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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

Correlation of Ordovician rocks of northern Alaska

The Ordovician sequences presented in this report were chosen to cover a range of depositional and structural settings found in northern Alaska. Consequently, the quality of lithostratigraphic, paleontologic, and sedimentologic data is variable. Until 1982, Ordovician rocks in northern Alaska were known only from a few, widely separated localities. Since then, several hundred Ordovician conodont c
Authors
Anita G. Harris, Julie A. Dumoulin, John E. Repetski, Claire Carter

Ecology and conservation of the Marbled Murrelet in North America: An overview

Over the past decade, the Marbled Murrelet has become a focus of much controversy. It was listed as threatened in Washington, Oregon, and California by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in February 1993. In order to aid the various agencies with management, the Marbled Murrelet Conservation Assessment was formed to bring together scientists, managers, and others to gather all the available data o
Authors
C. John Ralph, George L. Hunt, Martin G. Raphael, John F. Piatt

Western North American shorebirds

Shorebirds are a diverse group that includes oystercatchers, stilts, avocets, plovers, and sandpipers. They are familiar birds of seashores, mudflats, tundra, and other wetlands, but they also occur in deserts, high mountains, forests, and agricultural fields. Widespread loss and alteration of these habitats, especially wetlands and grasslands during the past 150 years, coupled with unregulated sh
Authors
Robert E. Gill, Colleen M. Handel, Gary W. Page

Habitat correlates of Pacific halibut and other groundfish species in Glacier Bay National Park

Originally conceived as a modified Schnabel (1938) design mark-recapture study, the unique random sampling regime of this long line tagging study has allowed us to describe habitat correlates of Pacific halibut (Hippoglossus stenolepis) and other demersal fishes. Pacific halibut and other fish were captured by longline sets of constant length and hook number distributed in a random stratified fash
Authors
Gretchen H. Bishop, Philip N. Hooge, S. James Taggart

California sea otters

Information on the size, distribution, and productivity of the California sea otter population is broadly relevant to two federally mandated goals: removing the population’s listing as threatened under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and obtaining an “optimal sustainable population” under the Marine Mammal Protection Act.  Except for the population in central California, sea otters (Enhydra lutri
Authors
James A. Estes, Ronald J. Jameson, James L. Bodkin, David Carlson

Nearshore distribution and abundance of Dungeness crabs in Glacier Bay National Park, Alaska

As part of an ongoing, multi-agency study to determine the effects of closure of the commercial fishery for Dungeness crabs, Cancer magister, on crab population structure we examined patterns of distribution and abundance of crabs in nearshore habitats at five locations in and near Glacier Bay National Park. Sampling was conducted in April and September 1992 and April 1993 prior to the anticipated
Authors
Charles E. O'Clair, J. Lincoln Freese, Robert P. Stone, Thomas C. Shirley, Erica H. Leder, S. James Taggart, Gordon H. Kruse

Prey preference of Pacific halibut (Hippoglossus stenolepis) in Glacier Bay National Park

Stomach contents were collected from sport-caught halibut in Glacier Bay National Park. Stomach samples containing a combination of fish and invertebrate species were observed less frequently than expected. Small, subtidal, noncommercial crab and cod-like fish (Gadidae) appear to be the most important prey items. In thc dict of Pacific halibut. Preliminary findings suggested that dict changes dram
Authors
Liz Chilton, Philip N. Hooge, S. James Taggart

Census methodologies of Black-legged Kittiwakes in Glacier Bay National Park

Black-legged Kittiwakes (Rissa tridactyla) have recently experienced widespread population declines and frequent colony failures throughout the North Pacific. At Glacier Bay National Park, the Margerie Glacier colony was censused visually in 1991 through 1993. In 1993 a new photographic census technique was also tested to assess its feasibility, accuracy, and ease of use, Three years of monitoring
Authors
Elizabeth Ross Hooge

Mesothermal gold deposits of Westland, New Zealand and southern Alaska: Products of similar tectonic processes?

No abstract available.
Authors
R. J. Goldfarb, T. Christie, D. Skinner, Peter J. Haeussler, D. C. Bradley

Salmon escapement estimates into the Togiak River using sonar, Togiak National Wildlife Refuge, Alaska, 1987, 1988, and 1990

We began a three year study in 1987 to test the feasibility of using sonar in the Togiak River to estimate salmon escapements. Current methods rely on periodic aerial surveys and a counting tower at river kilometer 97. Escapement estimates are not available until 10 to 14 days after the salmon enter the river. Water depth and turbidity preclude relocating the tower to the lower river and affect th
Authors
David B. Irving, James E. Finn, James P. Larson

Clinical and clinical laboratory correlates in sea otters dying unexpectedly in rehabilitation centers following the Exxon Valdez oil spill

Following the Exxon Valdez oil spill, 347 oiled sea otters (Enhydra lutris) were treated in rehabilitation centers. Of these, 116 died, 94 within 10 days of presentation. Clinical records of 21 otters dying during the first 10 days of rehabilitation were reviewed to define the laboratory abnormalities and clinical syndromes associated with these unexpected deaths. The most common terminal syndrome
Authors
A.H. Rebar, T.P. Lipscomb, R.K. Harris, Brenda E. Ballachey

Evidence of Emperor Geese breeding in Russia and staging in Alaska

Emperor Geese (Chen canagica) breed primarily on the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, Alaska (Eisenhauer and Kirkpatrick 1977), but a small, poorly quantified proportion of the world's population is known to breed in the Russia Far East (Kistchinski 1976, 1988, Portenko 1981). Eisenhauer and Kirkpatrick (1977) stated that 80 to 90% of all Emperor Geese breed on the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, Alaska, and current
Authors
Joel A. Schmutz, Alexander V. Kondratyev
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