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: 2885
Field guide to the Mesozoic accretionary complex along Turnagain Arm and Kachemak Bay, south-central Alaska
Turnagain Arm, just east of Anchorage, provides a readily accessible, world-class cross section through a Mesozoic accretionary wedge. Nearly continuous exposures along the Seward Highway, the Alaska Railroad, and the shoreline of Turnagain Arm display the two main constituent units of the Chugach terrane: the McHugh Complex and Valdez Group. In this paper we describe seven bedrock geology stops a
Authors
Dwight Bradley, Timothy M. Kusky, Susan M. Karl, Peter J. Haeussler
Exposure of Spectacled Eiders and other diving ducks to lead in western Alaska
Lead poisoning, resulting from ingestion of spent shot, has been identified as a cause of mortality in Spectacled Eiders (Somateria fischeri) on the Yukon–Kuskokwim Delta, Alaska. We examined lead-exposure rates of adult and juvenile Spectacled Eiders and other diving ducks, using atomic absorption spectrophotometry of blood samples. Additionally, we X-rayed birds in the field to identify ingested
Authors
Paul L. Flint, Margaret R. Petersen, J. Barry Grand
Ephemeral lekking behavior in the buff-breasted sandpiper, Tryngites subruficollis
We studied male reproductive behavior of the buff-breasted sandpiper Tryngites subruficoills for three yean on a 16-km2 study site in northern Alaska to document variation in male lekking behavior and to explore the causes of that variation. During the breeding season, about 75% of males on the study area displayed on leks, with the remainder displaying solitarily. Leks averaged between 2.3 and 3.
Authors
Richard B. Lanctot, Patrick J. Weatherhead
Collection and analysis of traditional ecological knowledge about a population of arctic tundra caribou
Aboriginal peoples want their ecological knowledge used in the management of wildlife populations. To accomplish this, management agencies will need regional summaries of aboriginal knowledge about long-term changes in the distribution and abundance of wildlife populations and ecological factors that influence those changes. Between 1983 and 1994, we developed a method for collecting Inuit knowled
Authors
Michael A.D. Ferguson, François Messier
Lekking without a paradox in the buff-breasted sandpiper
Females in lek‐breeding species appear to copulate with a small subset of the available males. Such strong directional selection is predicted to decrease additive genetic variance in the preferred male traits, yet females continue to mate selectively, thus generating the lek paradox. In a study of buff‐breasted sandpipers (Tryngites subruficollis), we combine detailed behavioral observations with
Authors
Richard B. Lanctot, Kim T. Scribner, Bart Kempenaers, Patrick J. Weatherhead
Kinderhookian (Lower Mississippian) calcareous rocks of the Howard Pass quadrangle, western Brooks Range: A section in Geologic studies in Alaska by the U.S. Geological Survey, 1995
Calcareous rocks of Kinderhookian (early Early Mississippian) age are widely distributed across the Howard Pass quadrangle in the western Brooks Range. Most occur in the lower part of the Lisburne Group (herein called the Rough Mountain Creek unit) and the upper part of the Endicott Group (Kayak Shale) in two sequences (Key Creek and Aniuk River) of the Endicott Mountains allochthon. Kinderhookian
Authors
Julie A. Dumoulin, Anita G. Harris
Discrimination among populations of sockeye salmon fry with Fourier analysis of otolith banding patterns formed during incubation
We used otolith banding patterns formed during incubation to discriminate among hatchery- and wild-incubated fry of sockeye salmon Oncorhynchus nerka from Tustumena Lake, Alaska. Fourier analysis of otolith luminance profiles was used to describe banding patterns: the amplitudes of individual Fourier harmonics were discriminant variables. Correct classification of otoliths to either hatchery or wi
Authors
James E. Finn, Carl V. Burger, Leslie E. Holland-Bartels
Food of Flesh-footed shearwaters Puffinus carneipes associated with high-seas driftnets in the central North Pacific Ocean
We examined digestive tract contents and stable nitrogen isotope ratios in breast muscles of Flesh-footed Shearwaters Puffinus carneipes associated with high-seas driftnet fisheries in the central North Pacific Ocean. Small fish, Lanternfish (Myctophidae) and Pacific Saury Cololabis saira, were the principal prey found in the digestive tracts. Pieces of unidentified fish, possibly Pacific Pomfret
Authors
Patrick J. Gould, Peggy H. Ostrom, William Walker
1996 Volcanic activity in Alaska and Kamchatka: Summary of events and response of the Alaska Volcano Observatory
During 1996, the Alaska Volcano Observatory (AVO) responded to eruptive activity, anomalous seismicity, or suspected volcanic activity at 10 of the approximately 40 active volcanic centers in the state of Alaska.
As part of a formal role in KVERT (the Kamchatkan Volcano Eruption Response Team), AVO staff also disseminated information about eruptions and other volcanic unrest at six volcanic cente
Authors
Christina A. Neal, Robert G. McGimsey
Hematology and clinical chemistry of sea otters vaptured in Prince William Sound, Alaska following the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill
Hematologic and serum chemical analyses were performed on sea otter blood samples collected from 31 adult males, 63 adult females, and 42 pups captured in western Prince William Sound (oiled area), and 12 adult males, 40 adult females, and 15 pups captured in eastern Prince William Sound (unoiled area) in 1989 and 1990. Hematologic differences between eastern and western adult males were minimal.
Authors
A.H. Rebar, Brenda E. Ballachey, D.L. Bruden, Kimberly A. Kloecker
Concordance of seabird population parameters: Analytical methods and interpretation
In an ecological context, concordance may be defined as the tendency for paired values of some parameter, such as the annual productivity of bird species, to show similar directions and magnitudes of deviation from the mean. Where concordance among populations is high, there is an implied similarity of the ecological factors affecting performance. Conversely, if populations behave discordantly, di
Authors
Scott A. Hatch