Engineer Intelligence Study No. 191, Terrain Analysis, Alaska Slope Region, Alaska, 1959

Authors

Military Geography Branch, USGS
Robert Bolin , depositor, University of Nebraska - LincolnFollow

Date of this Version

1959

Document Type

Article

Citation

The minimum ambiguous citation for this Engineer Intelligence Study (EIS) is: EIS 191, 1959

Comments

1. According to the title page of this Engineer Intelligence Study (EIS), "[t]his document was compiled by the Military Geography Branch..." of the US Geological Survey, and "[t]his document is based on field work accomplished during the summer of 1959..." The Military Geography Branch, USGS, Department of the Interior, was a contractor working for Chief of Engineers, Army Corps of Engineers as a military intelligence agency.

2. Initially, this EIS was classified as CONFIDENTIAL overall.

3. According to the preface, EISs "...are the media for the dissemination of intelligence by the Chief of Engineers to pertinent elements of the Corps of Engineers."

4. Because the army reuses document numbers and titles, the date must be included to identify a specific army document.

Abstract

The summary on Page 5 is paraphrased as follows. This digital document is a generalized description of the Arctic Slope region -- an area covering approximately 70,000 square miles. Access to the region and the feasibility of various access routes are discussed. Location and extent of natural fuel supplies are given. Factors controlling outdoor work feasibility are summarized graphically on Page 19. A terrain analysis of each of the three major physiographic provinces of the region. Those provinces are the Arctic Coastal Plain, Arctic Foothills, and Brooks Range provinces. Geographic factors which affected cross-country movement, construction, and water supply within those provinces are evaluated. This document contains detailed "Landforms and Physiographic Provinces...," "Bedrock Geography...," and "Surficial Deposits..." maps. The distribution list names a number of Corps of Engineers intelligence organizations and the engineering officers of army formations which might be interested in operations in Alaska. The digital document contains a bibliography.

High-resolution scans of the large maps (150 to 350 MB) are attached (below) as related files.