This map covers most of the Prudhoe Bay Oilfield on the North Slope of Alaska that was under development in 1980, covering 145 km^2. The map synthesizes work done for the US Army Corps of Engineers CRREL, the International Biome Program, and the UNESCO MAB Project 6.
The mapping was based on aerial photographs taken in 1973 at a scale of 1:6000. The maps are thus a static representation of a type of arctic tundra at a time when only relatively minor terrain disturbance had occurred. It can be used as a baseline against which further natural and human-induced changes to the landscape can be measured.
A geoecological approach was used in the mapping of landforms (12 units as well as linear mapping of steep embankments, undercut river banks, excavated areas and streams), soils (7 units) and land cover (29 natural vegetation units and 8 disturbed units).
References
Walker, D. A., K. R. Everett, P. J. Webber, and J. Brown. 1980. Geobotanical Atlas of the Prudhoe Bay Region, Alaska. US Army Corps of Engineers, CRREL Report 80-14.
