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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: 3111

Fate of carbon in Alaskan Landscapes Project: Database for soils from eddy covariance tower sites, Delta Junction, AK Fate of carbon in Alaskan Landscapes Project: Database for soils from eddy covariance tower sites, Delta Junction, AK

Soils in Alaska, and in high latitude terrestrial ecosystems in general, contain significant amounts of organic carbon, most of which is believed to have accumulated since the start of the Holocene about 10 ky before present. High latitude soils are estimated to contain 30-40% of terrestrial soil carbon (Melillo et al., 1995; McGuire and Hobbie, 1997), or ~ 300-400 Gt C (Gt = 1015 g)...
Authors
Stagg King, Jennifer Harden, Kristen L. Manies, Jennie Munster, L. Douglas White

Lithostratigraphic, conodont, and other faunal links between lower Paleozoic strata in northern and central Alaska and northeastern Russia Lithostratigraphic, conodont, and other faunal links between lower Paleozoic strata in northern and central Alaska and northeastern Russia

Lower Paleozoic platform carbonate strata in northern Alaska (parts of the Arctic Alaska, York, and Seward terranes; herein called the North Alaska carbonate platform) and central Alaska (Farewell terrane) share distinctive lithologic and faunal features, and may have formed on a single continental fragment situated between Siberia and Laurentia. Sedimentary successions in northern and...
Authors
Julie A. Dumoulin, Anita G. Harris, Mussa Gagiev, Dwight Bradley, John E. Repetski

Marine predator surveys in Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve Marine predator surveys in Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve

Since 1999, vessel based surveys to estimate species composition, distribution and relative abundance of marine birds and mammals have been conducted along coastal and pelagic (offshore) transects in Glacier Bay, Alaska. Surveys have been conducted during winter (November-March) and summer (June). This annual report presents the results of those surveys conducted in March and June of...
Authors
James L. Bodkin, Kimberly A. Kloecker, Heather A. Coletti, George G. Esslinger, Daniel H. Monson, Brenda E. Ballachey

Lithofacies and stratigraphy of the Lisburne and Etivluk groups in the Lisburne 1 well and adjacent outcrops Lithofacies and stratigraphy of the Lisburne and Etivluk groups in the Lisburne 1 well and adjacent outcrops

The Lisburne 1 well in the thrust belt of the central Brooks Range penetrated 17,000 ft of imbricated, chiefly Ellesmerian sequence strata in the Endicott Mountains allochthon. Five thrust repeats of the Lisburne Group (Carboniferous) and overlying Etivluk Group (Permian-Jurassic) were drilled. Lithofacies analyses of >350 thin sections of cores and cuttings, and biostratigraphy based on...
Authors
Julie A. Dumoulin, Kenneth J. Bird

The central arctic caribou herd The central arctic caribou herd

From the mid-1970s through the mid-1980s, use of calving and summer habitats by Central Arctic herd caribou (Rangifer tarandus granti) declined near petroleum development infrastructure on Alaska's arctic coastal plain (Cameron et al. 1979; Cameron and Whitten 1980, Smith and Cameron 1983. Whitten and Cameron 1983a, 1985: Dau and Cameron 1986). With surface development continuing to...
Authors
Raymond D. Cameron, Walter T. Smith, Robert G. White, Brad Griffith

Land cover Land cover

Documenting the distribution of land-cover types on the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge coastal plain is the foundation for impact assessment and mitigation of potential oil exploration and development. Vegetation maps facilitate wildlife studies by allowing biologists to quantify the availability of important wildlife habitats, investigate the relationships between animal locations and...
Authors
Janet C. Jorgenson, Peter C. Joria, David C. Douglas

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...
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