Editing St. Paul, Alaska (section)

==Geography and geology==
St. Paul is located at {{Coord|57|7|30|N|170|17|3|W|type:city}} (57.133806, −170.266614).<ref name="GR1">{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/geographies/reference-files/time-series/geo/gazetteer-files.html|publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]]|access-date=April 23, 2011|date=February 12, 2011|title=US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990}}</ref>

Saint Paul is the largest of the Pribilof Islands and lies the farthest north. With a width of {{cvt|7.66|mi|km}} at its widest point and a length of {{cvt|13.5|mi|km}} on its longest axis (which runs from northeast to southwest), it has a total area of {{cvt|43|mi2|km2}}. Volcanic in origin, Saint Paul features a number of [[cinder cone]]s and [[volcanic crater]]s in its interior. The highest of these, Rush Hill, rises to {{cvt|665|ft|m}} on the island's western shore, though most of the [[Highland (geography)|upland]] areas average less than {{cvt|150|ft|m}} in elevation. Most of the island is a low-lying mix of rocky plateaus and valleys, with some of the valleys holding freshwater ponds. Much of its {{cvt|45.5|mi|km}} of shoreline is rugged and rocky, rising to sheer cliffs at several headlands, though long sandy beaches backed by shifting sand dunes flank a number of shallow bays.<ref>{{cite book |last=Jordan |first=David Starr |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-RILAAAAIAAJ |title=The Fur Seals and Fur-seal Islands of the North Pacific Ocean |publisher=U.S. Department of the Treasury: Government Printing Office |year=1898 |location=Washington, D.C. |page=31}}</ref>

Like the other Pribilof Islands, Saint Paul rises from a [[basalt]]ic base. Its hills are primarily brown or red [[tufa]] and cinder heaps, though some (like Polavina) are composed of red [[scoria]] and [[breccia]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Elliott |first=Henry W. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OnIrAAAAYAAJ |title=A Monograph of the Seal Islands |publisher=Government Printing Office |year=1882 |location=Washington, D.C. |page=19 |access-date=May 31, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150330134132/http://books.google.com/books?id=onIRAAAAYAAJ |archive-date=March 30, 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref> The island sits on the southern edge of the [[Bering-Chukchi platform]], and may have been part of the [[Bering Land Bridge]]'s southern coastline when the [[Last glacial period|last ice age]]'s [[glacier]]s reached their maximum expansion. Sediment [[core sample]]s taken on Saint Paul show that [[tundra]] vegetation similar to that found on the island today has been present for at least 9,000&nbsp;years. The thick rough turf is dominated by [[umbellifer]]s (particularly ''[[Angelica]]'') and ''[[Artemisia (genus)|Artemisia]]'', though grasses and sedges are also abundant.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/beringlandbridge0000hopk |title=The Bering Land Bridge |publisher=Stanford University Press |year=1967 |isbn=978-0-8047-0272-0 |editor-last=Hopkins |editor-first=David Moody |location=Stanford, CA |pages=[https://archive.org/details/beringlandbridge0000hopk/page/224 224–226] |url-access=registration}}</ref>
[[File:Big_Lake,_Saint_Paul_Island,_Alaska.jpg|alt=Smooth, rounded hills and flatlands covered in golden-brown vegetation lie beyond a lake under heavy cloud.|center|thumb|700x700px|The generally low-lying island of Saint Paul is dotted with small cinder cones and vegetation-covered sand dunes.]]