The Kokolik River (Iñupiaq: Qaqalik) is a stream, 200 mi long, in the western North Slope of the U.S. state of Alaska.

Geography

The Kokolik River (Iñupiaq: Qaqalik) is a stream, 200 mi long, in the western North Slope of the U.S. state of Alaska. It rises in the De Long Mountains of the western Brooks Range and flows generally north and northwest into the Kasegaluk Lagoon. The river mouth is 1 mi east of Point Lay, on the Chukchi Sea of the Arctic Ocean. Its Inuit name, Qaqalik, refers to the alpine bistort, an edible plant found in the region. A variant name, Kepizetka (qipigsatqaq), recorded on an Inuit map in the late 19th century, means "it twists" or "crooked".

Geology

The river passes through the Nanushuk Formation in the westernmost National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska (NPR-A). The sandstone contains oil, which is thought to have been generated beneath Western North Slope and migrated northeastward into NPR-A.

History

In the summer of 1977, a tundra fire, apparently caused by lightning, affected 44 km2 near the Kokolik River due east of Point Lay. Vegetation along the border of the National Petroleum Reserve burned during an exceptionally dry spell in the region. The site was the furthest north the Bureau of Land Management had ever fought a tundra fire.