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
Breeding biology of Pacific white-fronted geese
Nesting ecology of Pacific white-fronted geese (Anser albifrons frontalis) was studied on a 9.9-km2 area on the Yukon-Kuskokwim (Y-K) Delta, Alaska, during 1977-79. Availability of nesting habitat varied considerably among years because of differences in time of snow- and icemelt. Mean clutch size was 3.7 eggs in the late spring thaw year and 5.2 and 5.7 eggs in early snowmelt years. Peak (and dur
Authors
Craig R. Ely, Dennis G. Raveling
Composition and energy contents of mature inshore spawning capelin (Mallotus villosus): Implications for seabird predators
1. Lipid levels of capelin are highest in late fall and lowest during the summer spawning season; protein levels are constant at 13–14% body wt throughout the year.2. Ovid females contained significantly more lipid and protein and less water and had higher energy densities than males and spent females.3. Surgically-removed egg masses made up 34.2 ± 10.3% female body wt and were very similar in com
Authors
W.A. Montevecchi, John F. Piatt
Guide to the Bedrock Geology of a traverse of the Chugach Mountains from Anchorage to Cape Resurrection
No abstract available.
Authors
Gary R. Winkler, Marti L. Miller, R.B. Hoekzema, Julie A. Dumoulin
Offset of Tertiary arcs on the Alaska Peninsula: A section in Geological Survey research, fiscal year 1981
Geologic mapping and potassium-argon dating by R. L. Detterman, F. H. Wilson, J. E. Case, and Nora Shew in the Ugashik and western part of the Karluk quadrangles have shown that the Eocene and Oligocene volcanic arc continues into these quadrangles from the south in the Chignik and Sutwik Island quadrangles. Surface exposures of the arc extend northward to approximately 57°30'N., or midway through
Authors
The Jeanie Point complex revisited
The so-called Jeanie Point complex is a distinctive package of rocks within the Orca Group, a Tertiary turbidite sequence. The rocks crop out on the southeast coast of Montague Island, Prince William Sound, approximately 3 km northeast of Jeanie Point (loc. 7, fig. 44). These rocks consist dominantly of fine-grained limestone and lesser amounts of siliceous limestone, chert, tuff, mudstone, argill
Authors
Julie A. Dumoulin, Marti L. Miller
Observations of emperor geese feeding at Nelson Lagoon, Alaska
Estuaries along the north side of the Alaska Peninsula provide essential habitat for most of the American population of Emperor Goose (Chen canagica) during migration (Petersen and Gill 1982). Most of the population passes through Nelson Lagoon in spring and fall, with over 40,000 birds recorded there (Gill et al 1981). Little is known about the feeding activity of Emperor Geese while they are in
Authors
Margaret R. Petersen
Use of nearshore and estuarine areas by gray whales (Eschrichtius robustus) in the eastern Bering Sea
During spring aerial surveys of the coast of the southeastern Bering Sea significant numbers of gray whales were seen in nearshore waters along the north side of the Alaska Peninsula. Many (50-80%) of these animals were observed surfacing with mud trails or lying on their sides, characteristics both associated with feeding. A migration route close to shore (within 1-2 km) was used until whales nea
Authors
Robert E. Gill, John D. Hall
Data report for the August 1982 seismic-refraction experiment in the Mono Craters-Long Valley region, California
No abstract available.
Authors
Patricia J. Meador, David P. Hill
Nestling growth relationships of brown-headed cowbirds and dickcissels
Data on nestling growth of brood parasites and their hosts are surprisingly few in the literature, Even the Brown-headed Cowbird (Molothrus ater), whose host relations have been studied in some other respects, has not been studied in any detail from this standpoint. This is particularly regrettable because the lack of host specialization and high incidence of multiple parasitism in this species re
Authors
Scott A. Hatch
An isolated population of small Canada geese on Kaliktagik Island, Alaska
Recently we discovered that a small form of the Canada Goose Branta canadensis breeds on Kaliktagik Island, one of the Semidi Islands, about 80 km south of the Alaska Peninsula near longitude 157°W (Figure 1). The unexpected occurrence of geese on this oceanic island and the possibility that they are closely allied with the endangered Aleutian race of Canada Geese B. c. leucopareia prompt this sum
Authors
Scott A. Hatch, Martha A. Hatch
Pacific Coast Caspian Terns: Dynamics of an expanding population
Nesting distribution, age-related seasonal movements, survivorship, and mechanisms of population expansion in Pacific Coast Caspian Terns (Sterna caspia) were examined primarily through analysis of 412 recoveries of birds banded as juveniles between 1935 and 1980. Since the beginning of this century, the population has shifted from nesting in numerous small colonies associated with freshwater mars
Authors
Robert E. Gill, L. Richard Mewaldt
Mechanism and ecological significance of sperm storage in the Northern Fulmar with reference to its occurrence in other birds
Sperm-storage glands were found in the uterovaginal (UV) region of the oviduct in Northern Fulmars (Fulmarus glacialis), Horned Puffins (Fratercula corniculata), and Leach's Storm-Petrels (Oceanodroma leucorhoa) collected before or shortly after egg laying. Previously described only in domestic Galliformes, UV sperm-storage glands may prove to be a common feature of the avian reproductive system.
Authors
Scott A. Hatch