It assumes an east-trending course for 360 km along the northern Brooks Range before turning north downstream of Umiat, at the center of the picture. This early summer scene shows active streamflow across its prominent braided course. The Colville River crosses the Arctic Coastal Plain at the top center of this scene, changing from a braided pattern to a meandering one. Typical scroll topography and oxbow lakes can be seen in the downstream reaches. At the very top of the picture, the first distributary channels of the Colville delta are visible.
Drainage is extremely poor, with marshy conditions prevailing in summer, as shown here.
The small streams west of the Colville, such as Fish Creek, display exceptionally high sinuosity and have valleys shallowly incised into the coastal plain. Elongated thaw lakes are prominent at the upper right of the scene. Permafrost underlying the coastal plain exceeds 300 m in thickness. Higher resolution pictures would reveal a network of ice-wedge polygons on the coastal plain surfaces. Figure F-11.1 shows a typical Arctic coastal plain river with tortuous meanders.