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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: 3082

Fault structure and kinematics of the Long Valley Caldera region, California, revealed by high-accuracy earthquake hypocenters and focal mechanism stress inversions Fault structure and kinematics of the Long Valley Caldera region, California, revealed by high-accuracy earthquake hypocenters and focal mechanism stress inversions

We have determined high-resolution hypocenters for 45,000+ earthquakes that occurred between 1980 and 2000 in the Long Valley caldera area using a double-difference earthquake location algorithm and routinely determined arrival times. The locations reveal numerous discrete fault planes in the southern caldera and adjacent Sierra Nevada block (SNB). Intracaldera faults include a series of...
Authors
Stephanie Prejean, William L. Ellsworth, Mark Zoback, Felix Waldhauser

Bryophytes from Tuxedni Wilderness area, Alaska Bryophytes from Tuxedni Wilderness area, Alaska

The bryoflora of two small maritime islands, Chisik and Duck Island (2,302 ha), comprising Tuxedni Wilderness in western lower Cook Inlet, Alaska, was examined to determine species composition in an area where no previous collections had been reported. The field study was conducted from sites selected to represent the totality of environmental variation within Tuxedni Wilderness. Data...
Authors
Wilfred B. Schofield, Stephen S. Talbot, Sandra L. Talbot

Muskoxen Muskoxen

Muskoxen (Ovibos moschatus) disappeared from Alaska in the late 1800s, but returned to the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge when animals were reestablished into areas of former range in 1969-1970 (Klein 1988). Released at Barter Island (Kaktovik) and the Kavik River, muskoxen initially moved into regions that encompassed the 1002 Area on the coastal plain of the Arctic Refuge. From 1974...
Authors
Patricia E. Reynolds, Kenneth J. Wilson, David R. Klein

Introduction Introduction

The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in northeastern Alaska is one of 16 refuges in Alaska and 539 refuges nationwide within the National Wildlife Refuge System administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. First established as the Arctic National Wildlife Range in 1960 by Public Land Order 2214, it initially had a three-fold purpose to preserve unique wildlife, wilderness, and...

Snow geese Snow geese

Part of the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Alaska, is used as an autumn staging area by lesser snow geese (Chen caerulescens caerulescens) from the Western Canadian Arctic population (hereafter called the Western Arctic population). There were approximately 200,000 breeding adults in the Western Arctic population through the mid-1980s (Johnson and Herter 1989), but...
Authors
Jerry W. Hupp, Donna G. Robertson, Alan W. Brackney

Life-history implications of large-scale spatial variation in adult survival of black brant (Branta bernicla nigricans) Life-history implications of large-scale spatial variation in adult survival of black brant (Branta bernicla nigricans)

We used capture-recapture methods to estimate adult survival rates for adult female Black Brant (Branta bernicla nigricans; hereafter “brant”) from three colonies in Alaska, two on the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, and one on Alaska's Arctic coast. Costs of migration and reproductive effort varied among those colonies, enabling us to examine variation in survival in relation to variation in...
Authors
James S. Sedinger, Nathan Chelgren, Mark S. Lindberg, Tim Obritchkewitch, Morgan T. Kirk, Philip D. Martin, Betty A. Anderson, David H. Ward

Population genetic structure in Lahontan cutthroat trout Population genetic structure in Lahontan cutthroat trout

We used 10 microsatellite loci to examine the genetic population structure of cutthroat trout Oncorhynchus clarki within the Lahontan Basin complex. Genetic diversity was analyzed for trout from Nevada, California, and Utah representing three putative subspecies: Lahontan O. c. henshawi, Paiute O. c. seleniris, and Humboldt (an unnamed subspecies) cutthroat trout. We found significant...
Authors
Jennifer L. Nielsen, George K. Sage

Studies by the U.S. Geological Survey in Alaska, 2000 Studies by the U.S. Geological Survey in Alaska, 2000

The collection of eight papers that follow continue the series of U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) investigative reports in Alaska under the broad umbrella of the geologic sciences. The series presents new and sometimes-preliminary findings that are of interest to earth scientists in academia, government, and industry; to land and resource managers; and to the general public. Reports...

Testing pop-up satellite tags as a tool for identifying critical habitat for Pacific halibut (Hippoglossus stenolepis) in the Gulf of Alaska Testing pop-up satellite tags as a tool for identifying critical habitat for Pacific halibut (Hippoglossus stenolepis) in the Gulf of Alaska

To maintain healthy commercial and sport fisheries for Pacific halibut (Hippoglossus stenolepis), critical habitat must be defined by determining life history patterns on a daily and seasonal basis. Pop-up satellite archival transmitting (PSAT) tags provide a fisheries-independent method of collecting environmental preference data (depth and ambient water temperature) as well as daily...
Authors
Andrew C. Seitz, Derek Wilson, Jennifer L. Nielsen

Food limitation and the recovery of sea otters following the 'Exxon Valdez' oil spill Food limitation and the recovery of sea otters following the 'Exxon Valdez' oil spill

We examined the potential role of food limitation in constraining the recovery of sea otters Enhydra lutris in Prince William Sound, Alaska, following the 'Exxon Valdez' oil spill. The spill resulted in the removal of a large number of sea otters in 1989, and as of 1998, the portion of the population in the heavily oiled northern Knight Island region had not fully recovered. Between 1996...
Authors
Thomas A. Dean, James L. Bodkin, Allan K. Fukuyama, Stephen C. Jewett, Daniel H. Monson, Charles E. O’Clair, Glenn R. VanBlaricom

Nesting ecology of tundra swans on the coastal Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, Alaska Nesting ecology of tundra swans on the coastal Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, Alaska

Nesting ecology of Tundra Swans (Cygnus columbianus columbianus) was studies the Kashunuk River near Old Chevak (61A?26a??N, 165A?27a??W), on the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta of western Alaska from 1988-2000. Annual variation in snow-melt chronology, nesting phenology, nesting density, clutch size and nest success was examined. The same area (approximately 23 kmA?) was searched each year and...
Authors
Colleen A. Babcock, A. C. Fowler, Craig R. Ely
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