Geology Reference
In-Depth Information
(A)
(B)
Figure
8.15.
Terrain disturbance associated with vehicle movement on tundra. (A) Old vehicle
track, probably made in the early 1950s in the United States Navy Petroleum Reserve No. 4
(now NPR-4), northern Alaska, initiated thermokarst subsidence and became a canal, August 1977.
(B) Gully erosion occurred along a vehicle track made in the summer of 1970 near the site of the
Drake Point blow-out, Sabine Peninsula, Melville Island, NWT, Canada. The terrain is underlain
by ice-rich shale of the Christopher Formation (Cretaceous). The photograph was taken in August
1976.
programs and environmental impact assessments, the timing of winter-road use, explora-
tory drilling and seismic work, and the mining of aggregate sources. In Canada, the right-
of-way associated with the Norman Wells pipeline is monitored regularly to ensure that
terrain stability is maintained (Burgess and Harry, 1990). Similar environmental proce-
dures are adopted in Alaska and Svalbard, but their late introduction in Russia meant
