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First Detailed Map of the Entire Queen Charlotte-Fairweather Fault System

One of the world’s most seismically active strike-slip faults

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How to Become an International Star

Set a world record by flying nonstop from Alaska to Tasmania, Australia

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Polar Bears Spending More Time on Land Increasing the Potential for Human-bear Interactions

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The Aleutian Cradle of Tsunamis

Infographic summarizes geologic history of tsunami-generating earthquakes to better forecast future events

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The Glacier-Climate Connection Geonarrative

Explore glacier dynamics, the connection between climate and glaciers, and downstream impacts of glacier loss

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The New Water Cycle Diagram!

Downloadable and available in multiple languages

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Q&A: Estimates of Abundance for Pacific Walrus

Drone surveys and a biopsy study help provide information for co-management decisions

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Alaska Science Center

The mission of the Alaska Science Center is to provide objective and timely data, information, and research findings about the earth and its flora and fauna to Federal, State, and local resource managers and the public to support sound decisions regarding natural resources, natural hazards, and ecosystems in Alaska and circumpolar regions. We have offices in Anchorage, Juneau, and Fairbanks. 

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In the Spotlight

Driftwood Bay, Umnak Island, Alaska. Driftwood on grass and shoreline with water and whitecaps.

The Aleutian Cradle of Tsunamis: Research on the Aleutian Islands offers insights into past great Alaska earthquakes and the dangerous, often far-travelling tsunamis they send across the Pacific. Infographic summarizes work by a core team of Aleutian researchers who deciphered a longer, geologic history of tsunami-generating earthquakes to better forecast future events.

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Current Water Conditions

Alaska view on the National Water Dashboard

Explore real-time Alaska streamflow, groundwater, and water-quality conditions and access data with our new interactive map application.

Current Conditions

ASC Quick Links

News

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Population declines in Alaska beluga whale population may be linked to low birth and survival rates

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Mapping the Entire Queen Charlotte-Fairweather Fault System

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Beautiful geonarrative published about decades old USGS Benchmark Glacier Project

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Publications

Ordovician geology of Alaska

Ordovician rocks, found in northern, east-central, interior and southern Alaska, formed in a variety of depositional and palaeogeographic settings. Shallow- and deep-water strata deposited along the northwestern Laurentian margin occur in east-central Alaska (Yukon River area) and probably correlative rocks crop out to the north in the Porcupine River area. Ordovician strata elsewhere in Alaska ar
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Alaska Science Center

Brown bear–sea otter interactions along the Katmai coast: Terrestrial and nearshore communities linked by predation

Sea otters were extirpated throughout much of their range by the maritime fur trade in the 18th and 19th centuries, including the coast of Katmai National Park and Preserve in southcentral Alaska. Brown bears are an important component of the Katmai ecosystem where they are the focus of a thriving ecotourism bear-viewing industry as they forage in sedge meadows and dig clams in the extensive tidal
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Ecosystems, Alaska Science Center

Lingering impacts of the 2014-2016 northeast Pacific marine heatwave on seabird demography in Cook Inlet, Alaska (USA)

A protracted period (2014-2016) of anomalously warm water in the northeast Pacific Ocean precipitated an extensive die-off of common murres Uria aalge (hereafter ‘murres’) during 2015-2016, accompanied by reduced colony attendance and reproductive success of murres and black-legged kittiwakes Rissa tridactyla (‘kittiwakes’) starting in 2015. Most murres died of starvation following a large-scale r
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Ecosystems, Alaska Science Center
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Science

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Steller's Eider in Dutch Harbor, Alaska

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Tracking Data for Steller's Eiders (Polysticta stelleri)

Available here are tracking data of the Steller’s Eider, a species of seaduck that breeds throughout the circumpolar Arctic and spends the winter in coastal areas of western and southwestern Alaska. The Alaska-breeding population is listed as threatened under provisions of the Endangered Species Act. These tracking data were collected by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The entire data package...
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Alaska Science Center
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U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Tracking Data for Steller's Eiders (Polysticta stelleri)

Available here are tracking data of the Steller’s Eider, a species of seaduck that breeds throughout the circumpolar Arctic and spends the winter in coastal areas of western and southwestern Alaska. The Alaska-breeding population is listed as threatened under provisions of the Endangered Species Act. These tracking data were collected by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The entire data package...
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photo of moss campion in bloom with pink flowers. Also know as cushion pink, is a small mountain-dwelling wildflower.

Legacy Research Data from Retired, Emeritus, and Current USGS Alaska Science Center Staff

Legacy data are an important component of the USGS Alaska Science Center’s (ASC) commitment to deliver actionable information relevant to decision makers and science related to the earth’s natural hazards, natural resources, and ecosystems. The term “legacy” refers to project data that are complete, or may be resurrected in the future, that were previously stored in old or obsolete formats that...
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Alaska Science Center
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Legacy Research Data from Retired, Emeritus, and Current USGS Alaska Science Center Staff

Legacy data are an important component of the USGS Alaska Science Center’s (ASC) commitment to deliver actionable information relevant to decision makers and science related to the earth’s natural hazards, natural resources, and ecosystems. The term “legacy” refers to project data that are complete, or may be resurrected in the future, that were previously stored in old or obsolete formats that...
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Group of Pacific walruses resting on beach, Alaska

Q&A: Estimates of Abundance for Pacific Walrus

The Pacific walrus ranges across the Bering and Chukchi seas during the year. This wide geographic distribution makes it difficult to estimate Pacific walrus population abundance. However, recent technological advances in genetics and drone imagery have generated precise regional and range-wide abundance estimates.
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Alaska Science Center
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Q&A: Estimates of Abundance for Pacific Walrus

The Pacific walrus ranges across the Bering and Chukchi seas during the year. This wide geographic distribution makes it difficult to estimate Pacific walrus population abundance. However, recent technological advances in genetics and drone imagery have generated precise regional and range-wide abundance estimates.
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