page_title: Nunivak Island
section_title: Geology and natural history
hierarchical_section_title: Nunivak Island / Geology and natural history
caption_attribution_description: English: Nash Harbor, Nunivak; 1927 showing bay, houses, and the mouth of the Ellikarrmiut River. Original title "At Nash Harbor"
context_page_description: Nunivak Island is a permafrost-covered volcanic island lying about 30 miles offshore from the delta of the Yukon and Kuskokwim rivers in the US state of Alaska, at a latitude of about 60° N. The island is 1,631.97 square miles in area, making it the second-largest island in the Bering Sea and eighth-largest island in the United States. It is 76.2 kilometers long and 106 kilometers wide. It has a population of 191 persons as of the 2010 census, down from 210 in 2000. The island's entire population lived in the north coast city of Mekoryuk.
context_section_description: Nunivak Island is volcanic in origin; most of the island is dominated by volcanic plateau 500 ft (160 m) or more above sea level. The island is dotted with about 60 cinder cones and four maars. Much of its surface consists of widespread, thin flows of pahoehoe lava from small shield volcanoes, which spread over sedimentary rock of the Cretaceous period. Volcanic eruptions took place during 5 periods of activity beginning 6.1 million years ago. Most of the volcanic field was formed during the two most recent eruptive periods during the Pleistocene ending about 300,000 years ago. Because of the history of volcanic activity, it is considered part of the Bering Sea Volcanic Province. The Ibkilwit Lava Bed is located on Nunivak Island.
  Tundra is the main landscape feature; the largest trees on Nunivak are dwarf willow trees, most less than 4 ft (1.2 m) tall. More than 40 rivers drain the tundra upland.  Brackish lagoons ring the eastern and southern shores, and steep volcanic cliffs dominate the northwest shores.
  At least 89 migratory seabird and waterfowl species have seasonal homes on Nunivak Island, including several endangered and threatened species. Dense summer breeding rookeries are found on all shores of the island and in inland tundra lakes.
  Prehistorically, Nunivak was home to a modest herd of caribou, but these were exterminated after the introduction of firearms in the late 19th or early 20th century. United States Fish and Wildlife introduced reindeer and musk ox onto the island in the 1930s and 1940s. Large herds of these animals are maintained by the local Native Corporation of Mekoryuk.
  Most of the island is part of the Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge, administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
caption: Nash Harbor, Nunivak; 1927 showing bay, houses, and the mouth of the Ellikarrmiut River.
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