Hydrologic and geomorphic processes in the Colville River delta, Alaska

Regional benthic food web structure on the Alaska Beaufort Sea shelf

“…This latter pattern is contrary to our expectation that terrestrial material from the Colville River significantly influences the coastal regime during the time of runoff (~May to September, Walker & Hudson 2003). Dunton et al (2012) found very low suspended particle δ 13 C values, accompanied by low salinities (ranging from 10 to 25), in the Beaufort Sea coastal lagoons, which are indicative of a strong terrestrial signal resulting from the numerous small rivers discharging directly into the lagoons.…”

River meandering on Earth and Mars: A comparative study of Aeolis Dorsa meanders, Mars and possible terrestrial analogs of the Usuktuk River, AK, and the Quinn River, NV

“…Exposures of ice, either as ice wedges or massive bedded ice are common on eroding banks of larger rivers (e.g. Walker and Arnborg (1966), Walker et al (1987), Costard et al (2003), Walker and Hudson (2003), Rowland et al (2009)) and erosion of river banks is often attributed to be dominated by thermo-erosional niching (Walker and Arnborg, 1966;Lewellen, 1972;Scott, 1978;Walker et al, 1987;Costard et al, 2003;Gautier et al, 2003;Walker and Hudson, 2003). This suggests that cohesion introduced by interstitial or massive ice in river banks limits rates of bank erosion and might provide the bank stability necessary to favor meandering over braided stream patterns.…”

“…Scott (1978) suggests rates of bank erosion are commonly less than seasonal depth of thaw. On the other hand, in large rivers thermomechanical notching and attendant bank retreat can exceed 3-5 m, with extremes exceeding 8 m for an individual event (Walker et al, 1987;Walker and Hudson, 2003;Walker and Jorgenson, 2011). But average rates of bank erosion in bends of large rivers is more typically 0.9 m per year and less for cohesive banks, with local maximum rates several times higher (Walker et al, 1987;Gautier et al, 2003;Walker and Jorgenson, 2011).…”

“…In large arctic rivers and deltas lateral erosion generally occurs by notching of the lower parts of river banks and undermining and collapse or slumping of the more cohesive, frozen, and generally vegetated upper portions of the bank (Lewellen, 1972;Scott, 1978;Walker et al, 1987;Walker and Hudson, 2003;Walker and Jorgenson, 2011). Seasonal depth of thaw can reach 50 cm in coarse sediment, but can be only a few centimeters in cohesive sediment (Scott, 1978).…”

Reconstruction of a high-resolution late holocene arctic paleoclimate record from Colville River delta sediments.

“…Measured sedimentation rates in Simpson's Lagoon vary with proximity to the river mouth, but average about 1 to 5 mm yr -1 , and sediments are well-laminated with no disturbance from ice grounding or macrofauna [Hanna et al in review]. The Colville River has the largest drainage basin in the Arctic that is confined to the zone of continuous permafrost (53,000 km 2 and 29% of the Alaskan North Slope) [Walker and Hudson 2003]. Because the river drains the glaciated Brooks Range, it has a relatively high sediment load for an Arctic River (362 g m -3 [Arnborg et al 1967]).…”