Marine Ice-Pushed Boulder Ridge, Beaufort Sea, Alaska

• Published in: ARCTIC
• Main Author: Barnes, Peter W.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: The Arctic Institute of North America 1982
• Subjects: Coasts; Fast ice; Ice ride-up; Alaskan Beaufort Sea; Camden Bay region; Alaska; Prudhoe Bay region; Arctic; Beaufort Sea; Prudhoe Bay
• Online Access: https://journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/arctic/article/view/65382

A steep-faced boulder ridge up to 4 m high by 300 m long was encountered along the arctic coast east of Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, in the summer of 1979. Marine occurrences of similar ridges are rare. Since ice-push sorts cobble- and boulder-sized material in the construction of a ridge, recent onshore excursions of ice due to wind stress on the fast ice are believed to be responsible for building the boulder ridge. Ice push is a mechanism that preferentially sorts cobble- and boulder-sized material from 1-2 water depths and that forms boulder ridges in areas of high boulder concentrations.Key words: marine ice-pushed boulder ridge, Beaufort Sea, Alaska