Introduction The Colville River Delta has long been recognized for its complex geomorphic environments and its abundant and diverse fish and wildlife populations. To help pro- vide information essential for engineering design and evaluation of potential environmental impacts in prepa- ration for oil development on the Colville River Delta, studies on soil stratigraphy and permafrost develop- ment were conducted during 1992—1996 to investigate the nature and distribution of surficial deposits in the delta. The Colville River is the largest river on Alaska’s North Slope and is one of eight major rivers with signif- icant freshwater input to the Arctic Ocean (Walker 1983). The river’s volume and heavy sediment load pro- duces a dynamic deltaic system (665 km 2 ) with diverse geomorphic, hydrologic, and ecological systems (Walker, 1983; Carter and Galloway, 1982, 1985; Reimnitz et al., 1985; Rawlinson, 1993; Jorgenson et al., 1997). Similar to other deltas around the world, the Colville River Delta is a complex environment that is characterized by migrating distributary channels, waterbodies of various origins, natural levees, sand dunes, sandbars, and mudflats (Walker, 1976, 1983). Unlike temperate and tropical deltas, however, it is greatly influenced by two other factors: (1) low temper- atures that prevent the movement of most of the annual precipitation until spring breakup, and (2) the presence of permafrost (Walker, 1976). Permafrost development creates a variety of patterned-ground features, such as ice wedges, ice-wedge polygons, frost mounds and pin- gos, and alters the character of river discharge and ero- sional processes on the delta (Walker, 1976). To assess geomorphic patterns and processes on the delta, this study investigated the stratigraphy of near-surface materials along numerous toposequences in the delta, classified and mapped terrain units, classified and described cryostructures, and analyzed material accu- mulation rates. Methods Descriptions and samples were obtained from 40 boreholes along 11 toposequences and from 8 bank exposures. Cryogenic structure (form, distribution, and volume of ice) originally was classified in the field in 1995 according to Russian (Katasonov, 1969) and North American (Pihlainen and Johnston, 1963) systems and in 1996 according to Murton and French (1994). After the fieldwork, we modified the Murton and French classification system to better differentiate the struc- tures that we observed in the delta (Shur and Jorgenson, 1988). The terrain-unit classification system that we used was adapted from systems developed by Kreig and Reger (1982) and Rawlinson (1993). For map- ping, we used a compound classification system that Abstract To help provide information essential for engineering design and evaluation of potential environmental impacts in preparation for oil development on the Colville River Delta, studies on soil stratigraphy and per- mafrost development were conducted during 1992—1996 to investigate the nature and distribution of surficial deposits in the delta. The studies involved investigation of stratigraphy of near-surface materials along numer- ous toposequences in the delta, classification and mapping of terrain units, classification and description of cryostructures, dating and analysis of material accumulation rates, and determination of erosion rates. After detailed classification and analysis of the microscale and macroscale differences in soil properties across this complex landscape, we synthesized the patterns and processes that we observed into a simplified conceptual model of the evolution of the deltaic landscape. M. Torre Jorgenson, et al. 523 EVOLUTION OFA PERMAFROST-DOMINATED LANDSCAPE ON THE COLVILLE RIVER DELTA, NORTHERN ALASKA M. Torre Jorgenson 1 , Yuri L. Shur 2 , H. Jesse Walker 3 1. 2. ABR, Inc., PO Box 80410,Fairbanks, AK 99708 2 Presently with Harding Lawson Associates, Inc., Anchorage, AK email: yshur@harding.com 3. Louisiana State University,Baton Rouge, LA, 70803 email: hwalker@lsu.edu PERMAFROST - Seventh International Conference (Proceedings), Yellowknife (Canada), Collection Nordicana No 55, 1998 ?