188 E. M. KINDLE 
degree by wave action. Barrier beaches of this type are of common occurrence 
along the shores of the Arctic Ocean in Alaska from Cape Prince of Wales to 
McKenzie River.' 
The preceding quotations seem to make plain the fact that the 
pack ice along the Arctic coast should be considered along with cur- 
rents and waves as one of the most effective agencies concerned in 
the formation of shore-line features. When it is remembered that 
the navigable portion of the Arctic Sea northwest of Alaska shoals 
regularly from a maximum depth of about thirty fathoms toward 
nearly every part of the Alaskan coast, it will be seen that the condi- 
tions are peculiarly favorable for the grounded ice-pack to carry great 
quantities of submarine deposits to and toward the beaches. The 
reworking of these transported materials by wave action seldom leaves 
any permanent features which can be ascribed solely to ice action. 
The Arctic ice-pack never retreats far to the north of Point Hope 
even in midsummer. The observations of Captain A. J. Henderson 
of the revenue cutter “Thetis” would indicate that it was probably 
not more than roo miles to the north of Point Hope at any time during 
the past summer. 
According to Dr. Driggs, the missionary at Point Hope, the ice- 
pack comes down from the north and closes on the spit before any 
very considerable amount of local ice has formed on the sea. This 
usually occurs late in October or in November. In 1908 the bulk 
of the ice-pack left the Point July 28. It usually leaves early in July. 
The period during which the Point is subject to wave and current 
action is therefore limited to about one-fourth of the year. It is 
probable, however, that the ice-pack is more effective during the other 
three-fourths of the year in moving submarine materials toward the 
spit than waves and currents would be. 
Mr. Allen, a whaleman who has lived for several years on the Point 
Hope spit, told the writer that at times in the winter the ice-pack is 
forced against the south shore of the spit with a force that makes the 
entire spit tremble as from an earthquake. Joseph Tuckfield, another 
whaleman who formerly lived on the spit opposite the mouth of the 
Kukpuk River, was compelled to remove his house to an island in the 
tA. J. Collier, ‘Geology and Coal Resources of the Cape Lisburne Region, 
Alaska,” U. S. G. S. Bull. No. 278, p. 34, 1906. 
