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The Aleutian subduction zone is one of the most seismically active plate boundaries and the source of several of the world’s largest historic earthquakes. The structural architecture of the subduction zone varies considerably along its length. At the eastern end is a tectonically complex collision zone where the allochthonous Yakutat terrane is moving northwest into mainland Alaska. West...

In southcentral Alaska, the boundaries of two different tectonic blocks extend southwestward from the Denali Fault toward Cook Inlet and Shelikof Strait. We use offshore multichannel seismic reflection data and oil-well stratigraphy to evaluate whether local geologic structures are compatible with boundaries of either tectonic block and with the relative motion expected across the block...

Goose populations molting in the Teshekpuk Lake Special Area of the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska have changed in size and distribution over the past 30 years. Black brant (Branta bernicla nigricans) are relatively stable in numbers but are shifting from large, inland lakes to salt marshes. Concurrently, populations of greater white-fronted geese (Anser albifrons frontalis) have...

Final Rept. ; Prepared in Cooperation With Alaska Univ., Fairbanks. Inst. of Arctic Biology. Sponsored By National Marine Fisheries Service, Juneau, Ak. AlaskaFisheries Science Center. ; Stranded Exxon Valdez Oil Has Persisted for 16 Years At Boulder-Armored Beach Sites Along National Park Coastlines Bordering the Gulf of Alaska. These Sites Are Up to 640 Km From the Spill Origin and...

Lesser Canada Geese (Branta canadensis parvipes) are widespread throughout interior regions of Alaska and Canada, yet there have been no published studies documenting basic aspects of their nesting biology. We conducted a study to determine reproductive parameters of Lesser Canada Geese nesting along the Tanana River near the city of Fairbanks, in interior Alaska. Fieldwork was conducted...

Nutritional restriction during growth can have short- and long-term effects on fitness; however, animals inhabiting uncertain environments may exhibit adaptations to cope with variation in food availability. We examined changes in body mass in free-ranging female caribou (Rangifer tarandus) by measuring mass at birth and at 4, 11, and 16 months of age to evaluate the relative importance...

Of the transmitter attachment techniques for birds, the subcutaneous anchor provides a secure attachment that yields relatively few secondary effects. However, the use of subcutaneous anchors has been limited by transmitter size and retention time. Using a modified method of attachment that utilized two subcutaneous anchors, we deployed 69 GPS transmitters, plus 13 VHF transmitters that...

We studied body mass of prefledging Emperor Geese Chen canagica at three locations across the Yukon–Kuskokwim Delta, Alaska, during 1990–2004 to investigate whether large‐scale variation in body mass was related to interspecific competition for food. From 1990 to 2004, densities of Cackling Geese Branta hutchinsii minima more than doubled and were c. 2–5× greater than densities of...

The Alaska Volcano Observatory (AVO) responded to eruptions, possible eruptions, and volcanic unrest at or near nine separate volcanic centers in Alaska during 2006. A significant explosive eruption at Augustine Volcano in Cook Inlet marked the first eruption within several hundred kilometers of principal population centers in Alaska since 1992. Glaciated Fourpeaked Mountain, a volcano...

The dusky Canada goose (Branta canadensis occidentalis) population has been in long‐term decline, likely due to reduced breeding productivity, but gosling survival of this population had not been examined. We studied gosling survival in broods of radiomarked adult females on the western Copper River Delta, Alaska, USA, during 1997–1999 and 2001–2003. Survival estimates for dusky Canada...

Individual recognition is required in most social interactions, and its presence has been confirmed in many species. In birds, vocal cues appear to be a major component of recognition. Curiously, vocal recognition seems absent or limited in some highly social species such as the black-legged kittiwake, Rissa tridactyla. Using playback experiments, we found that kittiwake chicks...