During 2009 the Alaska Division of Geological & Geophysical Surveys (DGGS) conducted reconnaissance interpretive mapping of permafrost in Alaska Highway Corridor Segment 3, a 12-mi-wide (19.3-km-wide) corridor that straddles the Alaska Highway through the Northway-Tanacross Lowland and the southern Yukon-Tanana Upland from Tetlin Junction to the Canada border. This work was an extension of permafrost mapping done in Alaska Highway Corridor Segment 1 from Delta Junction to Dot Lake in the Big Delta and Mt. Hayes Quadrangles during 2006-2007 and Alaska Highway Corridor Segment 2 from the Robertson River to Tetlin Junction in the Tanacross Quadrangles during 2008. Primarily, we inferred the extent of permafrost and ice content by interpreting ~1:65,000-scale, false-color infrared aerial photographs taken in July 1978 and August 1981.

During 2008 the Alaska Division of Geological & Geophysical Surveys (DGGS) conducted reconnaissance interpretive mapping of permafrost in Alaska Highway Corridor Segment 2, a 12-mi-wide (19.3-km-wide) corridor that straddles the Alaska Highway through the upper Tanana River valley from the eastern boundary of the Mt. Hayes Quadrangle to the eastern edge of the Tanacross Quadrangle. This work was an extension of permafrost mapping done in Alaska Highway Corridor Segment 1 from Delta Junction to Dot Lake in the Big Delta and Mt. Hayes Quadrangles during 2006-2007. Primarily, we inferred the extent of permafrost and ice content by interpreting ~1:65,000-scale, false-color infrared aerial photographs taken in July 1978, August 1980, and July 1983.

Alaska Division of Geological & Geophysical Surveys (DGGS) has conducted 1:63,360-scale geologic mapping of the Sagavanirktok B-1 Quadrangle (640 square km�equivalent to four 7.5 minute quadrangles). This mapping project reinterprets micropaleontologic correlations for 17 Sagavanirktok Quadrangle wells, and reprocesses data from the one publicly-available seismic line. Surface geologic mapping, subsurface-to-surface stratigraphic age control, and seismic framework are required to reliably decipher the complex geology of this key area of the Brooks Range. Outcrops within the Sagavanirktok B-1 Quadrangle are the closest surface expressions of Prudhoe Bay source and reservoir rocks. This study yields critical petroleum-related information from these surface exposures, and how they relate to the area subsurface stratigraphy.

Geophysical measurements were collected by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) at five sites in Interior Alaska in September 2021 for the purposes of imaging permafrost structure and quantifying variations in subsurface moisture content in relation to thaw features. Electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) measurements were made along transects 110-222 meters (m) in length to quantify subsurface permafrost characteristics. ERT transects were collected across a fireline boundary within the Bonanza Creek Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) site where repeat measurements have been made since 2014; across and adjacent to two thermokarst lakes, Vault Lake and Goldstream Lake; and along two profiles at the North Star golf course in Fairbanks, Alaska. Models of electrical resistivity produced from these data revealed the distribution of frozen and thawed soil to depths of 10-40 m below the surface. Borehole nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) data were collected at two sites in order to determine liquid water content at depth in shallow boreholes. NMR data were collected in a 2.25 m-deep borehole at the North Star golf course adjacent to one of the ERT profiles, and in another two 1.625 m-deep boreholes adjacent to Big Trail Lake where previous NMR measurements were made in 2019 and 2020. Manual permafrost-probe measurements of thaw depths were collected at set intervals along each ERT transect and adjacent to NMR measurement locations used for comparison to the geophysical measurements, except at the North Star golf course where shallow permafrost was absent.

Geophysical measurements and related field data were collected by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) at the Alaska Peatland Experiment (APEX) site in Interior Alaska from 2018 to 2020 to characterize subsurface thermal and hydrologic conditions along a permafrost thaw gradient. The APEX site is managed by the Bonanza Creek LTER (Long Term Ecological Research). In April 2018, seven boreholes were emplaced to depths of 2.3-2.5 meters (m) to allow for repeat logging with downhole nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) to quantify the spatial and temporal variations in unfrozen water content within active-layer and permafrost soils. NMR data were collected on ten separate occasions between April 2018 and October 2020. In June 2018, soil temperature and moisture sensors were installed at select locations and depths across the study site to record point-scale temperature and moisture conditions in 30 minute intervals. In August 2018, electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) data were collected along four 82 m-long transects. Models of electrical resistivity produced from these data revealed the spatial variability in soil lithology and thermal state (frozen vs. thawed) to depths up to 10-15 m below the surface. Lastly, manual permafrost-probe measurements of thaw depths were collected at each instrument location during summer site visits for comparison to the geophysical data.

The engineering-geologic map is derived electronically, using Geographic Information System (GIS) software, from the surficial-geologic map of the second segment of the proposed natural gas pipeline corridor through the upper Tanana valley, a 12-mi-wide (19.3-km-wide) area that straddles the Alaska Highway through the upper Tanana River valley from the Robertson River eastward to near Tetlin Junction in the Tanacross Quadrangle (Reger and Hubbard, PIR 2009-6A). Surficial-geologic units were initially identified by interpretation of false-color ~1:65,000-scale infrared aerial photographs taken in July 1978, August 1980, and August 1981 and locally verified by field checking in 2007 and 2008. The map shows the distribution of surficial-geologic and bedrock units grouped genetically with common properties that are typically significant for engineering applications.

This dataset is comprised of one geo-referenced aerial image from the National Petroleum Reserve - Alaska (NPRA) on Alaska's Arctic Coastal Plain taken on 21 June 1955 by the U.S. Air Force and obtained from the Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center using the USGS EarthExplorer website in 2013. The image represents a historical snapshot of the landscape from that time.

This dataset is comprised of one geo-referenced aerial image from the National Petroleum Reserve - Alaska (NPRA) on Alaska's Arctic Coastal Plain taken on 21 June 1955 by the U.S. Air Force and obtained from the Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center using the USGS EarthExplorer website in 2013. The image represents a historical snapshot of the landscape from that time.

40Ar/39Ar analyses of igneous rocks from the Alaska Highway corridor between Delta Junction and the Canada border show a range of Cretaceous ages from about 68 Ma to about 112 Ma. The 25 samples fall into two broad age groups. The younger group ranges from about 68 Ma to 73 Ma; the older group ranges from a minimum age of about 84 Ma to about 103 Ma. One sample, a mafic dike, yielded an older age of about 112 Ma.

Geophysical measurements were collected by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) at five sites in Interior Alaska in September 2021 for the purposes of imaging permafrost structure and quantifying variations in subsurface moisture content in relation to thaw features. Borehole nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) data were collected at two sites in order to determine liquid water content at depth in shallow boreholes. NMR data were collected in a 2.25 m-deep borehole at the North Star golf course adjacent to one of the ERT profiles, and in another two 1.625 m-deep boreholes adjacent to Big Trail Lake where previous NMR measurements were made in 2019 and 2020.