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
Little late Holocene strain accumulation and release on the Aleutian megathrust below the Shumagin Islands, Alaska
Can a predominantly creeping segment of a subduction zone generate a great (M > 8) earthquake? Despite Russian accounts of strong shaking and high tsunamis in 1788, geodetic observations above the Aleutian megathrust indicate creeping subduction across the Shumagin Islands segment, a well-known seismic gap. Seeking evidence for prehistoric great earthquakes, we investigated Simeonof Island, the ar
Authors
Robert C. Witter, Richard W. Briggs, Simon E. Engelhart, Guy R. Gelfenbaum, Richard D. Koehler, William D. Barnhart
Recolonization of the intertidal and shallow subtidal community following the 2008 eruption of Alaska’s Kasatochi Volcano
The intertidal and nearshore benthic communities of Kasatochi Island are described following a catastrophic volcanic eruption in 2008. Prior to the eruption, the island was surrounded by a dense bed of canopy-forming dragon kelp Eualaria fistulosa which supported a productive nearshore community. The eruption extended the coastline of the island approximately 400 m offshore to roughly the 20 m iso
Authors
S.C. Jewett, Gary S. Drew
Comparative population structure of cavity-nesting sea ducks
A growing collection of mtDNA genetic information from waterfowl species across North America suggests that larger-bodied cavity-nesting species exhibit greater levels of population differentiation than smaller-bodied congeners. Although little is known about nest-cavity availability for these species, one hypothesis to explain differences in population structure is reduced dispersal tendency of l
Authors
John M. Pearce, John M. Eadie, Jean-Pierre L. Savard, Thomas K. Christensen, James Berdeen, Eric J. Taylor, Sean Boyd, Árni Einarsson
Geochronology of plutonic rocks and their tectonic terranes in Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve, southeast Alaska
We have identified six major belts and two nonbelt occurrences of plutonic rocks in Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve and characterized them on the basis of geologic mapping, igneous petrology, geochemistry, and isotopic dating. The six plutonic belts and two other occurrences are, from oldest to youngest: (1) Jurassic (201.6–145.5 Ma) diorite and gabbro of the Lituya belt; (2) Late Jurassic
Authors
David A. Brew, Kathleen E. Tellier, Marvin A. Lanphere, Diane C. Nielsen, James G. Smith, Ronald A. Sonnevil
2013 update on sea otter studies to assess recovery from the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill, Prince William Sound, Alaska
On March 24, 1989, the tanker vessel Exxon Valdez ran aground in Prince William Sound, Alaska, spilling an estimated 42 million liters of Prudhoe Bay crude oil. Oil spread in a southwesterly direction and was deposited on shores and waters in western Prince William Sound (WPWS). The sea otter (Enhydra lutris) was one of more than 20 nearshore species considered to have been injured by the spill. S
Authors
Brenda E. Ballachey, Daniel H. Monson, George G. Esslinger, Kimberly A. Kloecker, James L. Bodkin, Lizabeth Bowen, A. Keith Miles
Isotopic nitrogen in fecal fiber as an indicator of winter diet in caribou and muskoxen
RATIONALE: The ratios of stable nitrogen isotopes (δ15N values) in excreta have been used to examine aspects of trophic
and nutritional ecology across taxa. Nitrogen fractions in feces of herbivores include endogenous (e.g., sloughed
intestinal cells, unresorbed digestive secretions, and microbial debris) and dietary sources. For animals such as large
herbivores, that have diets and feces with
Authors
David D. Gustine, Perry S. Barboza, Jennifer Addison, Rachel Shively, Lola Oliver
Polar bears exhibit genome-wide signatures of bioenergetic adaptation to life in the Arctic environment
Polar bears (Ursus maritimus) face extremely cold temperatures and periods of fasting, which might result in more severe energetic challenges than those experienced by their sister species, the brown bear (U. arctos). We have examined the mitochondrial and nuclear genomes of polar and brown bears to investigate if polar bears demonstrate lineage-specific signals of molecular adaptation in genes as
Authors
Andreanna J. Welch, Oscar C. Bedoya-Reina, Lorenzo Carretero-Paulet, Webb Miller, Karyn D. Rode, Charlotte Lindqvist
Reconstruction of historic sea ice conditions in a sub-Arctic lagoon
Historical sea ice conditions were reconstructed for Izembek Lagoon, Bering Sea, Alaska. This lagoon is a crucial staging area during migration for numerous species of avian migrants and a major eelgrass (Zostera marina) area important to a variety of marine and terrestrial organisms, especially Pacific Flyway black brant geese (Branta bernicla nigricans). Ice cover is a common feature of the lago
Authors
Chris Petrich, Adrienne C. Tivy, David H. Ward
Synthesis of nearshore recovery following the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill: sea otter liver pathology and survival in Western Prince William Sound, 2001 – 2008
We examined livers and liver biopsies collected from captured sea otters in WPWS, 2001–2008, to determine whether indicators of liver health correlated with history of oil contamination from the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill. Sea otters captured in oiled areas had a significantly higher proportion of livers with gross pathological change, based on visual inspection at the time of capture, than those
Authors
Brenda E. Ballachey, Daniel H. Monson, Kimberly A. Kloecker, George G. Esslinger, F.C. Mohr, T.P. Lipscomb, M.J. Murray, S. Howlin
Assessing streamflow sensitivity to variations in glacier mass balance
The mountains ringing the Gulf of Alaska (GOA) receive upwards of 4–8 m yr−1 of precipitation (Simpson et al.2005; Weingartner et al. 2005; O’Neel 2012), much of which runs off into productive coastal waters. The alpine landscape is heavily glacierized, and storage and turnover of water by glaciers substantially influences the regional surface water balance (Neal et al. 2010). In turn, the land-to
Authors
Shad O'Neel, Eran Hood, Anthony Arendt, Louis C. Sass
Validation of adipose lipid content as a body condition index for polar bears
Body condition is a key indicator of individual and population health. Yet, there is little consensus as to the most appropriate condition index (CI), and most of the currently used CIs have not been thoroughly validated and are logistically challenging. Adipose samples from large datasets of capture biopsied, remote biopsied, and harvested polar bears were used to validate adipose lipid content a
Authors
Melissa A. McKinney, Todd C. Atwood, Rune Dietz, Christian Sonne, Sara J. Iverson, Elizabeth L. Peacock
Tsunami impact to Washington and northern Oregon from segment ruptures on the southern Cascadia subduction zone
This paper explores the size and arrival of tsunamis in Oregon and Washington from the most likely partial ruptures of the Cascadia subduction zone (CSZ) in order to determine (1) how quickly tsunami height declines away from sources, (2) evacuation time before significant inundation, and (3) extent of felt shaking that would trigger evacuation. According to interpretations of offshore turbidite d
Authors
George R. Priest, Yinglong Zhang, Robert C. Witter, Kelin Wang, Chris Goldfinger, Laura Stimely