Killing frosts can occur any day of the year at higher elevations. Surface Water Characteristics. Glacially fed streams flowing to the Pacific are short and steep, while those flowing to the Bering Sea are longer and have braided channels. Wetlands occupy less than 3 percent of the area. Ocean-spawned storms rack coastal areas with high wind and heavy rains.
Human occupation is restricted to the shorelines.
The region is primarily used for subsistence and recreational hunting and fishing. Aleuts inhabit the west and the Alutiiq Eskimos occupy the east. Compiled by Alaska Region. The Aleutian Islands are made up of a chain of volcanic islands perched atop the crest of a submarine ridge. Topography varies from wave-beaten level platforms near sea level, to intensely glaciated mountains indented with fjords and bordered by cliffs.