The Chandalar River ( T'eedriinjik in Gwich'in ) is a 100-mile (160 km) tributary of the Yukon River in the U.S. state of Alaska . Its French name was "Gens de Large" or "nomadic people" which when written in English from its local pronunciation evolved into "Chandalar." Its peak flow, recorded by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) between 1964 and 1974 at a stream gauge at Venetie , was 62,800 cubic feet per second (1,780 m/s) on June 9, 1968.
11-813: The Chandalar River main stem begins at the confluence of the North Fork Chandalar River and the Middle Fork Chandalar River and flows generally southeast through the state's northern interior southeast of the Philip Smith Mountains of the Brooks Range . The Chandalar enters the Yukon River 20 miles (32 km) northwest of Fort Yukon . In 2015 the Chandalar became federally recognized by
22-414: A main stem or mainstem (also known as a trunk ) is "the primary downstream segment of a river , as contrasted to its tributaries ". The mainstem extends all the way from one specific headwater to the outlet of the river, although there are multiple ways to determine which headwater (or first-order tributary) is the source of the mainstem. Water enters the mainstem from the river's drainage basin ,
33-651: A Strahler number of 10, the highest in the nation. Eight rivers, including the Columbia River , reach 9. Streams with no tributaries, assigned the Strahler number 1, are most common. More than 1.5 million of these small streams, with average drainage basins of only 1 square mile (2.6 km ), have been identified in the United States alone. Outside of the United States, the Amazon River reaches
44-526: A Strahler number of 12, making it the highest-order river in the world. Arthur Newell Strahler Arthur Newell Strahler (February 20, 1918 – December 6, 2002) was a geoscience professor at Columbia University who in 1952 developed the Strahler Stream Order system for classifying streams according to the power of their tributaries. Strahler was largely responsible for the shift from qualitative to quantitative geomorphology during
55-605: A second-order stream; when two second-order streams meet, they form a third-order stream, and so on. In the Horton system, the entire mainstem of a drainage basin was assigned the highest number in that basin. However, in the Strahler system, adopted in 1957, only that part of the mainstem below the tributary of the next highest rank gets the highest number. In the United States, the Mississippi River mainstem achieves
66-526: The Romanzof Mountains in the eastern Brooks Range. From there, it flows generally southwest past Arctic Village to enter the main stem upstream of Venetie. West Fork Chandalar River, a 24-mile (39 km) tributary of the North Fork Chandalar River, flows east from mountainous terrain east of Coldfoot . It joins the North Fork 5 miles (8 km) upstream of that stream's confluence with
77-551: The United States Board on Geographic Names as their indigenous Gwichʼin names Teedriinjik River meaning "shimmering river" and Ch'idriinjik River meaning "heart river". The names had been in use for over a thousand years by the Athabaskans . North Fork Chandalar River, 104 miles (167 km) long, begins near Atigun Pass in the Brooks Range and flows generally southeast through Chandalar Lake to meet
88-637: The Middle Fork and form the main stem. At the North Fork, headwaters is a flat valley known as Chandalar shelf just east of the Dalton Highway , where caribou are known to winter. The 102-mile (164 km) Middle Fork Chandalar River heads up in the Philip Smith Mountains east of Atigun Pass. It flows generally south from the mountains to join the North Fork. East Fork Chandalar River, 175 miles (282 km) long, starts near
99-514: The Middle Fork. There is a weather station in the Chandalar Shelf Valley near Atigun Pass . Chandalar Shelf has a subarctic climate ( Köppen Dfc ), bordering on a tundra climate ( Köppen ET ). Although the lower river can be fished for northern pike , sheefish , and salmon , the upper river, its tributaries, headwaters, and nearby lakes offer "the most exciting fishing possibilities". The main sportfishing species in
110-440: The basin are northern pike, Arctic grayling , charr , and lake trout . Anglers and hunters typically enter the region by airplane or, in winter, by snowmobile. It is possible for experienced boaters to float and fish the river system in rafts or kayaks. Hazards include shallows and rapids. There are no public campgrounds or other facilities; however, there is a fishing lodge at Chandalar Lake. Main stem In hydrology ,
121-462: The land area through which the mainstem and its tributaries flow. A drainage basin may also be referred to as a watershed or catchment . Hydrological classification systems assign numbers to tributaries and mainstems within a drainage basin. In the Strahler number , a modification of a system devised by Robert E. Horton in 1945, channels with no tributaries are called "first-order" streams. When two first-order streams meet, they are said to form
SECTION 10
#1732780942680#679320