| Kokolik River | |
| Map Size: | 300 |
| Pushpin Map: | USA Alaska |
| Pushpin Map Size: | 300 |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Location of the mouth of the Kokolik River in Alaska |
| Subdivision Type1: | Country |
| Subdivision Name1: | United States |
| Subdivision Type2: | State |
| Subdivision Name2: | Alaska |
| Subdivision Type4: | Borough |
| Subdivision Name4: | North Slope |
| Length: | 200miles[1] |
| Source1: | De Long Mountains |
| Source1 Coordinates: | 68.5058°N -162.1625°W |
| Source1 Elevation: | 2631feet[2] |
| Mouth: | Kasegaluk Lagoon, Chukchi Sea, Arctic Ocean |
| Mouth Location: | 1miles east of Point Lay |
| Mouth Coordinates: | 69.7708°N -162.9967°W[3] |
| Mouth Elevation: | 0feet |
The Kokolik River (Iñupiaq: Qaqalik) is a stream, 200miles long, in the western North Slope of the U.S. state of Alaska.
The Kokolik River (Iñupiaq: Qaqalik) is a stream, 200miles long, in the western North Slope of the U.S. state of Alaska.[1] It rises in the De Long Mountains of the western Brooks Range and flows generally north and northwest into the Kasegaluk Lagoon.[3] The river mouth is 1miles east of Point Lay, on the Chukchi Sea of the Arctic Ocean.[3]
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".[3]
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.[4]
In the summer of 1977, a tundra fire, apparently caused by lightning, affected 44km2 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.[5]