Publications
USGS research activities relevant to Alaska have yielded more than 9400 historical publications. This page features some of the most recent newsworthy research findings.
Filter Total Items: 2882
U.S. Geological Survey Benchmark Glacier Project
The U.S. Geological Survey Benchmark Glacier Project combines decades of direct glaciological data with remote sensing data to advance the quantitative understanding of glacier-climate interactions. The global loss of glaciers, and consequent implications for water resources, sea level rise, and ecosystem function underscores the importance of U.S. Geological Survey glaciology research to facilit
Authors
Caitlyn Florentine, Lisa McKeon
Divergent gene expression profiles in Alaskan sea otters: An indicator of chronic domoic acid exposure?
An opportunistic investigation into ecosystem instability in Kachemak Bay (KBay), Alaska, has led us to investigate exposure to toxic algae in sea otters. We used gene expression to explore the physiological health of sea otters sampled in KBay in May 2019. We found altered levels of gene transcripts in comparison with reference sea otters from clinically normal, oil-exposed, and nutritionally cha
Authors
Lizabeth Bowen, Susan Knowles, Kathi Lefebvre, Michelle St Martin, Michael Murray, Kimberly A. Kloecker, Daniel Monson, Ben Weitzman, Brenda Ballachey, Heather Coletti, Shannon C. Waters, C Cummings
Temperature variations in the northern Gulf of Alaska across synoptic to century-long time scales
Surface and subsurface moored buoy, ship-based, remotely sensed, and reanalysis datasets are used to investigate thermal variability of northern Gulf of Alaska (NGA) nearshore, coastal, and offshore waters over synoptic to century-long time scales. NGA sea surface temperature (SST) showed a larger positive trend of 0.22 ± 0.10 °C per decade over 1970–2021 compared to 0.10 ± 0.03 °C per decade over
Authors
Seth L. Danielson, Tyler D. Hennon, Daniel Monson, Robert M. Suryan, Rob W. Cambell, Steven J. Baird, Kristine Holderied, Thomas J. Weingartner
Evaluating hydrologic region assignment techniques for ungaged basins in Alaska, USA
Building continental-scale hydrologic models in data-sparse regions requires an understanding of spatial variation in hydrologic processes. Extending these models to ungaged locations requires techniques to group ungaged locations with gaged ones to make process importance and model parameter transfer decisions to ungaged locations. This analysis (1) tested the utility of fundamental streamflow st
Authors
Theodore B. Barnhart, William H. Farmer, John C. Hammond, Graham A. Sexstone, Janet H. Curran, Joshua C. Koch, Jessica M. Driscoll
Reproducibility and variability of earthquake subsidence estimates from saltmarshes of a Cascadia estuary
We examine fossil foraminiferal assemblages from 20 sediment cores to assess sudden relative sea-level (RSL) changes across three mud-over-peat contacts at three salt marshes in northern Humboldt Bay, California (~44.8°N, -124.2°W). We use a validated foraminiferal-based Bayesian transfer function to evaluate the variability of subsidence stratigraphy at a range of 30-6000 m across an estuary. We
Authors
Jason Scott Padgett, Simon E. Engelhart, Harvey M. Kelsey, Robert C. Witter, Niamh Cahill
Sclerochronological records of environmental variability and bivalve growth in the Pacific Arctic
The Pacific Arctic region has experienced, and is projected to continue experiencing, rapid climate change. Large uncertainties exist in our understanding of the impact these physical changes have on the region’s ecology. This is, in part, due to the lack of long-term data. Here we investigate bivalve mollusc growth increment width chronologies (sclerochronologies) to develop a long-term biologica
Authors
David J. Reynolds, Vanessa R. von Biela, Kenneth H. Dunton, David C. Douglas, Bryan A. Black
Proceedings of the Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza and Wild Birds Webinar Series, August 2–5, 2021
In light of ongoing and geographically widespread highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) outbreaks in wild birds throughout much of Eurasia during 2020–21, the Interagency Steering Committee for Avian Influenza Surveillance in Wild Migratory Birds disseminated an informational memorandum in January 2021 to highlight the need for enhanced surveillance and heightened awareness in North America. Th
Authors
M. Camille Hopkins, J. Russ Mason, Giavanna Haddock, Andrew M. Ramey
Detrital zircon ages from upper Paleozoic–Triassic clastic strata on St. Lawrence Island, Alaska: An enigmatic component of the Arctic Alaska–Chukotka microplate
New lithologic and detrital zircon (DZ) U-Pb data from Devonian–Triassic strata on St. Lawrence Island in the Bering Sea and from the western Brooks Range of Alaska suggest affinities between these two areas. The Brooks Range constitutes part of the Arctic Alaska–Chukotka microplate, but the tectonic and paleogeographic affinities of St. Lawrence Island are unknown or at best speculative. Strata o
Authors
Jeffrey M. Amato, Julie A. Dumoulin, Eric S. Gottlieb, Thomas E. Moore
Modeled interactions of mountain pine beetle and wildland fire under future climate and management scenarios for three western US landscapes
Mountain pine beetle (MPB) is a native disturbance agent across most pine forests in the western US. Climate changes will directly and indirectly impact frequencies and severities of MPB outbreaks, which can then alter fuel characteristics and wildland fire dynamics via changes in stand structure and composition. To investigate the importance of MPB to past and future landscape dynamics, we used t
Authors
Robert Keane, Barbara Bentz, Lisa M. Holsinger, Victoria Saab, Rachel A. Loehman
Gull plumages are, and are not, what they appear to human vision
Clear correlations between human and bird visual assessments of color have been documented, and are often assumed, despite fundamental differences in human and avian visual physiology and morphology. Analyses of plumage colors with avian perceptual models have shown widespread hidden inter-sexual and inter-specific color variation among passerines perceived as monochromatic to humans, highlighting
Authors
Muir D Eaton, Pilar Benites, Luke Campillo, Robert E. Wilson, Sarah A. Sonsthagen
Evidence of increased mussel abundance related to the Pacific marine heatwave and sea star wasting
Mussels occupy a key middle trophic position in nearshore food webs linking primary producers to predators. Climate-related environmental changes may synergistically combine with changes in predator abundance to affect intertidal ecosystems. We examined the influence of two major events on mussel (Mytilus trossulus) abundance in the northern Gulf of Alaska: the recent Pacific marine heatwave (PMH,
Authors
Sarah Beth Traiger, James L. Bodkin, Heather Coletti, Brenda Ballachey, Dean Thomas, Daniel Esler, Katrin Iken, Brenda Konar, Mandy Lindeberg, Daniel Monson, Brian H. Robinson, Robert M. Suryan, Ben Weitzman
Marine minerals in Alaska — A review of coastal and deep-ocean regions
Minerals occurring in marine environments span the globe and encompass a broad range of mineral categories, forming within varied geologic and oceanographic settings. They occur in coastal regions, either from the continuation or mechanical reworking of terrestrial mineralization, as well as in the deep ocean, from diagenetic, hydrogenetic, and hydrothermal processes. The oceans cover most of the
Authors
Amy Gartman, Kira Mizell, Douglas C. Kreiner