Eolian sand and interbedded organic horizons at Kealok Creek on the Arctic Coastal Plain of Alaska: possible regional implications

Abstract

Eolian sand has long been recognized as a widespread but minor facies of supposedly dominantly marine sediments of the Gubik Formation of the Arctic Coastal Plain (Smith and Mertie, 1930; Black, 1951 and 1964; O'Sullivan, 1961). Descriptions of eolian landforms of the coastal plain have been published by several authors, including Black (1951), Rickert and Tedrow (1967), and Walker (1967 and 1973). Many of the dunes discussed by these authors are associated with modern floodplains. Black (1951), however, outlined an area of stabilized longitudinal, parabolic, and multicyclic dunes occurring over an area of 12,950 sq km west of the Colville River, which includes the area discussed in this report. Black (1951, p. 93) characterized the dunes as being most abundant on crests of ridges and other topographic irregularities, and pointed out that they are commonly associated with the cut banks of large lakes and streams. He described the longitudinal dunes as generally less than 1,000 m long, but as much as 2,500 m in length and stated that they "...appear to be only a few feet thick, although some may be as much as 10 to 20 feet thick." Field investigations during the summer of 1977 on the Arctic Coastal Plain (Williams and others, 1977) disclosed that, over at least a portion of this area, the ridges upon which the small dunes described by Black are superimposed, and the cut banks associated with the dunes, consist of eolian deposits that comprise the major part of the Gubik Formation.