Abstract
Abstract. Lakes within the Colville River delta in northern Alaska, USA, vary in size from small ponds created by ice-wedge growth to thaw lakes that are as much as three kilometres long and ten metres deep. As the river migrates, lake edges are breached and the lakes are drained. Such lake tapping is aided by permafrost thaw and ice wedge melt and, in the case of the larger lakes, by wave action within them. Once a lake is tapped, it drains rapidly creating a deep scour hole at its entrance and from then on it is subject to the varying stages and discharge of the river. During flooding, when the river is transporting its largest amount of sediment, the tapped lakes become settling basins and rapidly fill. The Colville River delta has lakes in all stages from freshly breached to those that are now being destroyed by channel migration.
Highlights
The North American Arctic Coastal Plain extends from the Chukchi Sea eastward across northern Alaska and Canada’s Yukon Territory, and northeast to Meighen Island
It ranges in width from 15 to 150 km with the largest extent being in northern Alaska
In contrast are those lakes that are present in the two major deltas that lie in the Coastal Plain: the Mackenzie (Canada) and the Colville (USA)
Summary
The North American Arctic Coastal Plain extends from the Chukchi Sea eastward across northern Alaska and Canada’s Yukon Territory, and northeast to Meighen Island. Because of their distinctive characteristics they have received the bulk of the research devoted to lakes in the area (Carter et al 1987, Jorgenson & Shur 2007). In contrast are those lakes that are present in the two major deltas that lie in the Coastal Plain: the Mackenzie (Canada) and the Colville (USA). All of the delta’s water bodies are surrounded by, and most of them are underlain by, permafrost Exceptions are those lakes and distributary channels that are deeper than ~2 m, i.e. those that do not freeze to the bottom during winter. They are underlain by un-frozen zones known as taliks
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