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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: 2892

Infectious hematopoietic necrosis virus detected by separation and incubation of cells from salmonid cavity fluid.

Infectious hematopoietic necrosis (IHN) virus is usually detected by inoculating susceptible cell cultures with cavity ("ovarian") fluid (CF) from spawning females. We identified additional adult carriers of virus in spawning populations of steelhead trout (Salmo gairdneri) and sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) by collecting nonerythrocytic cells from CF samples by low-speed centrifugation, cult
Authors
D. Mulcahy, W.N. Batts

Mortalities of kelp-forest fishes associated with large oceanic waves off central California, 1982-1983

Observations of three incidents of the mass mortality of nearshore fishes are reported; each corresponded to periods of high-amplitude, long-period swells during the 1982-1983 El Niño event along the coast of central California. Members of the nearshore kelp forest fish assemblage, primarily of the genus Sebastes, accounted for 96% of the observed mortalities and S. mystinus (blue rockfish) alone
Authors
James L. Bodkin, Glenn R. VanBlaricom, Ronald J. Jameson

Tables showing analyses of semiquantitative spectrometry and atomic-absorption spectrophotometry of rock samples collected in the Ugashik, Bristol Bay, and western part of the Karluk quadrangles, Alaska

The accompanying tables list chemical analyses of 337 rock samples that were collected in 1979, 1980, and 1981 in conjunction with geologic mapping in the Ugashik, Bristol Bay, and part of Karluk quadrangles. This work was conducted under the auspices of the Alaska Mineral Resource Assessment Program (AMRAP). This report is to accompany Wilson and O'Leary (1986) which inadvertently is missing most
Authors
Frederic H. Wilson, Richard M. O'Leary

Lower Paleozoic carbonate rocks of the Baird Mountains quadrangle, western Brooks Range, Alaska

Lower Paleozoic carbonate rocks in the Baird Mountains quadrangle form a relatively thin, chiefly shallow-water succession that has been thrust-faulted and metamorphosed to blueschist and greenschist facies. Although this succession was thought to be mostly Devonian until recently, a large part of it is in fact pre-Silurian in age.Middle and Upper Cambrian rocks - the first confirmed in the wester
Authors
Julie A. Dumoulin, Anita G. Harris

Development and evaluation of a system for tracking wildlife by satellite

No abstract available.
Authors
S.G. Fancy, L.F. Pank, David C. Douglas, Catherine H. Curby, Gerald W. Garner, Steven C. Amstrup, Wayne L. Regelin

Feeding ecology of Alcidae in the eastern North Pacific Ocean

No abstract available.
Authors
K. Vermeer, S.G. Sealy, G.A. Sanger

Did the 1982-1983 El Niño-Southern Oscillation Affect Seabirds in Alaska?

The causes and effects of the oceanographic and atmospheric phenomena known as El Nino and the Southern Oscillation (ENSO) have been studied intensively in recent years (Cane 1983, Rasmusson and Wallace 1983, Barber and Chave 1983, Cane and Zebiak 1985). ENSOs occur at semiregular intervals of 3-4 years, and the stronger events have important biological consequences, including reduced breeding suc
Authors
Scott A. Hatch

An inexpensive device for recording animal behavior

Recording animal behavior is tedious and time consuming when behaviors are recorded on tape and transcribed to data sheets. Data loggers circumvent these problems, but can be prohibitively expensive and may require extensive programming (see Hensler et al. [1986]). I describe an inexpensive, efficient alternative for recording behavioral observations.
Authors
Craig R. Ely

Autumn staging of cackling Canada geese on the Alaska Peninsula

Cackling Canada Geese Branta canadensis minima undergo a long (2,800 km) migration between their autumn staging areas on the Alaska Peninsula and wintering areas in Oregon and California. Adults and young lost an average of 543 g during this migratory flight. Weight gains between fledging and autumn migration are essential for the successful completion of the flight. Autumn staging is important fo
Authors
James S. Sedinger, Karen S. Bollinger

Copulation and mate guarding in the Northern Fulmar

I studied the timing and frequency of copulation in mated pairs and the occurrence of extra-pair copulation (EPC) among Northern Fulmars (Fulmarus glacialis) for 2 yr. Copulation peaked 24 days before laying, a few days before females departed on a prelaying exodus of about 3 weeks. I estimated that females were inseminated at least 34 times each season. A total of 44 EPC attempts was seen, 9 (20%
Authors
Scott A. Hatch

Cumulative impacts of oil fields on northern Alaskan landscapes

Proposed further developments on Alaska's Arctic Coastal Plain raise questions about cumulative effects on arctic tundra ecosystems of development of multiple large oil fields. Maps of historical changes to the Prudhoe Bay Oil Field show indirect impacts can lag behind planned developments by many years and the total area eventually disturbed can greatly exceed the planned area of construction. Fo
Authors
D.A. Walker, P.J. Webber, Emily F. Binnian, K.R. Everett, N.D. Lederer, E.A. Nordstrand, M.D. Walker