http://www.inletkeeper.org/DELETE/abtwatershedOLD.htm The Cook Inlet watershed is a spectacular ecosystem covering 47,000 square miles of Southcentral Alaska. Melting snow and ice from mount McKinley, the Chugach Mountains and the Aleutian Range drains into rivers such as the mighty Susitna, Matanuska and Kenai, which feed the productive waters of Cook Inlet.
The watershed stretches 430 miles from its northernmost tip to its southernmost tip, and 220 miles from its easternmost reaches to its westernmost reaches. Cook Inlet is 192 miles long. 8,000 square miles is saltwater. The watershed drains 39,000 square miles (about the size of the US State of Virginia).

The watershed encompasses Alaska's most diverse and unique ecosystems including the alpine tundra of the Denali wilderness, coastal rainforests of the southern Kenai Peninsula, and abundant wetlands of the Susitna, Kenai and Matanuska river deltas. Cook Inlet's marine environment has been noted by scientists as among the most productive ecosystems in the world.

All of Alaska's 9 terrestrial ecosystems are found within the watershed. Cook Inlet contains over 346 islands and islets. Cook Inlet's tidal exchanges are as large as 39 feet, resulting in currents up to 11 knots. Cook inlet is one of the most seismically active regions in the world, including 4 active volcanoes. mouse over photo for credit

One of the highest concentrations of public lands in the nation is located within the watershed, including Denali, Katmai, Kenai Fjords and Lake Clark National Parks, Chugach National Forest, Kenai and Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuges, four state parks and sanctuaries, including the world famous McNeil River Bear Sanctuary, and seven Critical Habitat Areas. These productive habitats support a rich fabric of life, including brown and black bears, moose, caribou, migratory birds, wolves, humpback, beluga and killer whales, sea otters, sea lions and all five species of wild pacific salmon. 36,000 square miles (92%) of the watershed is public land. 7 national parks and wildlife refuges are found within the watershed. 4 state parks including Alaska's only state park wilderness are in the watershed. 7 state critical habitat areas are in Cook Inlet watershed.
Approximately 400,000 people, nearly 2/3 of Alaska’s population, live in the watershed. Cook Inlet communities depend on the watershed’s healthy waters and habitats for their livelihoods. Alaska Native villages pursue a subsistence lifestyle that is centuries old, supplying up to 90% of the villagers’ diet. Cook Inlet represents one of the most productive fisheries in Alaska, in which five species of salmon, herring, scallops, halibut, and several other species of bottom fish are harvested. And each year, nearly one million visitors from around the world venture to Cook Inlet to relish its magnificent beauty.

constant instability in alaska

http://newsminer.com/view/full_story/7054628/article-Alaska-s-Redoubt-volcano-stops-shaking-?instance=home_news_window_left_bullets
Alaska's Redoubt volcano stops shaking

by The Associated Press

6 hrs ago | 239 views | 0 | 1 | |

ANCHORAGE, Alaska - The swarm of small shallow earthquakes that began April 5 at the Redoubt volcano has ended, and the shaking returned to background levels.

The Alaska Volcano Observatory lowered the aviation code Monday from yellow to green.

Eruptions from the 10,197-foot volcano early last year disrupted air travel, dusted Anchorage with ash and sent a mudflow that partially flooded the Drift River Oil Terminal.





just thought it was interesting that the volcanoes that seemed so distant from the city have such a drastic effect.

Quakes near Anchorage

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5j8VGiRVV36COvlIWeZk4NOj06C2wD9ET7N300
Swarm of small quakes occurring at Alaska volcano

By MARY PEMBERTON (AP) – 14 hours ago

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — A swarm of small earthquakes began Monday at a volcano near Anchorage in what scientists said was a warning that Mount Redoubt could be waking from its slumber.

"It is reminding us that it is an active volcano," said Rick Wessels, a geophysicist with the U.S. Geological Survey in Anchorage.

The swarm of small quakes started early in the day near the summit of Mount Redoubt, about 100 miles southwest of Anchorage, with a regular pattern often seen when magma is moving inside a volcano, Wessels said.

Researchers plan to fly through the steam plume of the volcano later this week and take measurements of three chemical compounds linked to volcanic activity — sulfur dioxide, carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulfide.

Scientists do not know if the earthquakes will lead to the volcano again becoming explosive, but they said that was a heightened possibility.

Last year, the volcano rumbled and grumbled for months before exploding on Jan. 26, at times producing huge ash plumes and sending mud flows down its flanks. It finally quieted in late September, but there was a similar episode of increased seismic activity in December.

Then came Monday.

"We were going along quietly and all of a sudden, boom, we started getting these small earthquakes," said Steve McNutt, a University of Alaska Fairbanks research professor.

Mount Redoubt is monitored by seven seismometers.

Last year, Mount Redoubt awoke after a magnitude-5.7 earthquake at the mouth of Cook Inlet.

The volcano followed that period of unrest with 19 significant eruptions over several weeks in March and April in which it sent ash plumes as high as 65,000 feet and cloaked parts of south-central Alaska in up to a half-inch of ash.

Residents donned face masks and covered their cars and trucks to keep the ash off the finish and out of the engines.

Mount Redoubt also erupted in 1989 and 1990.

Wessels said the current earthquakes were not connected to Sunday's magnitude-7.2 quake in Mexico just south of the U.S. border.

"We wouldn't expect there to be any connection given the distances," he said.

Alaska is the most seismically active state in the country. In 1964, it experienced a magnitude-9.2 earthquake near Anchorage, the strongest earthquake ever recorded in North America.

Copyright © 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

Volcano Erupting

Here's a timelapse from youtube on the smoke coming from the volcano...

Hopefully we'll be able to see it!!