Landsat 7 false-color image of the North Slope. Along the coast,
fast ice still clings to the shore in a solid, frozen sheet. At the top of the scene is the drifting sea ice. A dark blue strip of open water, known as a
flaw lead, separates the fast ice from the drifting sea ice. The
Brooks Range is visible at the bottom.
The 'Alaska North Slope' is the region of the
U.S. state of
Alaska located on the northern slope of the
Brooks Range along the coast of the
Arctic Ocean. The region contains the
National Petroleum Reserve–Alaska, with the bulk of Alaska's known
petroleum until the
Prudhoe Bay field was discovered in 1968, as well as the
Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, which itself has been the subject of controversy surrounding the possibility of petroleum drilling within its boundaries. The petroleum extracted from the region is transferred south by means of the
Trans-Alaska Pipeline System to
Valdez on the
Pacific Ocean.
Within the North Slope, only a surface "active layer" of the
tundra thaws each season; most of the soil is permanently frozen year-round. On top of this
permafrost, water flows to sea via shallow, braided streams or settles into pools and ponds. Along the bottom of the image the rugged terrain of the Brooks Range Mountains is snow-covered in places (blue areas) and exposed (pink areas) in others.
Much of the region is located in the
North Slope Borough.
References
★
North Slope Science Initiative
★
North Slope of Alaska
External Links
★
North Slope areawide oil and gas lease sale : preliminary best interest finding by Alaska. Division of Oil and Gas. Hosted by
Alaska State Publications Program
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