120+ West (a) T-6 
8 
»l4 May 1972 
deck NPN or. 
Snow Depth, cm 
2 June 1972 
25 
ie} = — — — -— — — — — 
Se a ee ey a Se te Se ae a Se | 
360 320 280 240 200 160 120 80 40 40 80 120 160 200 240 280 320 360 
Distance, meters 
Road 
€ 
Bo} West (b)T-5 East 
19 May 1972 
Snow Depth, cm 
+ 
Oo 
! 1 L 1 1 1 1 1 n 1 
1 4 1 Peceemerto ye 4 1 
360 320 280 240 200 160 120 80 40 
1 a 1 neil stall ‘a 1 a SS at i 
40 80 120 160 200 240 280 320 360 
ee ee ee eee ee ee ee) er ee 1 = 
320 280 240 200 160 120 80 40 
Fig. 13. Snow depth profiles. 
using the average depth of 32 cm. This has been 
done from the edge of the road out to a distance 
of 150m where the drift effect of the road is 
negligible. The results, summarized in Table 6, 
show that the drifted snow adjacent to roads 
generally has a greater than average cross- 
sectional area. However, there are exceptions, 
the most notable of which is in traverse T-9 
where the cross-section area is 75 to 85% of the 
average value. This may be because traverse T-9 
was made on the relatively high ground between 
two lakes and perpendicular to the winds. The 
road produced no significant drifting here be- 
cause it was parallel to the winds; thus, there is 
no significant difference between the cross- 
sectional areas measured on different sides of 
the road. Other exceptions are traverses T-1 and 
T-3, which lie close to the Sagavanirktok River; 
the cross-sectional areas of their drifts are about 
average or slightly less than average. Traverse T-1 
is located on relatively high ground and near the 
sand dune area that extends westward from the 
river toward the dock road. This apparently is an 
area of higher wind erosion, as evidenced by the 
fact that some of the sand dunes remain bare of 
snow all winter. The road may serve as a partial 
barrier to the erosional effect of the wind and 
may explain why the drift on the west side is 
larger in this case. Similar arguments may apply 
to traverse T-3; although it is not near sand 
dunes, it is on the highest ground of all traverses. 
Distance, meters 
Traverses T-6 and T-7 are complex cases. 
Their snow drifts have greater than average 
cross-sectional areas, but they are nearly sym- 
metrical on either side of the road. This would 
imply that the east and west winds were equally 
effective in moving snow. However, T-6 crosses 
obliquely to the road, and the amount of snow 
available to make drifts at this site may be 
affected by the larger road system and associat- 
ed drifts lying to the west of it (see traverse 
T-5). Traverse T-7 may be complex because it 
lies adjacent to two parallel roads and its west 
end is on a large lake (Fig. 1). 
Traverses T-5 and T-8 show the greatest 
departure from average and the greatest differ- 
ence between cross-sectional areas on the east 
and west sides of the road. The cross-sectional 
area on the east side is twice that of the west 
side out to a distance of 80m from the road. 
This indicates more effective transport of snow 
from the west winds. It is consistent with the 
observation that winter storm winds, which 
bring new snow and have higher speeds, blow 
from the west (Conover 1960). The prevailing 
winds blow from the northeast. This appears to 
be a general relationship on the Arctic Slope. In 
large drifts on river and lake banks, the drifts 
formed by west winds vary in size considerably 
from year to year, but those formed by east 
winds remain essentially the same size from year 
to year (Benson 1969). 
