Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes summary

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Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes, Volcanic region, southern Alaska, U.S. Located in Katmai National Park and Preserve, the valley covers 56 sq mi (145 sq km). It was created in 1912 when the eruption of the Novarupta and Mount Katmai volcanoes covered the valley in a flow of lava. When an expedition visited the site in 1916, it discovered tens of thousands of fissures known as fumaroles spouting smoke, gas, and steam in the valley floor. The largest was 150 ft (46 m) in diameter; some had temperatures as high as 1,200 °F (649 °C). About 60 years later there were fewer than 12 fumaroles left. In the 1960s U.S. astronauts used the scarred region to train for Moon landings.

Alaska Summary

Alaska, constituent state of the United States of America. It was admitted to the union as the 49th state on January 3, 1959. Alaska lies at the extreme northwest of the North American continent, and the Alaska Peninsula is the largest peninsula in the Western Hemisphere. Because the 180th meridian

United States Summary

United States, country in North America, a federal republic of 50 states. Besides the 48 conterminous states that occupy the middle latitudes of the continent, the United States includes the state of Alaska, at the northwestern extreme of North America, and the island state of Hawaii, in the

valley Summary

Valley, elongate depression of the Earth’s surface. Valleys are most commonly drained by rivers and may occur in a relatively flat plain or between ranges of hills or mountains. Those valleys produced by tectonic action are called rift valleys. Very narrow, deep valleys of similar appearance are

North America Summary

North America, third largest of the world’s continents, lying for the most part between the Arctic Circle and the Tropic of Cancer. It extends for more than 5,000 miles (8,000 km) to within 500 miles (800 km) of both the North Pole and the Equator and has an east-west extent of 5,000 miles. It