uk_surfgeom_u6

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Spatial_Data_Organization_Information
Spatial_Reference_Information
Entity_and_Attribute_Information
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Metadata_Reference_Information

Identification_Information:

Citation:

Citation_Information:

Originator: Alaska Geobotany Center
Publication_Date: Unknown
Title: uk_surfgeom_u6
Geospatial_Data_Presentation_Form: vector digital data
Online_Linkage: \\137.229.50.172\geodata\arcticAtlasMaster.gdb

Description:

Abstract:: The surficial geomorphology map of the Upper Kaparuk River region covers 751-km^2 in the upper Kaparuk River watershed, including the Toolik Lake and the Imnavait Creek research areas, as well as portions of the Dalton Highway and Trans-Alaskan Pipeline from the northern end of Galbraith Lake to Slope Mountain.
The surfaces of the landscapes in the Upper Kaparuk River region have been modified by a variety of geomorphological processes including alluviation (movement of material by water), colluviation (movement of material by gravity), and periglacial processes (freezing and permafrost related phenomena). Many of the surface forms have been described for the Imnavait Creek region (Walker and Walker 1996). Common surficial geomorphological features within the mapped area include sorted and unsorted circles (frost boils), turf hummocks, gelifluction lobes and terraces, water tracks, high- and low-centered ice-wedge polygons, wetland features, (strangmoor, aligned hummocks, palsas), and thermosarst features.
Surficial geomorphology was grouped into the following classes:
Stony surface. Areas covered by cobbles and stones such as river gravels, talus slopes, blockfields, and bedrock areas.
Nonsorted circles and stripes. Roughly circular 1-2-m diameter slightly convex barren features, spaced from 2 to many meters apart. They are composed of fine-grained mineral material that periodically undergo freezing and heaving. Nonsorted circles, or frost scars, are ubiquitous features on most hillslopes, and are not differentiated here unless they cover more than 50% of a surface. Stripes are hillslopes with a striped pattern consisting of elongated relatively dry well-drained elements 1-3 m wide oriented down the steepest available slope, alternating with intervening moister interstripe elements 1-3 m wide. They are caused by combination of cryoturbation, erosion, and gelifluction. The dry elements usually are covered by nonsorted circles. Most stripes are nonsorted with similar grain size of material in the stripe and interstripe areas; sorted stripes and circles occur in rocky alpine areas.
Gelifluction features. Areas of slow downslope movement of the active layer caused by saturated soils moving over permanently frozen ground. Includes gelifluction lobes, benches, and streams mostly greater than 50 cm high. Common on steep hillslopes. Upland turf hummocks are small regularly spaced hummocks (<50 cm high) and 25 to 50 cm wide, thought to be caused by a combination of runoff, thermal erosion and gelifluction. They are common on steep well-drained slopes, often found in association with snowbeds and gelifluction lobes and terraces.
Well-developed hillslope watertracks. Shallow subparallel drainages normally spaced tens of meters apart, with well defined channels giving many slopes distinctive "horsetail" patterns. Well-developed watertracks carry runoff and meltwater through most of the summer and are usually filled with shrubby vegetation. They are most abundant on long lower hillslopes, particularly slopes that have deep snow accumulation to provide meltwater throughout the summer.
Poorly-developed hillslope watertracks. Watertracks with poorly defined channels that normally carry runoff only during the snowmelt season and immediately after rainfall events. They are discernible on aerial photographs because of somewhat shrubbier vegetation in the water tracks. Poorly defined watertracks often occur on upper hillslopes and may turn into well-developed watertracks on the lower slopes.
High-centered ice-wedge polygons and palsas. Ice-wedge polygons with a raised center portion that is raised above the trough element. Relief between the center and the trough is normally about 0.5-1.0 m, and polygon diameters are usually 10-15 m in diameter. High centered polygons occur marginal to larger streams and rivers, especially on outwash terraces. On some upland surfaces, the polygons are poorly developed or totally masked by tussock-tundra vegetation. Some raised features, particularly in colluvial palsas, which are small peaty mounds with perennial ice lenses.
Wetland microrelief. Wet areas with a mixture of strangmoor, disjunct ice-wedge polygon rims, aligned hummocks, nonaligned hummocks, and lowland watertracks. Strangmoor consists strangs, which are sinuous ridges many meters long that form perpendicular to the direction of the local hydrologic gradient. Aligned hummocks are shorter features also oriented perpendicular to the hydrologic gradient. The strangs are up to 0.5 m wide and 0.5 high. Disjunct polygon rims are associated with incompletely formed or eroded low-centered polygons.Low-centered ice-wedge polygons composed of a central low "basin", a raised "rim", and a "trough" between polygons. The basins are usually 8-10 m in width and circular to weakly polygonal in plan. The raised rims of the polygons may be as much as 1-2 m wide, as much as 0.5 m higher than the basin and may compose over 30% of the total polygonal unit. The troughs of polygons occur over the tops of underlying ice wedges, are usually less than 1 m wide. The basins and troughs are usually wet all summer. Thermokarst ponds commonly occur at the junctions of polygon troughs. Low-centered polygons are not abundant in the region but occur in association with flat drained lake basins and river floodplains. pads.
Water includes thermokarsts, rivers, and pond complexes. The thermokarst code is used in three situations: (1) Areas with eroding subsurface ice that may be buried glacial ice or ice-rich permafrost; this occurs marginal to several kettle lakes on Itkillik-age glacial surfaces. (2) Thermokarst pits that occur at ice-wedge junctions and often associated with ice-wedge polygons. (3) Beaded streams that have regularly spaced circular pools that have formed where the stream has eroded out ice-wedge junctions; between "beads" the stream often follows a linear channel along eroded ice-wedges. Pond complexes are wetland areas with numerous ponds mixed with relatively well-drained areas.
Featureless. Areas with no discernible pattern at the mapping scale. However, nonsorted circles, small gelifluction features, and/or poorly-developed water tracks commonly occur in these areas.
Irregular microrelief. This unit is used for a wide variety of situations where there is considerable microrelief that cannot be ascribed to any of the above features, such as rolling topography common on till and outwash surfaces, hillslopes and bluffs with irregular erosion features, and floodplains with a mixture of channels, bars, ponds, etc.
Disturbed. Includes gravel mines and contstruction pads.
Purpose:: Map of surface features in the Upper Kuparuk River region foe use by various projects.

Time_Period_of_Content:

Time_Period_Information:

Single_Date/Time:

Calendar_Date: unknown

Currentness_Reference: Unknown

Status:

Progress: In work
Maintenance_and_Update_Frequency: Unknown

Spatial_Domain:

Bounding_Coordinates:

West_Bounding_Coordinate: -149.698700
East_Bounding_Coordinate: -149.000441
North_Bounding_Coordinate: 68.747945
South_Bounding_Coordinate: 68.471113

Keywords:

Theme:

Theme_Keyword_Thesaurus: ISO 19115 Topic Category
Theme_Keyword: environment
Theme_Keyword: geoscientificInformation

Theme:

Theme_Keyword_Thesaurus: Alaska Geobotany Center
Theme_Keyword: geomorphology
Theme_Keyword: ITUM
Theme_Keyword: tundra

Place:

Place_Keyword_Thesaurus: Alaska Geobotany Center
Place_Keyword: Arctic
Place_Keyword: Alaska
Place_Keyword: US
Place_Keyword: northslope
Place_Keyword: Upper Kuparuk River
Place_Keyword: Toolik Lake
Place_Keyword: Imnavait Creek

Access_Constraints:

REQUIRED: Restrictions and legal prerequisites for accessing the data set.

Use_Constraints:

REQUIRED: Restrictions and legal prerequisites for using the data set after access is granted.

Point_of_Contact:

Contact_Information:

Contact_Organization_Primary:

Contact_Organization: Alaska Geobotany Center
Contact_Person: Hilmar A. Maier

Contact_Position: GIS and Remote Sensing Manager

Contact_Address:

Address_Type: physical address
Address: Alaska Geobotany Center
Address: Institute of Arctic Biology
Address: University of Alaska Fairbanks
City: Fairbanks
State_or_Province: AK
Postal_Code: 99775
Country: US

Contact_Voice_Telephone: +1.907.474.1540

Contact_Voice_Telephone: +1.907.474.2459

Contact_Voice_Telephone: +1.907.474.2460

Contact_Electronic_Mail_Address: hilmar.maier@alaska.edu

Contact_Instructions: <http://www.geobotany.org/>

Native_Data_Set_Environment:

Microsoft Windows XP Version 5.1 (Build 2600) Service Pack 3; ESRI ArcCatalog 9.3.1.1850

Spatial_Data_Organization_Information:

Direct_Spatial_Reference_Method: Vector

Point_and_Vector_Object_Information:

SDTS_Terms_Description:

SDTS_Point_and_Vector_Object_Type: G-polygon
Point_and_Vector_Object_Count: 11

Spatial_Reference_Information:

Horizontal_Coordinate_System_Definition:

Planar:

Grid_Coordinate_System:

Grid_Coordinate_System_Name: Universal Transverse Mercator

Universal_Transverse_Mercator:

UTM_Zone_Number: 6

Transverse_Mercator:

Scale_Factor_at_Central_Meridian: 0.999600
Longitude_of_Central_Meridian: -147.000000
Latitude_of_Projection_Origin: 0.000000
False_Easting: 500000.000000
False_Northing: 0.000000

Planar_Coordinate_Information:

Planar_Coordinate_Encoding_Method: coordinate pair

Coordinate_Representation:

Abscissa_Resolution: 0.000100
Ordinate_Resolution: 0.000100

Planar_Distance_Units: meters

Geodetic_Model:

Horizontal_Datum_Name: North American Datum of 1983
Ellipsoid_Name: Geodetic Reference System 80
Semi-major_Axis: 6378137.000000
Denominator_of_Flattening_Ratio: 298.257222

Vertical_Coordinate_System_Definition:

Altitude_System_Definition:

Altitude_Resolution: 0.000100
Altitude_Encoding_Method:: Explicit elevation coordinate included with horizontal coordinates

Entity_and_Attribute_Information:

Detailed_Description:

Entity_Type:

Entity_Type_Label: uk_surfgeom_u6

Attribute:

Attribute_Label: OBJECTID

Attribute_Definition: Internal feature number.

Attribute_Definition_Source: ESRI