Kuparuk River

Kuparuk River
Spring ice breakup in 2011
Country United States
State Alaska
Borough North Slope
Source
 - location Brooks Range
 - elevation 2,900 ft (884 m) [1]
 - coordinates 68°32′15″N 149°14′46″W / 68.53750°N 149.24611°W / 68.53750; -149.24611 [2]
Mouth Gwydyr Bay, Beaufort Sea
 - location 8 miles (13 km) southeast of Beechey Point[2]
 - elevation 0 ft (0 m) [2]
 - coordinates 70°25′28″N 148°52′15″W / 70.42444°N 148.87083°W / 70.42444; -148.87083Coordinates: 70°25′28″N 148°52′15″W / 70.42444°N 148.87083°W / 70.42444; -148.87083 [2]
Length 200 mi (322 km) [3]
Basin 3,130 sq mi (8,107 km2) [4]
Discharge
 - average 1,400 cu ft/s (40 m3/s) [4]
Location of the mouth of the Kuparuk River in Alaska

The Kuparuk River is a river in Alaska's North Slope that enters a bay on the Beaufort Sea between Beechey Point and Prudhoe Bay.[5] The north-flowing river is about 200 miles (320 km) long,[3] and its delta is about 3 miles (5 km) wide.[3] Its Eskimo name appeared on a map drawn in 1901 by a prospector who spelled it Koopowra, which he translated as Big River (possibly Kugauraq).[3]

Kuparuk Mound, a 30-foot (9.1 m) pingo about 12 miles (19 km) southeast of Beechey Point, is named after the river. Arctic explorer Ernest de Koven Leffingwell named the mound, which he used as a triangulation station in 1911.[3]

The Kuparuk River oil field, the second largest oil field in North America, is centered about 40 miles (64 km) west of Prudhoe Bay.[6] Discovered in 1969, it covers about 500 square miles (1,300 km2).[7]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Source elevation derived from Google Earth search using GNIS source coordinates.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Kuparuk River". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey. January 1, 2000. Retrieved September 3, 2013.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Orth, Donald J.; United States Geological Survey (1971) [1967]. Dictionary of Alaska Place Names: Geological Survey Professional Paper 567 (PDF). University of Alaska Fairbanks. United States Government Printing Office. p. 553. Retrieved September 4, 2013.
  4. 1 2 Benke, Arthur C., ed.; Cushing, Colbert E., ed. (2005). Rivers of North America. Burlington, Massachusetts: Elsevier Academic Press. p. 933. ISBN 0-12-088253-1. Cite uses deprecated parameter |coauthor= (help)
  5. ↑ Alaska Atlas & Gazetteer (7th ed.). Yarmouth, Maine: DeLorme. 2010. pp. 135–36. ISBN 978-0-89933-289-5.
  6. ↑ "Kuparuk River Field" (PDF). ConocoPhillips Alaska. June 2013. Retrieved September 4, 2013.
  7. ↑ "AOGCC Pool Statistics: Kuparuk River Unit, Kuparuk River Oil Pool". Alaska Oil and Gas Commission. 2011. Retrieved September 4, 2013.


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