Cannon, P.J., and Rawlinson, S.E., 1981, Environmental geology and geomorphology of the barrier island-lagoon system along the Beaufort Sea coastal plain from Prudhoe Bay to the Colville River: Outer Continental Shelf Environmental Assessment Program, Final Reports of Principal Investigators, v. 34, p. 351-444.
This OSCEAP study, in RU 530, was implemented to document environmental geology and geomorphology of the barrier island-lagoon system along the Beaufort Sea Alaskan shelf. Previously, little was known about the geological conditions in this region. These data were essential for siting of drill pads, transportation centers, and landfills, and to document shoreline changes, and stream channel dynamics in the region. Objectives include (1) to compile maps of the Beaufort Sea Coastal Plain and offshore areas from remotely sensed data; (2) to identify landforms, and landform assemblages within this region from these maps; (3) to measure the rates of geological change from sequential data; (4) to deduce probable non-real time, landforming processes with multiple working hypotheses; and (5) to conduct year round aerial and/or ground reconnaissance over the study area. Geological and physical processes identified as being potentially hazardous to Arctic oil-related development were: loss of ground ice and subsidence; coastal erosion; ice-shove; and storm surge.
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