Kotzebue Sound

Kotzebue Sound is an arm of the Chukchi Sea in the western region of the U.S. state of Alaska, located at coord|66|40|N|163|0|W|region:US. It is on the north side of the Seward Peninsula and bounded the east by the Baldwin Peninsula. It is convert|100|mi|km|-1 long and convert|70|mi|km|-1 wide.

Kotzebue Sound is located in the transitional climate zone, which is characterized by long, cold winters and cool summers. The average low temperature during January is convert|-12|°F |°C|0|lk=on; the average high during July is convert|58|°F|°C|0. Temperature extremes have been measured from convert|-52|°F|°C|0 to convert|85|°F|°C|0. Snowfall averages convert|40|in|mm|0|lk=on, with total precipitation of convert|9|in|mm|0 per year. Kotzebue Sound is ice-free from early July until early October.

The towns of Kotzebue, Kiwalik and Deering are on the shores of Kotzebue Sound.

Kotzebue Sound was explored and named in 1816 by Baltic German Lt. Otto von Kotzebue while searching for the Northeast Passage in the service of Russia.

Further reading

* Giddings, J. Louis, and Douglas D. Anderson. "Beach Ridge Archeology of Cape Krusenstern Eskimo and Pre-Eskimo Settlements Around Kotzebue Sound, Alaska". Washington DC: National Park Service, U.S. Dept. of the Interior, 1986.
* Lucier, Charles V., and James W. VanStone. "Traditional Beluga Drives of the Iñupiat of Kotzebue Sound, Alaska". Fieldiana, new ser., no. 25. Chicago: Field Museum of Natural History, 1995.