The Toolik Lake Grid map focuses on the south side of Toolik Lake. This area is one of the principal intensive research areas at the Toolik Lake Field Station. It includes many experimental research sites where long-term observations and experiments are being conducted, including the greenhouse and snow-fence experiments. The grid was constructed in 1989 to provide geographic referencing for experimental plots and to provide a sampling scheme for periodic measurements of snow, active layer and plant communities.
The surfaces of the landscapes in the Toolik Lake region have been modified by a variety of geomorphological processes including alluviation (movement of material by water), colluviation (movement of material by gravity), and periglacial processes (freezing and permafrost-related phenomena). Common surficial geomorphological features within the mapped area include sorted and nonsorted circles (frost boils), turf hummocks, gelifluction lobes and terraces, water tracks, high-and low-centered ice-wedge polygons, wetland features and thermokarst features.
Back to: Toolik Lake Grid Geobotanical
Go to Website Link :: Toolik Arctic Geobotanical Atlas below for details on legend units, photos of map units and plant species, glossary, bibliography and links to ground data.
Map Themes:
Digital Elevation, Glaical geology, Percent Water, Surficial geology, Surficial Geomorphology, Vegetation
References
Walker, D. A., Maier, H. A. 2008. Vegetation in the Vicinity of the Toolik Lake Field Station, Alaska. Biological Papers of the University of Alaska, Institute of Arctic Biology. No. 28.
