1955 Map of Sagavanirktok D-5

About this map

Braided river systems dominate this northern landscape, captured by U.S. Geological Survey photogrammetry in the mid-1950s. The wide, shifting channels of the Kuparuk River flow northward across the tundra, characterized by complex meanders and numerous oxbow lakes. Toward the eastern edge of the quadrangle, the Toolik River joins the drainage network, navigating a terrain densely pocketed with small thaw lakes and marshy depressions. This survey records the natural state of the North Slope before industrial development, showing an environment defined entirely by its hydrological patterns and the absence of any established roads or permanent settlements at the time of the 1955 field annotation.