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
Sclerochronological records of environmental variability and bivalve growth in the Pacific Arctic
The Pacific Arctic region has experienced, and is projected to continue experiencing, rapid climate change. Large uncertainties exist in our understanding of the impact these physical changes have on the region’s ecology. This is, in part, due to the lack of long-term data. Here we investigate bivalve mollusc growth increment width chronologies (sclerochronologies) to develop a long-term biologica
Authors
David J. Reynolds, Vanessa R. von Biela, Kenneth H. Dunton, David C. Douglas, Bryan A. Black
Proceedings of the Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza and Wild Birds Webinar Series, August 2–5, 2021
In light of ongoing and geographically widespread highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) outbreaks in wild birds throughout much of Eurasia during 2020–21, the Interagency Steering Committee for Avian Influenza Surveillance in Wild Migratory Birds disseminated an informational memorandum in January 2021 to highlight the need for enhanced surveillance and heightened awareness in North America. Th
Authors
M. Camille Hopkins, J. Russ Mason, Giavanna Haddock, Andrew M. Ramey
Detrital zircon ages from upper Paleozoic–Triassic clastic strata on St. Lawrence Island, Alaska: An enigmatic component of the Arctic Alaska–Chukotka microplate
New lithologic and detrital zircon (DZ) U-Pb data from Devonian–Triassic strata on St. Lawrence Island in the Bering Sea and from the western Brooks Range of Alaska suggest affinities between these two areas. The Brooks Range constitutes part of the Arctic Alaska–Chukotka microplate, but the tectonic and paleogeographic affinities of St. Lawrence Island are unknown or at best speculative. Strata o
Authors
Jeffrey M. Amato, Julie A. Dumoulin, Eric S. Gottlieb, Thomas E. Moore
Modeled interactions of mountain pine beetle and wildland fire under future climate and management scenarios for three western US landscapes
Mountain pine beetle (MPB) is a native disturbance agent across most pine forests in the western US. Climate changes will directly and indirectly impact frequencies and severities of MPB outbreaks, which can then alter fuel characteristics and wildland fire dynamics via changes in stand structure and composition. To investigate the importance of MPB to past and future landscape dynamics, we used t
Authors
Robert Keane, Barbara Bentz, Lisa M. Holsinger, Victoria Saab, Rachel A. Loehman
Gull plumages are, and are not, what they appear to human vision
Clear correlations between human and bird visual assessments of color have been documented, and are often assumed, despite fundamental differences in human and avian visual physiology and morphology. Analyses of plumage colors with avian perceptual models have shown widespread hidden inter-sexual and inter-specific color variation among passerines perceived as monochromatic to humans, highlighting
Authors
Muir D Eaton, Pilar Benites, Luke Campillo, Robert E. Wilson, Sarah A. Sonsthagen
Evidence of increased mussel abundance related to the Pacific marine heatwave and sea star wasting
Mussels occupy a key middle trophic position in nearshore food webs linking primary producers to predators. Climate-related environmental changes may synergistically combine with changes in predator abundance to affect intertidal ecosystems. We examined the influence of two major events on mussel (Mytilus trossulus) abundance in the northern Gulf of Alaska: the recent Pacific marine heatwave (PMH,
Authors
Sarah Beth Traiger, James L. Bodkin, Heather Coletti, Brenda Ballachey, Dean Thomas, Daniel Esler, Katrin Iken, Brenda Konar, Mandy Lindeberg, Daniel Monson, Brian H. Robinson, Robert M. Suryan, Ben Weitzman
Marine minerals in Alaska — A review of coastal and deep-ocean regions
Minerals occurring in marine environments span the globe and encompass a broad range of mineral categories, forming within varied geologic and oceanographic settings. They occur in coastal regions, either from the continuation or mechanical reworking of terrestrial mineralization, as well as in the deep ocean, from diagenetic, hydrogenetic, and hydrothermal processes. The oceans cover most of the
Authors
Amy Gartman, Kira Mizell, Douglas C. Kreiner
Alaska focus area definition for data acquisition for potential domestic sources of critical minerals in Alaska for antimony, barite, beryllium, chromium, fluorspar, hafnium, magnesium, manganese, uranium, vanadium, and zirconium
Phase 3 of the Earth Mapping Resources Initiative (Earth MRI) focuses on geologic belts that are favorable for hosting mineral systems that could contain the critical minerals antimony, barite, beryllium, chromium, fluorspar, hafnium, magnesium, manganese, uranium, vanadium, and zirconium. Prior phases of the Earth MRI program in Alaska focused only on rare earth elements, aluminum, cobalt, graphi
Authors
Douglas C. Kreiner, James V. Jones, George N. Case
Upper-plate structure and tsunamigenic faults near the Kodiak Islands, Alaska, USA
The Kodiak Islands lie near the southern terminus of the 1964 Great Alaska earthquake rupture area and within the Kodiak subduction zone segment. Both local and trans-Pacific tsunamis were generated during this devastating megathrust event, but the local tsunami source region and the causative faults are poorly understood. We provide an updated view of the tsunami and earthquake hazard for the Kod
Authors
Marlon D. Ramos, Lee M Liberty, Peter J. Haeussler, Robert John Humphreys
Revisiting the 1899 earthquake series using integrative geophysical analysis in Yakutat Bay, Alaska
A series of large earthquakes in 1899 affected southeastern Alaska near Yakutat and Disenchantment Bays. The largest of the series, a MW 8.2 event on 10 September 1899, generated an ~12-m-high tsunami and as much as 14.4 m of coseismic uplift in Yakutat Bay, the largest coseismic uplift ever measured. Several complex fault systems in the area are associated with the Yakutat terrane collision with
Authors
Maureen A. L. Walton, Sean P.S. Gulick, Peter J. Haeussler
African penguins and localized fisheries management: Response to Butterworth and Ross-Gillespie
We present a response to Butterworth and Ross-Gillespie's (2022) comment on our perspectives on how forage fish fisheries are impacting the endangered African penguin (Sphenicus demersus), and corresponding management options. Butterworth and Ross-Gillespie overstate model uncertainties and downplay the clear ecological and conservation significance of the fisheries closure experiment. We demonstr
Authors
Bill Sydeman, Gene Hunt, E.K. Pikitch, J. Parrish, John F. Piatt, D. Boersma, L. Kaufman, D. L. Anderson, S. Thompson, Richard B. Sherley
Paralytic shellfish toxins associated with Arctic Tern mortalities in Alaska
Harmful algal blooms produce biotoxins that can injure or kill fish, wildlife, and humans. These blooms occur naturally but have intensified in many locations globally due to recent climatic changes, including ocean warming. Such changes are especially pronounced in northern regions, where the effects of paralytic shellfish toxins (PSTs) on marine wildlife are of growing concern. In Alaska, seabir
Authors
Caroline R. Van Hemert, John Harley, Gwen Baluss, Matthew M. Smith, Robert J. Dusek, Julia S. Lankton, D. Ransom Hardison, Sarah K. Schoen, Robert Kaler