest point
Elevation	4,675 ft (1,425 m) [1]
Coordinates	59°18′01″N135°37′46″W / 59.30028°N 135.62944°W
Geography
Location	Haines Borough, Alaska, U.S.
Parent range	Takshanuk Mountains
Topo map	USGS Skagway (B-2)
Climbing
First ascent	Unknown
Easiest route	Scramble

Last updated March 22, 2019

Tukgahgo Mountain (TUG-a-ho) is located in the Takshanuk Mountains with a peak elevation of 4,675 feet (1,425 m) in the U.S. state of Alaska. It is situated 6.6 miles (10.6 km) north of Haines, 3.5 miles (5.6 km) to the southwest of Chilkoot Lake, and 16 miles (26 km) to the southwest of Skagway.^[2] It is one of eight peaks in Haines Borough.^[3] Geological investigations of the veins in the mountain have revealed silver, gold, platinum, and palladium mineralization, derived from mid-Cretaceous events.

The Takshanuk Mountains are a mountain range in Southeast Alaska, United States that separate the Chilkoot and Chilkat watersheds and also form the northern portion of the Chilkat Peninsula.

In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are currently 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory and shares its sovereignty with the federal government. Due to this shared sovereignty, Americans are citizens both of the federal republic and of the state in which they reside. State citizenship and residency are flexible, and no government approval is required to move between states, except for persons restricted by certain types of court orders. Four states use the term commonwealth rather than state in their full official names.

Alaska is a U.S. state in the northwest extremity of North America, just across the Bering Strait from Asia. The Canadian province of British Columbia and territory of Yukon border the state to the east, its most extreme western part is Attu Island, and it has a maritime border with Russia to the west across the Bering Strait. To the north are the Chukchi and Beaufort seas—southern parts of the Arctic Ocean. The Pacific Ocean lies to the south and southwest. It is the largest U.S. state by area and the seventh largest subnational division in the world. In addition, it is the 3rd least populous and the most sparsely populated of the 50 United States; nevertheless, it is by far the most populous territory located mostly north of the 60th parallel in North America: its population—estimated at 738,432 by the United States Census Bureau in 2015— is more than quadruple the combined populations of Northern Canada and Greenland. Approximately half of Alaska's residents live within the Anchorage metropolitan area. Alaska's economy is dominated by the fishing, natural gas, and oil industries, resources which it has in abundance. Military bases and tourism are also a significant part of the economy.

Geography

Takshanuk Mountains Range TakshanukMountains1.jpg — Takshanuk Mountains Range

Tukgahgo, an indigenous name given by the Tlingits, was recorded by geologist Eugene C. Robertson and published by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) in 1952.^[2]^[4] In order to climb the Tukgahgo Mountain and reach the summit, detailed information needs to be ascertained from the topographic maps published by USGS and the Skagway B-2 USGS quadrangle map.^[3] A part of the Coast Mountains, Tukgahgo is situated 3.5 miles (5.6 km) from Chilkoot, while Skagway is 16 miles (26 km) to the southwest. Vanderbilt Point is located 3 miles (4.8 km) west of Tukgahgo's summit. The head of Shakuseyi Creek is on the east slope of the mountain.^[5]

United States Geological Survey scientific agency of the United States government

The United States Geological Survey is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, and the natural hazards that threaten it. The organization has four major science disciplines, concerning biology, geography, geology, and hydrology. The USGS is a fact-finding research organization with no regulatory responsibility.

The Coast Mountains are a major mountain range in the Pacific Coast Ranges of western North America, extending from southwestern Yukon through the Alaska Panhandle and virtually all of the Coast of British Columbia south to the Fraser River. The mountain range's name derives from its proximity to the sea coast, and it is often referred to as the Coast Range. The range includes volcanic and non-volcanic mountains and the extensive ice fields of the Pacific and Boundary Ranges, and the northern end of the volcanic system known as the Cascade Volcanoes. The Coast Mountains are part of a larger mountain system called the Pacific Coast Ranges or the Pacific Mountain System, which includes the Cascade Range, the Insular Mountains, the Olympic Mountains, the Oregon Coast Range, the California Coast Ranges, the Saint Elias Mountains and the Chugach Mountains. The Coast Mountains are also part of the American Cordillera—a Spanish term for an extensive chain of mountain ranges—that consists of an almost continuous sequence of mountain ranges that form the western backbone of North America, Central America, South America and Antarctica.

Chilkoot Lake lake in United States of America

The Chilkoot Lake, in the Tlingit Indians region of Alaska, is also spelt Chilcoot Lake. Its other local names are the Akha Lake and Tschilkut S(ee), meaning “Chilkoot Lake”. It is in Haines Borough, Alaska. Chilkoot also means "big fish". The lake has a ‘Recreation Site’ at its southern end near the outlet to the Chilkoot River, which is set amidst the Sitka spruce trees. Chilkoot River flows from the lake for a short length and debouches into the Lutak Channel at the head of the Chilkoot inlet near Haines. Chilkoot village, a settlement of Chilkoot Indians existed at the outlet of the lake, which was called Tschilkut or Tananel or Chilcoot; the lake is named after this village. This village is now a camping area developed by the State Parks and Outdoor Recreation Division of the Alaska Department of Natural Resources. The lake is a popular location for Kayaking.

Geology

New geological findings close to Tukgahgo and the eastern ridge have been reported. In 1991, when the sampling was carried out by geologists, a rock formation 2,500 ft (760 m) to the southwest of Tukgahgo Mountain on the northwest trending Chilly peak (elevation 4,520 ft (1,380 m)^[1] was initially given the informal title "Chilly."^[6] The geologic formations of the area consist of metabasalts and amphibolites, which are enclosed as roof pendants within the hornblende diorite, granodiorite and monzonite. The intrusive rocks are inferred to be part of the Mount Kashagnak pluton.^[7] A few quartz veins were also identified, though they were scattered; they are integral to the Tukgahgo Mountain fault.^[6] This fault is small and close to the summit. The fault is within the Skagway B-2 Quadrangle and has a southeast (140 degree) strike or trend, with a movement of 1,480 feet (450 m); the movement is recorded as down on the northeast side compared to the southwest side. Along the fault metabasalts to the southwest are in fault contact with the diorite intrusive.^[7]

Amphibolite is a metamorphic rock that contains amphibole, especially the species hornblende and actinolite, as well as plagioclase.

In structural geology, a roof pendant, which also known as a pendant, is a mass of country rock that projects downward into and is entirely surrounded by an igneous intrusion such as a batholith or other pluton. In lay terminology sometimes "rock hat" is used. A roof pendant is an erosional remnant that was created by the removal by erosion of the overlying country rock that formed the roof of the igneous intrusion that encloses it. If this downward protruding mass of roof rock still has a connection to the main, surrounding mass of country rock, they are known by structural geologists as either septa or screens. Roof pendants typically have been strongly metamorphosed through the processes of contact metamorphism.

Hornblende A complex inosilicate series of minerals

Hornblende is a complex inosilicate series of minerals. It is not a recognized mineral in its own right, but the name is used as a general or field term, to refer to a dark amphibole.

Samples collected from the veins were analyzed for metals like molybdenum, platinum and palladium. One vein with visible molybdenite assayed at 1,240 ppm across the vein. Quartz veins also revealed pyrite, chalcopyrite, malachite, and molybdenite. The gold content was reported to be 0.824 ppm, while silver and copper contents were of the order of 2.70 ppm and 2,140 ppm, respectively. The mineralization is interpreted as of mid-Cretaceous age. The metallic elements identified as present in the vein structures include silver, gold, copper, with minor quantities of palladium and platinum but no mining operations have been reported.^[6]

Molybdenum is a chemical element with symbol Mo and atomic number 42. The name is from Neo-Latin molybdaenum, from Ancient Greek Μόλυβδος molybdos, meaning lead, since its ores were confused with lead ores. Molybdenum minerals have been known throughout history, but the element was discovered in 1778 by Carl Wilhelm Scheele. The metal was first isolated in 1781 by Peter Jacob Hjelm.

Platinum is a chemical element with symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name is derived from the Spanish term platino, meaning "little silver".

Palladium is a chemical element with symbol Pd and atomic number 46. It is a rare and lustrous silvery-white metal discovered in 1803 by William Hyde Wollaston. He named it after the asteroid Pallas, which was itself named after the epithet of the Greek goddess Athena, acquired by her when she slew Pallas. Palladium, platinum, rhodium, ruthenium, iridium and osmium form a group of elements referred to as the platinum group metals (PGMs). These have similar chemical properties, but palladium has the lowest melting point and is the least dense of them.

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References

1 2 Skagway (B-2), Alaska, 15 minute Quadrangle, USGS 1954
1 2 "Feature Detail Report for: Tukgahgo Mountain". U.S. Geological Survey. Retrieved 11 February 2013.
1 2 "Tukgahgo Mountain Summit- Alaska Mountain Peak Information". Mountainzone.com. Retrieved 11 February 2013.
↑ William Bright (2004). Native American Placenames of the United States. University of Oklahoma Press. pp. 517–. ISBN 978-0-8061-3598-4 . Retrieved 7 February 2013.
↑ Geological Survey Professional Paper. U.S. Government Printing Office. 1967. pp. 859, 989, 1017–. Retrieved 14 February 2013.
1 2 3 "Unnamed Occurrences (ARDF - SK025; near Tukgahgo Mountain), Skagway District, Juneau District, Haines Borough, Alaska, USA". mindat.org. Retrieved 12 February 2013.
1 2 "Geology and Geochemistry of the Skagway B-2 Quadrangle, Southeastern Alaska" (pdf). Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys State of Alaska. pp. 17–18. Retrieved 12 February 2013.

External links

U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Tukgahgo Mountain

Coordinates: 59°18′01″N135°37′46″W / 59.30028°N 135.62944°W / 59.30028; -135.62944

Geographic coordinate system Coordinate system

A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are often chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position and two or three of the numbers represent a horizontal position; alternatively, a geographic position may be expressed in a combined three-dimensional Cartesian vector. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation. To specify a location on a plane requires a map projection.

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[USGS-1] 1 2 Skagway (B-2), Alaska, 15 minute Quadrangle, USGS 1954

[USGS2-2] 1 2 "Feature Detail Report for: Tukgahgo Mountain". U.S. Geological Survey. Retrieved 11 February 2013.

[Peak-3] 1 2 "Tukgahgo Mountain Summit- Alaska Mountain Peak Information". Mountainzone.com. Retrieved 11 February 2013.

[Bright2004-4] William Bright (2004). Native American Placenames of the United States. University of Oklahoma Press. pp. 517–. ISBN 978-0-8061-3598-4 . Retrieved 7 February 2013.

[Geological1967-5] Geological Survey Professional Paper. U.S. Government Printing Office. 1967. pp. 859, 989, 1017–. Retrieved 14 February 2013.

[Geology-6] 1 2 3 "Unnamed Occurrences (ARDF - SK025; near Tukgahgo Mountain), Skagway District, Juneau District, Haines Borough, Alaska, USA". mindat.org. Retrieved 12 February 2013.

[Alaska-7] 1 2 "Geology and Geochemistry of the Skagway B-2 Quadrangle, Southeastern Alaska" (pdf). Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys State of Alaska. pp. 17–18. Retrieved 12 February 2013.