Publications
Publications from the Alaska Science Center.
Filter Total Items: 2918
Accelerating glacier volume loss on Juneau Icefield driven by hypsometry and melt-accelerating feedbacks
Globally, glaciers and icefields contribute significantly to sea level rise. Here we show that ice loss from Juneau Icefield, a plateau icefield in Alaska, accelerated after 2005 AD. Rates of area shrinkage were 5 times faster from 2015–2019 than from 1979–1990. Glacier volume loss remained fairly consistent (0.65–1.01 km3 a−1) from 1770–1979 AD, rising to 3.08–3.72 km3 a−1 from 1979–2010, and the
Authors
Bethan Davies, Robert McNabb, Jacob Bendle, Jonathan Carrivick, Jeremy Ely, Tom Holt, Bradley Markle, Christopher J. McNeil, Lindsey Nicholson, Mauri Pelto
Boulders modulate hillslope-channel coupling in the northern Alaska Range
Active orogens balance tectonic rock uplift with erosion, commonly via river incision coupled to landslide denudation of “threshold” hillslopes, but sediment’s role in this feedback is unclear. We report fluvial geometry, and sediment size, prevalence, and mobility across two ≤600-m-tall gneissic northern Alaska Range anticlines that sustain steep landslide-clad hillslopes but differ 10× in late P
Authors
Adrian Bender, Richard O. Lease
Understanding sea otter population change in southeast Alaska
IntroductionThe Southeast Alaska (SE) stock of northern sea otters (Enhydra lutris kenyoni) ranges from Cape Yakataga on the north to the Dixon Entrance on the south. During the maritime fur trade, sea otters were commercially harvested to near extinction in SE for their pelts and were presumed unlikely to naturally repopulate the region.
Authors
Joseph Michael Eisaguirre, Toshio D. Matsuoka, George G. Esslinger, Benjamin P Weitzman, Paul A. Schuette, Jamie N. Womble
Development of an 8K SNP chip to assess adaptive diversity and hybridization in polar bears
The polar bear (Ursus maritimus) is a species particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change. As the climate warms, polar bears will be forced to move to more suitable habitats which are likely to shrink, adapt to the new conditions, or decline in population size. However, the genomic diversity within and among all 19 subpopulations of polar bears, and therefore their adaptive potential,
Authors
Joshua D. Miller, Rene Malenfant, L. Ruth Rivkin, Todd C. Atwood, Steven Baryluk, Erik W. Born, Rune Dietz, Kristen L. Laidre, Jodie Pongracz, Evan Richardson, Øystein Wiig, Corey Davis
Mechanisms by which marine heatwaves impact seabirds
Marine heatwaves (MHWs) are characterized by periods of extreme warming of local to basin-scale marine habitat. Effects of MHWs on some seabirds (e.g. mass die-offs) are well documented, but mechanisms by which seabirds respond to MHWs remain poorly understood. Following from a symposium at the 3rd World Seabird Conference, this Theme Section presents recent research to address this knowledge gap.
Authors
John F. Piatt, Mayumi L. Arimitsu, Sarah Ann Thompson, Rob Suryan, Rory Wilson, Kyle Elliott, W.J. Sydeman
Stratigraphy, paleoflora, and tectonic setting of the Paleogene Sheep Creek volcanic field, central Alaska
In this paper, we provide new information on the stratigraphy and paleoflora of the Sheep Creek volcanic field in the Alaska Range that bolsters our understanding of a key interval in the tectonic, paleoclimate, and paleoenvironmental history of the northern Cordillera. Although the distribution and basic stratigraphy of these rocks have been previously reported, here we document the stratigraphic
Authors
Timothy White, David Sunderlin, Dwight Bradley
Assessment of undiscovered oil and gas resources of the North Chukchi Basin, outer continental shelf of the Chukchi and East Siberian Seas, Arctic Ocean, 2023
Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated mean volumes of 1.8 billion barrels of oil and 119.9 trillion cubic feet of gas technically recoverable from undiscovered, conventional accumulations in Cretaceous and Cenozoic strata of the North Chukchi Basin.
Authors
David W. Houseknecht, Craig P. Markey, Tracey J. Mercier, Christopher J. Schenk, Christopher D. Connors, Jared T. Gooley, Palma J. Botterell, Rebecca A. Smith, William A. Rouse, Christopher P. Garrity
A phylogeographical study of the discontinuously distributed Harlequin Duck (Histrionicus histrionicus)
Species distributions are often indicative of historical biogeographical events and contemporary spatial biodiversity patterns. The Harlequin Duck Histrionicus histrionicus is a sea duck of conservation concern that has a disjunct distribution, with discrete portions of its range associated with northern Pacific and Atlantic Ocean basins. Movement data indicate migratory connectivity within region
Authors
Kim T Scribner, Sandra Talbot, Barbara J. Pierson, John D Robinson, Richard B. Lanctot, Daniel Esler, Kathryn Dickson
Testing megathrust rupture models using tsunami deposits
The 26 January 1700 CE Cascadia subduction zone earthquake ruptured much of the plate boundary and generated a tsunami that deposited sand in coastal marshes from northern California to Vancouver Island. Although the depositional record of tsunami inundation is extensive in some of these marshes, few sites have been investigated in enough detail to map the inland extent of sand deposition and depi
Authors
SeanPaul La Selle, Alan R. Nelson, Robert C. Witter, Bruce E. Jaffe, Guy Gelfenbaum, Jason Scott Padgett
Does the extent of glacial cover across watersheds and discharge periods affect dietary resource use of nearshore fishes in the Northern Gulf of Alaska?
Northern high-latitude glaciers impact nearshore marine ecosystems through the discharge of cold and fresh waters, including nutrients and organic matter. Fishes are important integrators of ecosystem processes and hold key positions in the transfer of energy to higher trophic positions in such systems. This study used a natural gradient in space and time, including watershed glacial cover (0–60%)
Authors
Lindsey Stadler, Kristen Gorman, Vanessa R. von Biela, Andrew C. Seitz, Katrin Iken
Why do avian responses to change in Arctic green-up vary?
Global climate change has altered the timing of seasonal events (i.e., phenology) for a diverse range of biota. Within and among species, however, the degree to which alterations in phenology match climate variability differ substantially. To better understand factors driving these differences, we evaluated variation in timing of nesting of eight Arctic-breeding shorebird species at 18 sites over
Authors
Eveling A. Tavera, David B. Lank, David C. Douglas, Brett K. Sandercock, Richard B. Lanctot, Niels M. Schmidt, Jeroen Reneerkens, David H. Ward, Joel Bety, Eunbi Kwon, Nicolas Lecomte, Cheri L Gratto-Trevor, Paul A. Smith, Willow B. English, Sarah T. Saalfeld, Stephen C. Brown, H. River Gates, Erica Nol, Joseph R. Liebezeit, Rebecca L. McGuire, Laura McKinnon, Steve Kendall, Martin D. Robards, Megan Boldenow, David C. Payer, Jennie Rausch, Mikhail Soloviev, Diana V. Solovyeva, Steve Zack, Jordyn Stalwick, Kirsty E. B. Gurney
The dominance and growth of shallow groundwater resources in continuous permafrost environments
Water is a limited resource in Arctic watersheds with continuous permafrost because freezing conditions in winter and the impermeability of permafrost limit storage and connectivity between surface water and deep groundwater. However, groundwater can still be an important source of surface water in such settings, feeding springs and large aufeis fields that are abundant in cold regions and generat
Authors
Joshua C. Koch, Craig T. Connolly, Carson Baughman, Marisa Repasch, Heather Best, Andrew Hunt