Home Alaska Info & Geography Our Itineraries Photography & Cinematography Interactive Map Alaska Links & Websitepartners Contact / Disclaimer Alaska Cruise Alaska Overland Alaska Glaciers Alaska National Parks Alaska Wildlife Alaska Marine Wildlife Alaska Adventures Alaska Flora Alaska Background Stories Alaska Presentations Cruisepage2 HubbardGlacier AialikGlacier KnikGlacier Iceplanet1 Iceplanet2 ValdezGlacier WorthingtonGlacier MearesGlacier ColumbiaGlacier GlacierBayNP1 GlacierBayNP2 RootGlacier ExitGlacier MatanuskaGlacier WrangelStENP WrangellStENP/Flightseeing WrangellStENP/Naturehike WrangellStENP/Kennicott KenaiFjordsNP DenaliNP PWSMarineWildlifeCruise BearAdventure TopOfTheWorldHighway BibleofNorthCountryTravel AGoodDaysCatch NotOnlyCowsAreCalving Bears LearnToFish 24HoursAnchorage TheLonelyFisherman PrehistoricWildlife TheFisihingIsGreatInValdez OffTheBeatenPath YukonInfo KlondikeGoldrush Beringia ARailroadToHell Alaska2012-1 Alaska2012-2 Alaska2012-3 Alaska2012-4 Alaska2012-5 Alaska2012-6 Alaska2012-7 Alaska2012-8 BeringiaBeringia (green on the map) was a landbridge connecting Alaska and Eastern Siberia. Due to rising sea levels the land vanished about 11,000 years ago. During the ice ages of the late Pleistocene (2.6 million – 10,000 million years ago) half of the American continent was covered by enormous glaciers. At its peak time, the ice covered an area of 6 million square miles and in some places it was more than 1.5 miles thick!But in the northwest there was an area that remained free of ice. This land was called Beringia*, which stretched out from the Canadian Yukon and Alaska to Siberia in the west. The Yukon Territory and Alaska of today once belonged to the area that we call Beringia and the glaciers that we still see here are the leftovers of the ice plains, which reached their peak about 20,000 years ago.But how did the area between Siberia and Alaska become exposed? The answer to this question lies hidden in the enormous, moving ice plains.The present Bering Strait connects the Chukchi Sea in the north and the Bering Sea in the south. Both are shallow waters. During global cooling cycles, such as the last ice age, the ice masses soaked up so much water that the sea level dropped tremendously, exposing the sea bed: the 950 mile wide Bering Land Bridge. It was across this land bridge that living creatures ‘colonised’ the American continent.Although Beringia itself remained mainly free of ice, with the exception of some areas in the Alaska and Yukon of today, the influence of the ice is still noticeable. The ecology has constantly adapted itself to the extreme climatic circumstances and has consequently determined which plants and animals could survive.The actual soil of the pieces of land in Beringia, which are presently still exposed, has been permanently frozen since the last ice age. To this day, clues about life in this area can be found locked up in this ‘permafrost’ and intriguing pieces of history are also revealed.The largest and most famous inhabitant of Beringia was undoubtedly the mammoth. They each weighed more than 6 tons and were as big as an African male elephant. Thanks to their thick coat they could survive in the extreme climate and they are indisputably the symbol of the ice age.Land animals could also migrate via Beringia and this is the way in which mammals, which had evolved in Asia, came to North America. Mammals such as lions and cheetahs evolved into the North American native sorts, which are now extinct. The extinct lions of Beringia were related to the African lion but were up to 25% larger. They were the largest lions that ever roamed the earth.Thanks to the existence of animals such as bison, they were able to survive here. Other extinct mammals, which have left their trace in the permafrost, include the sabre-toothed tiger and the big short-faced bear, the largest bear that ever existed!During the ice age of 14,000 years ago, the Bering Land Bridge became exposed once again and completely different colonizers crossed over… humans.It is thought that the Bering Land Bridge existed during the ice age of 35,000 years ago as well as in the last ice age of 22,000 – 7,000 years ago.The present coastlines of Siberia and Alaska took on their form about 6,000 years ago.*Beringia is named after the Danish explorer Vitus Bering. In the 19th Century he was commissioned by the Russian Tsar to investigate the coastal areas of the Northern Great Ocean.Sources: Wikipedia; Yukon Visitor Information Centre Whitehorse brochures; Yukon Beringia Interpretive Centre catalogue; Alaska & Yukon Last Great Road Trip Travel Guide. Beringia, The Land That Vanished Click on an image in the webgallery to view a fullscreen impression Read more Viewpoint along the Klondike Highway at the eastern boundary of Beringia overlooking the Yukon River in today's Yukon Territory (Canada). Beringia Museum Skeleton of a mammoth Short-faced bear Sabre-toothed tiger Yukon River, Carcross Whitehorse alaska-editions.com Om alle inhoud te kunnen zien hebt u de actuele versie van Adobe Flash Player nodig. |