DEVELOPMENT OF LAKES ON BEACH RIDGE COMPLEXES IN NW ALASKA DURING THE LATE HOLOCENE: PALEOENVIRONMENTAL AND ARCHAEOLOGICAL IMPLICATIONS OF AN OVERLOOKED SYSTEM

Mid-to-late Holocene storm histories, sea level trends, and shore-zone geomorphic processes are recorded in beach ridge complexes and coastal plains globally. Gravel- and sand-dominated coastal systems in Northwest Alaska (NWAK) provide valuable archives of these processes, and of human adaptations to these environments. Inter-ridge lakes have developed on all NWAK beach ridge complexes during the late Holocene, and have expanded to cross-cut many ridges and ridge sets in response to wind and wave climate, shoreline sediment availability, and permafrost thaw-depth. This paper reviews the distribution of beach ridge lake systems in NWAK, their morphologic similarities regionally and with temperate systems, and the paleoenvironmental and archaeological implications of their continued evolution.