Images

USGS Upper Midwest Water Science Center hydrologist Laura Hubbard (right, in yellow coat and PFD) and Jordan Wight (left, Memorial University of Newfoundland, Canada) walk between hundreds of spawning sockeye salmon in shallow lake at Izembek National Wildlife Refuge, Alaska as they filter water for avian influenza virus.

USGS research hydrologist Laura Hubbard and Memorial University of Newfoundland's Jordan Wight wade with an orange inflatable boat in shallow wetland as they filter for infectious avian influenza in Izembek National Wildlife Refuge, Alaska.

Upper Midwest Water Science Center Hydrologist Laura Hubbard filters wetland water to sample for infectious avian influenza in Izembek National Wildlife Refuge, Alaska.

Scientists scout for brown bears before starting infectious avian influenza water sampling in Izembek National Wildlife Refuge, Alaska.

A building lifted from its foundation by floodwater from Extratropical Typhoon Merbok is trapped under a bridge in Nome, Alaska.

USGS staff measuring discharge at the Solomon Gulch Hydropower tailrace, Valdez Alaska.

Two juvenile coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) used in a heat stress experiment. Alaska Department of Fish and Game’s William Jack Hernandez Sport Fish Hatchery, Anchorage, Alaska, USA. 

The Kukpowruk River cuts through folded Cretaceous rocks in the central North Slope. These rocks were assessed by the USGS in 2017 and lie above the rocks assessed in the USGS 2021 Western North Slope assessment.

Jurassic rocks exposed in thurst-faulted structures near the southern limit of Western North Slope. In the subsurface farther north, these rocks may be reservoir rocks for natural gas.

Geologist hikes across folded Cretaceous rocks in the central North Slope. These rocks were assessed by the USGS in 2017 and lie above the rocks assessed in the USGS 2021 Western North Slope assessment.

The Wolverine Glacier weather station was installed in 1968, and at 3250 ft is the highest elevation long-term weather record on the Kenai Peninsula. On October 19, 2020, USGS scientists upgraded the power system to a Lithium battery bank and installed a radar-based precipitation sensor (Lufft WS-100) to compare with the weighing based precipitation gage.

Geologist examines f Faulted and folded petroleum source rocks in Jurassic and Cretaceous rocks (Kingak Shale, pebble shale unit, and gamma-ray zone of Hue Shale) in southern part of Western North Slope. Thermal maturity of these rocks is at the upper limit of oil preservations.

Oil-saturated sandstone in the Nanushuk Formation in westernmost National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska (NPR-A). Oil in these rocks likely was generated beneath Western North Slope and migrated northeastward into NPR-A.

Overview of folded Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous rocks in southern part of Western North Slope.

Faulted and folded petroleum source rocks in Jurassic and Cretaceous rocks (Kingak Shale, pebble shale unit, and gamma-ray zone of Hue Shale) in southern part of Western North Slope. Thermal maturity of these rocks are at the upper limit of oil preservations.

Geologists discuss the geology of Jurassic rocks in thurst-faulted structures near the southern limit of Western North Slope.

The Wolverine Glacier weather station was installed in 1968, and at 3250 ft is the highest elevation long-term weather record on the Kenai Peninsula. In Ocotober 2020, USGS scientists upgraded the power system to a Lithium battery bank and installed a radar-based precipitation sensor (Lufft WS-100) to compare with the weighing based precipitation gage. The

The Wolverine Glacier weather station was installed in 1968, and at 3250 ft is the highest elevation long-term weather record on the Kenai Peninsula.

The Wolverine Glacier weather station was installed in 1968, and at 3250 ft is the highest elevation long-term weather record on the Kenai Peninsula. Close up of the new radar precipitation sensor on the top of the pole. The crazy looking thing in the middle of the picture is an aspirated temperature sensor.

USGS Biologist Caitlin Marsteller prepares to release a Black Oystercatcher after assisting with the collection of morphometric data and tagging. Data were collected from Black Oystercatchers as part of a new study to better understand migration strategies and movement ecology of the species.

Brian Robinson (USGS) and Ben Weitzman (NOAA) record observations along nearshore transects in Kachemak Bay, Alaska. USGS is studying the migration strategies and movement ecology of Black Oystercatchers as part of the new tracking study.