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Place Name
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Katmai National Park and Preserve
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Pronunciation
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KAT-mei
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Place Status (Type)
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national monument
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Location
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Alaska, United States, North America
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Latitude
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unknown
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Longitude
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unknown
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Katmai National Park and Preserve
(KAT-mei), park,
preserve, wilderness, at the N end of the Alaska Peninsula on Shelikof
Strait, S Alaska. Has one of the largest areas in the U.S. Natl. Park
System; est. 1918 as a natl. monument; its borders were since expanded,
and it was designated a park (3,716,000 acres/1,503,865 ha)
and preserve (37,400 acres/15,136 ha) area in 1980;
wilderness covers 3,473,000 acres/1,405,523 ha. Mt. Katmai
and Novarupta volcanoes and the Valley of the Ten Thousand Smokes are
located in this region, which is the site of one of the greatest
volcanic eruptions in recorded history: Novarupta (1912). All plant and
animal life in the area was destroyed by the ash and lava, although no
people were reported killed. Kodiak Isl.
(100 mi/160 km to the SE) was covered with
c.1 ft/.3 m of ash. As lava beneath Mt. Katmai
drained W to Novarupta, its top collapsed, forming a crater,
8 mi/12.8 km in circumference and
3,700 ft/1,128 m deep, in which a lake has
formed. The Valley of the Ten Thousand Smokes
(72 sq mi/186 sq km) has
countless holes and cracks through which hot gases passed to the
surface; all but a few have become extinct. The park also includes
glacier-covered peaks, crater lakes, a coastline with dramatic fjords
and waterfalls, dense marshlands, and heavy forests with a variety of
wildlife, notably moose and grizzly bears.
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