27 March 2026
Owing to its outstanding size and habitat value, freshwater Teshekpuk Lake stands out among abundant waters of the Arctic Coastal Plain of northern Alaska. Its size, latitude, and proximity to the Beaufort Sea coast make for very long seasonal ice-cover typically lasting from early October to mid-July. Despite the important of ice on this large North Slope waterbody, little scientific attention has been given to its status and changes over time. Here, we present field and satellite data documenting ice-cover patterns and trends since 1975. Most striking is the lake’s historically short open-water season, which we estimate only lasted 59 days in 1979 and has progressively gotten longer due to both earlier ice-out and later freeze-up. Historically thick ice has ranged from 2.3 m in 1976, down to 1.2 m in 2019. Extensive ice thickness and snow depth surveys conducted in April 2024 are helping us understand surface patterns across this massive lake in relation to winter wind, surface-ice expansion and contraction, and depth. This study provides the first comprehensive analysis of Teshekpuk Lake’s ice conditions and dynamics and an important step toward more comprehensive adaptive management of its water and habitat resources in the future. This paper was published in the journal Arctic Science and can be accessed here.