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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: 2891

Using the bootstrap and fast Fourier transform to estimate confidence intervals of 2D kernel densities

No abstract available.
Authors
John W. Kern, Trent L. McDonald, Steven C. Amstrup, George M. Durner, Wallace P. Erickson

Demography of Dall's sheep in northwestern Alaska

Dall’s sheep in northwestern Alaska declined in the early 1990s following the severe 1989-90 and 1990-91 winters. In the Baird Mountains of Noatak National Preserve, estimates of adult sheep declined by 50% from 800 in 1989 to under 400 in 1991. Population counts remained low throughout 1991 to 1996, reaching a minimum of 244 adult sheep in 1996. Few lambs were observed during annual midsummer aer
Authors
Christopher Kleckner, Mark S. Udevitz, Layne G. Adams, Brad S. Shults

Polar bear aerial survey in the eastern Chukchi Sea: A pilot study

Alaska has two polar bear populations: the Southern Beaufort Sea population, shared with Canada, and the Chukchi/Bering Seas population, shared with Russia. Currently a reliable population estimate for the Chukchi/Bering Seas population does not exist. Land-based aerial and mark-recapture population surveys may not be possible in the Chukchi Sea because variable ice conditions, the limited range o
Authors
Thomas J. Evans, Anthony S. Fischbach, Scott L. Schliebe, Bryan Manly, Susanne B. Kalxdorff, Geoff S. York

Formation and evolution of valley-bottom and channel features, Lower Deschutes River, Oregon

Primary geologic and geomorphic processes that formed valley-bottom and channel features downstream from the Pelton-Round Butte dam complex are inferred from a canyon-long analysis of feature morphology, composition, location, and spatial distribution. Major controls on valley-bottom morphology are regional tectonics, large landslides, and outsized floods (floods with return periods greater than 1
Authors
Janet H. Curran, Jim E. O'Conner

Does the Animal Welfare Act apply to free-ranging animals?

Despite the long-standing role that institutional animal care and use committees (IACUCs) have played in reviewing and approving studies at academic institutions, compliance with the Animal Welfare Act (AWA) is not always complete for government natural resource agencies that use free-ranging animals in research and management studies. Even at universities, IACUCs face uncertainties about what act
Authors
Daniel M. Mulcahy

Alaska Resource Data File, Talkeetna Mountains quadrangle, Alaska

Descriptions of the mineral occurrences shown on the accompanying figure follow. See U.S. Geological Survey (1996) for a description of the information content of each field in the records. The data presented here are maintained as part of a statewide database on mines, prospects and mineral occurrences throughout Alaska.
Authors
Robert K. Rogers, Jeanine M. Schmidt

Alaska Resource Data File, Juneau quadrangle, Alaska

Descriptions of the mineral occurrences shown on the accompanying figure follow. See U.S. Geological Survey (1996) for a description of the information content of each field in the records. The data presented here are maintained as part of a statewide database on mines, prospects and mineral occurrences throughout Alaska.
Authors
John C. Barnett, Lance D. Miller

Mantle and Crustal Sources of Carbon, Nitrogen, and Noble gases in Cascade-Range and Aleutian-Arc Volcanic gases

Here we report anhydrous chemical (CO2, H2S, N2, H2, CH4, O2, Ar, He, Ne) and isotopic (3He/4He, 40Ar/36Ar, δ13C of CO2, δ13C of CH4, δ15N) compositions of virtually airfree gas samples collected between 1994 and 1998 from 12 quiescent but potentially restless volcanoes in the Cascade Range and Aleutian Arc (CRAA). Sample sites include ≤173°C fumaroles and springs at Mount Shasta, Mount Hood, Moun
Authors
Robert B. Symonds, Robert J. Poreda, William C. Evans, Cathy J. Janik, Beatrice E. Ritchie

Scrubbing masks magmatic degassing during repose at Cascade-Range and Aleutian-Arc volcanoes

Between 1992 and 1998, we sampled gas discharges from ≤173°C fumaroles and springs at 12 quiescent but potentially restless volcanoes in the Cascade Range and Aleutian Arc (CRAA) including Mount Shasta, Mount Hood, Mount St. Helens, Mount Rainier, Mount Baker, Augustine Volcano, Mount Griggs, Trident, Mount Mageik, Aniakchak Crater, Akutan, and Makushin. For each site, we collected and analyzed sa
Authors
Robert B. Symonds, C. J. Janik, William C. Evans, B.E. Ritchie, Dale Counce, R.J. Poreda, Mark Iven

Polar bear, Ursus maritimus

No abstract available.
Authors
Steven C. Amstrup

Sea otter

No abstract available.
Authors
James L. Bodkin, K.W. Kenyon

Patterns and processes of population change in selected nearshore vertebrate predators

Sea otters and harlequin ducks have not fully recovered from the oil spill. This project will explore links between oil exposure and the lack of population recovery, with the intent of understanding constraints to recovery of these species and the nearshore environment. In FY 02, sea otter work will include aerial surveys of distribution and abundance and estimates of age-specific survival rates.
Authors
James L. Bodkin, Brenda E. Ballachey, T.A. Dean, Daniel Esler