Aniakchak National Monument Trivia Quiz

Answer: Alaska Peninsula, Alaska

Aniakchak National Monument is part of the Pacific Ring of Fire, located southwest of Katmai National Park and Becharof National Wildlife Refuge on the Alaska Peninsula. Its location on the Ring of Fire is significant, considering the primary attraction of the monument is a large, active volcano.

Answer: The Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act

Aniakchak National Monument was designated on December 10, 1978 by President Jimmy Carter under the Antiquities Act. The Antiquities Act allows the President to designate existing federal lands as a national monument, however, it take a separate act of Congress to create a national park, preserve, historic park, etc.

The monument was later expanded to include a national preserve by the 1980 Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act, which created and expanded most of the national park units in Alaska. This pattern - designation of national monument, followed by creation of a national preserve or park - was common with Alaska public lands in the 1970s. The Carter administration essentially used the Antiquities Act to force the issue and create more lasting units of the National Park System.

The National Park Service Organic Act created the National Park Service in 1916, and the Native American Graves Protection Act established procedures for treatment of prehistoric Native American remains identified during archaeological work.

Answer: 10-25

It is difficult and expensive to reach Aniakchak, and there are no services or public structures in the monument. As a result, very few people make it there, and those who do must be capable of surviving on their own in the wilderness for an extended period.

This is especially true due to the region's notoriously severe weather which can prevent planes from landing for days at a time. This frequently causes people to wait longer than expected to be picked up at the end of trip to Aniakchak.

Answer: It was an abomination of desolation, it was the prelude to Hell.

Father Hubbard was a Jesuit priest, professor of German and geology at Santa Clara University in California, and famous lecturer in the 1920s and 30s. He made numerous expeditions to Alaska, among the most notable of which were his trips to Aniakchak and the Katmai areas. Both regions were the site of substantial volcanic activity in the early 30th century, and Father Hubbard produced sensational documentary footage that made the areas widely known.

Father Hubbard's first trip took place prior to the 1931 eruption of Mount Aniakchak, and the second trip was a year after the eruption. As a result, he saw the barren, smoking aftermath of the eruption while it was still fresh.

Answer: Pacific Ring of Fire

Mount Aniakchak is an active volcano created by the subduction of the Pacific Plate under the North American Plate. This same process is responsible for creating volcanic chains including the Andes, the volcanoes of Central America, the volcanoes of the U.S. west coast, the Aleutian volcanic arc, the Japanese volcanoes, and the immense volcanic cluster making up Indonesia. Aniakchak's last eruption in the 20th century was in 1931.

The subductive mechanism gives rise to relatively silica-rich magmas characterized by high viscosity. This high viscosity traps enormous quantities of volcanic gasses, which causes these volcanoes' characteristically violent eruptions.

Answer: Red/sockeye salmon

The lake within Aniakchak caldera has been home to a run of red salmon for hundreds to thousands of years. Biologists with the National Park Service have studied the salmon extensively in order to determine how salmon colonize rivers. A volcanic system like Aniakchak is useful to this research because eruptions periodically wipe out the salmon population, allowing longitudinal and genetic study of newly colonized salmon runs.

While the area is home to peregrine falcons, brown bears and orca whales, none of those species have been closely studied in Aniakchak, as there are many easier places to find these animals.

Answer: 450 miles

The road system in Alaska does not reach the western expanses of the state. Aniakchak is about 450 miles southwest of Anchorage, the nearest community on the road system. While there are roads closer to Aniakchak in communities like Port Heiden, King Salmon, etc., these communities are themselves hundreds of miles from the road system.

This distinction, on vs. off the road system, is a major feature of Alaskan life, and there are enormous differences between communities on the road system compared to those off the road system.

As a result, one can only reach Aniakchak via boat, floatplane, or a long hike.

Answer: Commercial fishing

Aniakchak has been the site of substantial commercial fishing since at least the early 20th century. Red salmon were the original species targeted, but a razor clam fishery developed in the 1950s. This fishery was, however, quickly depleted. The salmon fishery remains viable to this day, and is a great example of protected lands providing economically valuable ecosystem services.

Answer: Collapse of a mountain during volcanic eruption

Mount Aniakchak once stood over 7,000 feet tall. However, most of the mountain collapsed into itself during a massive eruption around 1645 B.C.E. This is a common result of major eruptive activity, giving rise to the classic cone-shaped volcano with a hollowed-out top filled with water.

While some volcanoes only partially collapse, leaving the mountain largely intact, larger eruptions can destroy most of the mountain, leaving a crater-like formation, the walls of which are the remnants of the base of the mountain.

Answer: Brown bears

Aniakchak, along with most of coastal southern Alaska, is home to a thriving population of brown bears that feed on the rich salmon runs. These coastal brown bears may grow extremely large due to the presence of the salmon food source.

Mountain lions do not exist in Alaska, and while there are both wolves and lynx in Aniakchak, neither is there because of the salmon.