Teshekpuk Lake | |
---|---|
Tasiqpak (Inupiaq) | |
Location | North Slope Borough, Alaska |
Coordinates | 70°34′17″N 153°30′51″W / 70.57139°N 153.51417°W[1] |
Basin countries | United States |
Max. width | 22 mi (35 km)[1] |
Surface area | 320 square miles (830 km2)[2] |
Surface elevation | 7 ft (2.1 m)[1] |
References | [1] |
Teshekpuk Lake (Iñupiaq: Tasiqpak) is the largest lake in Arctic Alaska, at 22 miles (35 km) width on the Alaska North Slope within the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, South of Pitt Point, 12 miles (19 km) east of Harrison Bay, 80 miles (130 km) east of Point Barrow.[1] The Teshekpuk Lake region is considered one of the most productive, diverse, and sensitive wetland ecosystems in the entire Arctic, habitat to a variety of arctic wildlife, including the resident Teshekpuk Lake caribou herd of 64,000 animals, large numbers of shorebirds and migratory waterfowl, for whom it is an essential part of the East Asian–Australasian Flyway site network.
The lake is threatened by salt water contamination from disappearing sea ice, as well as oil drilling in Alpine, Alaska and by ConocoPhilipps Willow project.