Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/11681/5852
Title: The classification and geomorphic implications of thaw lakes on the Arctic coastal plain, Alaska
Authors: Sellmann, P. V. (Paul V.)
Brown, Jerry, 1936-
Lewellen, Robert Irl
McKim, H. L. (Harlan L.)
Merry, C. J.
Keywords: Arctic Coastal Plain, Alaska
Ice
Images
Lakes
Permafrost
Satellites (artificial)
Satellite imagery
Satellite photography
ERTS-1
Thaw lakes
EPOLAR
Publisher: Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (U.S.)
Engineer Research and Development Center (U.S.)
Series/Report no.: Research report (Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (U.S.)) ; 344.
Description: Research Report
Abstract: The lakes of the Arctic Coastal Plain of northern Alaska were classified, based on size, shape, orientation and distribution, into six lake units and three nonlake units. Regional slope and relief were demonstrated to control lake size, the largest lakes occurring on the flattest, northernmost segment of the Coastal Plain. Using ERTS-1 sequential imagery and existing photography and data, lakes were grouped according to three depth ranges, < 1 m, 1-2 m and > 2 m. Deepest lakes have the longest period of summer ice cover. Ice on shallow lakes melts the earliest. Maximum depths of lakes were computed based on ice volume content of the perennially frozen ground (permafrost) and these agreed with observed values and ranges. The lake classification and regional ERTS-1 coverage also appear to provide additional information on the limits of late-Pleistocene transgressions on the Coastal Plain.
Rights: Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited.
URI: http://hdl.handle.net/11681/5852
Appears in Collections:Research Report

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