标签阿拉斯加下的文章

阿玛咖港, 阿拉斯加美国 Amalga Harbor, Alaska (© Mark Kelley/Tandem Stills + Motion)

一切都很平静 All is calm

阿拉斯加阿玛咖港的圣诞节

“最后的边境”上的这个与世隔绝的小海湾是你最不可能看到圣诞树从头到脚装饰着闪闪发光的地方。阿玛咖港位于朱诺（美国为数不多的沿海州首府之一）以北约15英里处，这表明公众表达圣诞快乐的方式很少有局限性，可能包括使用小型驳船。这张照片拍摄于附近的欧内斯特·格鲁宁州历史公园，该公园以阿拉斯加州前州长的名字命名。格鲁宁在1939年至1953年领导该地区，1959年阿拉斯加成为该州的第一批美国参议员之一。在他的政治生涯结束后，他和妻子住在一间小屋里，这间小屋被作为这一历史遗迹的一部分保存下来。

Christmas in Amalga Harbor, Alaska

This isolated cove on 'the Last Frontier' is the least likely place you'd expect to find a Christmas tree decorated from head to toe with lights aglow. Amalga Harbor lies about 15 miles north of Juneau (one of the few coastal state capitals in the US) and shows that the public expression of Christmas cheer knows few limitations–and may include use of a small barge. This photograph was taken from nearby Ernest Gruening State Historical Park, which was named for the former governor of the Alaska Territory. Gruening led the territory from 1939 to 1953 before becoming one of the state's first US senators when Alaska became a state in 1959. After his political career ended, he and his wife lived in a cabin that was preserved as part of this historic site.

特里卡基拉河三角洲，阿拉斯加州克拉克湖国家公园，美国 Tlikakila River Delta in Lake Clark National Park, Alaska (© Dawn Wilson Photography/Getty Images)

保护阿拉斯加的自然之美 Preserving Alaska's natural beauty

特里卡基拉河三角洲

1980年的这一天，历史上最大规模的保护地扩张使美国国家公园系统的规模扩大了一倍。在那之前，阿拉斯加没有国家公园，但现在该州有八个，加上众多的纪念碑和保护区，保护着超过1.57亿英亩的土地。当卡特总统签署《阿拉斯加国家利益土地保护法案》时，公众有权欣赏像今天照片中这样令人惊叹的地方：克拉克湖国家公园51英里长的特利卡基拉河的辫状河三角洲。

在当地的阿萨巴斯坎语中，Tlikakila字面意思是“鲑鱼在那里。”该公园以盛产鲑鱼的水道而闻名，因此，鱼类对当地经济和生态系统至关重要。当地的熊群从过量的鲑鱼中受益，在克拉克湖看熊很受欢迎。丰富的三文鱼也让公园里的狼群受益匪浅，这是世界上唯一一只只依赖三文鱼的狼群。

Tlikakila River Delta

On this day in 1980, the single largest expansion of protected lands in history doubled the size of the US National Park System. Prior to that day, Alaska had no national parks, but now the state has eight, plus numerous monuments and preserves that protect more than 157 million total acres. When President Carter signed the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act, the public was granted the right to appreciate stunning locations like the one in today's photo: the braided river delta of the 51-mile long Tlikakila River in Lake Clark National Park.

In the native Athabaskan language, Tlikakila literally means 'salmon are there river.' The park is known for its salmon-laden waterways and, as such, the fish is of major importance to the local economy and ecosystem. Local bear populations benefit from the excess salmon, and bear watching is very popular at Lake Clark. The abundance of salmon has also benefited a wolf pack within the park—the only one in the world known to be solely dependent on salmon.

楚科奇海的浮游植物水华，美国阿拉斯加州海岸附近 Blooms of phytoplankton in the Chukchi Sea off the coast of Alaska (© Norman Kuring/Kathryn Hansen/U.S. Geological Survey/NASA)

什么生长得这样茂盛？ What's blooming so brightly?

楚科奇海浮游植物的大量繁殖

在这张酷酷的照片中，数百种深浅的蓝色被大理石镶嵌在一起。不，这不是一件现代艺术作品，它是大自然的杰作。这是一张卫星照片，照片中的浮游植物在阿拉斯加附近盛开，凉爽、咸的楚科奇海与靠近海岸的温暖、新鲜的海水混合在一起。

但究竟什么是浮游植物？它们是微小的太阳能生物，漂浮在海面附近，随洋流漂流。事实上，它们的名字来源于希腊语中植物的“phyton”和流浪者或漂泊者的“planktos”。对于生活在海洋和河口的各种生物来说，浮游植物既美味又营养，对地球上的每一个人都至关重要：浮游植物的光合作用约占世界光合作用的一半，是吸收二氧化碳和释放氧气的太阳能过程。

今天我们谈论浮游植物是为了纪念地球科学周，这是一个鼓励我们所有人学习甚至献身于地球科学的国际活动。今年的主题是“地球科学促进可持续发展世界”，强调科学在维持我们的星球上的作用。所以，是时候掸掉显微镜上的灰尘，参观当地的科学博物馆，或者也许只是了解更多关于美丽的旋转浮游植物的知识。

Blooms of phytoplankton in the Chukchi Sea

Hundreds of shades of blue are marbled together in this cool shot. No, it's not a work of modern art, it's right off the brush of nature. This is a satellite photo of phytoplankton blooming near Alaska as the cool, salty Chukchi Sea mingles with warmer, fresher water closer to shore.

But just what are phytoplankton? They're microscopic sun-powered organisms that float near the surface of the ocean, drifting with the currents. In fact, their name derives from the Greek 'phyton' for plant and 'planktos' for wanderer or drifter. Delicious and nutritious to various creatures living in oceans and estuaries, they're also vital to everyone on Earth: Phytoplankton are responsible for about half of the world's photosynthesis, the sun-powered process that takes in carbon dioxide and releases oxygen.

We're talking phytoplankton today in honor of Earth Science Week, an international event encouraging all of us to learn about or even devote our life to the Earth sciences. This year's theme is 'Earth Science for a Sustainable World,' emphasizing science's role in sustaining our planet. So, time to dust off that microscope, visit your local science museum, or perhaps just learn more about beautiful, swirling phytoplankton.

两头穿越苏西特纳河的驯鹿，美国阿拉斯加 Caribou crossing the Susitna River during the autumn rut, Alaska (© Tim Plowden/Alamy)

令人印象深刻的时刻 Time to make an impression

Caribou rutting season in Alaska

It's that time of year when Alaskan caribou are beginning to feel a little frisky. From late September until early November, males will be strutting their stuff, locking antlers with one another, and competing for the attention of females in hopes of furthering the species. Successful males will mate with 15-20 females a season. After the rutting season males will shed their antlers while females keep theirs until spring. In today's photo we're looking at some caribou in southcentral Alaska crossing the Susitna River.

Alaska has 32 distinct caribou herds. It's likely today's caribou are members of the Nelchina herd, which roams across about 20,000 square miles in the high basin surrounded by the Talkeetna, Chugach, Wrangell, and Alaska ranges. The Nelchina herd is among the most studied and recognized of Alaskan caribou partly because their range is relatively close to the major human population centers of the state. The herd has provided food for Alaskans for hundreds of years and its population is maintained through carefully monitored hunting regulations. But caribou populations can fluctuate from one year to the next depending on the availability of food and severity of the weather.

阿拉斯加驯鹿发情季节

每年的这个时候，阿拉斯加驯鹿开始感到有点活泼。从9月下旬到11月初，雄性将昂首阔步，相互锁住鹿角，争夺雌性的注意力，以期进一步丰富物种。成功的雄性每季度将与15-20只雌性交配。发情期过后，雄性会脱掉鹿角，而雌性会一直保留到春天。在今天的照片中，我们看到一些驯鹿在阿拉斯加中南部穿越苏西特纳河。

阿拉斯加有32个不同的驯鹿群。今天的北美驯鹿很可能是Nelchina鹿群的成员，它们在塔基特纳山脉、楚加赫山脉、朗格尔山脉和阿拉斯加山脉环绕的高盆地中漫游，占地约20000平方英里。Nelchina驯鹿群是阿拉斯加驯鹿中研究和认识最多的驯鹿群之一，部分原因是它们的分布范围相对接近该州的主要人口中心。数百年来，牧群一直为阿拉斯加人提供食物，通过仔细监测狩猎法规来维持种群数量。但是驯鹿的数量可能会随着食物的供应和天气的恶劣程度而在一年到另一年之间波动。

冰川湾国家公园里的兰普鲁冰川，美国阿拉斯加州 Lamplugh Glacier in Glacier Bay National Park, Alaska (© Andrew Peacock/Getty Images)

古老的冰川与大海相遇的地方 Where ancient ice meets the sea

Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve

Think of this special spot as the place where two different Alaskas meet—its vast icy north and its verdant maritime south. Glacier Bay is named for this area's dominant feature, the rivers of ice that carve the landscape and periodically calve icebergs into the sea. On February 26, 1925, President Calvin Coolidge declared much of the land around the bay a national monument. But the protected area was greatly expanded in 1980, when a 3.3-million-acre expanse of glaciers, fjords, rainforest, coastline, and mountain peaks was named a national park and preserve.

Pictured here is Lamplugh Glacier, one of the relatively few tidewater glaciers in the park; the vast majority are found inland. Lamplugh is known for its intense blue color—ice and water absorb the red wavelength of white light and transmit blue light, which is what we end up seeing. The thicker and more pure the ice, the more blue it appears.

冰川湾国家公园

把这个特殊的地方想象成两个不同的阿拉斯加人在广阔的冰雪覆盖的北方和苍翠的海洋南面相遇的地方。冰川湾是以该地区的主要特征命名的，冰的河流切割景观，并周期性地将冰山崩解入海中。1925年2月26日，卡尔文·柯立芝总统宣布海湾周围的大部分土地为国家纪念碑。但1980年，保护区得到了极大的扩展，当时一片330万英亩的冰川、峡湾、雨林、海岸线和山峰被命名为国家公园和保护区。

这里的图片是兰普卢冰川，公园里相对较少的潮水冰川之一；绝大多数是在内陆发现的。Lamplugh以其强烈的蓝色而闻名，冰和水吸收白光的红色波长并传输蓝光，这就是我们最终看到的。冰越纯，越厚。

布鲁克斯山脉上空的极光，美国阿拉斯加州 Aurora borealis above the Brooks Range in Alaska (© Noppawat Tom Charoensinphon/Getty Images)

Aurora borealis

You don't have to go all the way to Alaska to see the northern lights (they've been spotted as far south as Hawaii). But based on this stunner of a photo, we recommend it. And the farther north the better: auroras are more frequent and intense the closer you are to the North Pole.

This intense aurora borealis was captured over the Brooks Range, the stretch of mountains that forms the North Slope of Alaska. Journey hundreds of lonely miles northward via the Dalton Highway and you'll descend into a vast coastal plain before finally reaching the Beaufort Sea coast, where nothing but icy water lies between you and the North Pole.

北极光

你不必一路跑到阿拉斯加去看北极光（北极光在南至夏威夷都被发现）。但是基于这张照片的惊人之处，我们推荐它。越北越好：极光越频繁，强度越大，离北极越近。

这种强烈的北极光是在布鲁克斯山脉（Brooks Range）上空拍摄的，布鲁克斯山脉是形成阿拉斯加北坡的山脉。沿着道尔顿公路向北行驶数百英里，你将进入一片广阔的海岸平原，最后到达波弗特海岸，在那里你和北极之间只有冰冷的海水。

迪纳利国家公园里的白大角羊，阿拉斯加 Dall sheep rams at Polychrome Pass, Denali National Park, Alaska (© Patrick J. Endres/Getty Images)

Denali National Park

Someone ought to tell these Dall sheep they don't blend in here at Polychrome Pass. Their white coats may be great camouflage against the Alaskan snows, but the warm tones of this tundra make them stick out a bit. And they aren't the only thing sticking out in this national park: It's home to the tallest mountain in North America.

Denali National Park and Preserve encompasses not only its namesake peak but more than 6 million acres of parkland like Polychrome Pass. And even this massive park is part of something bigger: The federal Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act, established on December 2, 1980, protected almost a quarter-million square miles of wilderness all over Alaska. As of today, 65% of the state consists of public lands.

德纳利国家公园

应该有人告诉这些达尔羊，他们不在多色山口混在这里。他们的白色外套可能是抵御阿拉斯加大雪的绝佳伪装，但这片冻土带温暖的色调让他们显得有些突出。它们不是这个国家公园里唯一突出的东西：它是北美最高山峰的所在地。

德纳利国家公园和保护区不仅包括其同名的山峰，还包括超过600万英亩的公园，如多色山口。甚至这个巨大的公园也是更大的东西的一部分：1980年12月2日制定的《联邦阿拉斯加国家利益土地保护法》保护了阿拉斯加全境近25万平方英里的荒野。截至今天，该州65%的土地为公共土地。

A river on the tundra

This mesmerizing expanse captures a small stretch of the 95-mile-long Ivishak River in northern Alaska. The Ivishak flows in the Philip Smith Mountains and the foothills of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The entire run of the river is in a region called the North Slope Borough, Alaska's northernmost borough (Alaska is divided into boroughs, not counties). Look at the magnificent colors and textures this photo captures—it's a view that's preserved and protected by the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act.

The act was signed into law on October 2, 1968. The main purpose of the bill was to identify 'certain selected rivers of the [US] which, with their immediate environments, possess outstandingly remarkable scenic, recreational, geologic, fish and wildlife, historic, cultural or other similar values, shall be preserved in free-flowing condition…' Sure, we could have summed it up for you, but instead quoted the exact text from the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act to show how all-encompassing the intent of the protection is.

冻土带上的河流

这片迷人的广袤土地捕捉到了阿拉斯加北部95英里长的伊维沙克河的一小段。Ivishak河流经菲利普史密斯山脉和北极国家野生动物保护区的山麓。整条河流都在一个叫做北坡区（North Slope Bourough）的区域内，这是阿拉斯加最北端的一个自治区（阿拉斯加分为自治区，而不是县）。看看这张照片捕捉到的壮丽色彩和纹理，这是一幅受《野生和风景河流法》保护的风景画。

该法案于1968年10月2日签署成为法律。该法案的主要目的是确定“某些选定的[美国]河流及其周围环境，具有显著的风景、娱乐、地质、鱼类和野生动物、历史、文化或其他类似价值，应在自由流动的条件下予以保护……”当然，我们可以为您总结一下，而是引用了《野生和风景河流法》的确切文本，以表明保护的意图是多么全面。

The call of the wild in Alaska

Most visitors to Denali National Park and Preserve in Alaska come with a checklist for the 'big five' mammals that live here: Grizzly bears, moose, wolves, Dall sheep, and caribou like this small group walking along a ridge. These are barren-ground caribou, a migratory subspecies of caribou found across the arctic band of North America to western Greenland. Barren-ground caribou migrate in large herds, some traveling over 600 miles one way, between their summer and winter ranges. But the Denali herd, today which numbers around 3,000 animals, generally stay on the park's 6 million acres. For good reason, too—they're the only large herd that aren't hunted.

阿拉斯加野性的呼唤

大多数到德纳利国家公园和阿拉斯加自然保护区的游客都会带上一份居住在这里的“五大”哺乳动物的清单：灰熊、驼鹿、狼、大头羊和驯鹿，就像这一小群沿着山脊行走的动物一样。这些是贫瘠的地面驯鹿，驯鹿的一个迁徙亚种，发现于北美洲北极带到格陵兰岛西部。贫瘠的地面驯鹿成群结队地迁徙，有些驯鹿在夏季和冬季之间单程旅行600英里。但如今的德纳利兽群大约有3000头，它们一般都生活在公园的600万英亩土地上。也有很好的理由，它们是唯一没有被猎杀的大型兽群。

Protecting Alaska

On this day in 1980, President Jimmy Carter signed into law the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act, which converted massive tracts of Alaskan wilderness into protected land. That single act 40 years ago doubled the size of the entire national park system. Alaska's eight national parks cover more than 54 million acres. The Cove of Spires, shown here, is just one of the dramatic glacial landscapes that you can experience in Kenai Fjords National Park. Located near Seward, Alaska, the park is home to 38 glaciers which cover over half the park's area in ice—though climate change has reduced that drastically over the last decades.

星空迷