TUNDRA RELIEF FEATURES NEAR POINT BARROW, ALASKA

• Main Authors: Keith M. Hussey, Ronald W. Michelsont
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Subjects: Arctic; Barrow; Point Barrow; Thermokarst; toundra; Tundra; Alaska
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.452.5463; http://arctic.synergiesprairies.ca/arctic/index.php/arctic/article/viewFile/3423/3398/

ABSTRACT. The distribution of minor tundra relief patterns shows that topography plays a leading part in their development. In extensive areas of very low relief, local expression may well exceed the regional range. Aside from the initial relief, the greatest deviations from a flat surface in the Barrow area are related to the growth or thaw of ground ice. This leads to such features as high- and low-centred polygons, ice-wedge troughs, ice-cored mounds and thaw basins of all sizes. The genesis of most of these features has been determined. However, it has been questioned that the basins could have been formed by thaw. Specimens of the frozen ground were collected and analyzed to determine their relative ice content. The values were extrapolated, and it was found that even the largest basins can be true thermokarst features. RfiSUMfi. Traits de relief de la toundra prbs de Point Barrow, Alaska. La distribution des traits mineurs du relief de la toundra demontre que la topographie joue un r6le majeur dans leur ddveloppement. Dans de grandes zones de relief trbs faible, l’expression locale dkpasse souvent la portke rkgionale. Abstraction faite du relief initial, les plus grandes ddviations de la surface plane dans la rdgion de Barrow sont likes B la croissance ou B la fonte de la glace dans le sol. Ce qui donne des traits comme les polygones B centre souleve ou en creux, les fentes de coins de glace, les monticules B noyau de glace et des cuvettes de fonte de toutes dimensions. On a pu determiner la genhse de la plupart de ces traits. Cependant, on a mis en doute la for-mation des cuvettes par la fonte. La cueillette et l’analyse de specimens de sol gel6 ont permis de determiner leur teneur relative en glace. Ces valeurs extrapolees ont dkmontr6 que mkme les plus grandes cuvettes peuvent &re d’origine thermokarstique. REZBME. Osobennosti rel’efa tundry vblizi Mysa Barrou, AlaCka. Rasprostranenie tipov Na obshirnykh uchastkakh ochen ’ nizkogo rel’efa lokal’nye cherty mogut prevyshat ’ raionnyi malogo rel’efa ...