Publications

We studied the effects of timing of spring snowmelt on nesting phenology, nest site selection, and clutch size of Black Brant (Branta bernicla nigricans) breeding at the Tutakoke river colony, Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, Alaska. In late springs, brant nested later: however, time between peak arrival at Tutakoke and nest initiation (6 to 12 days) was similar in early and late springs. Nest...

The effects of vegetation management on northern pocket gopher (Thomomys talpoides) activity and damage to lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta) seedlings were studied using 2,4-D herbicide to alter the habitat. Treatments were applied to a large (8.1 ha) treatment unit and observed effects were compared with an untreated control unit of the same size. The greatly reduced forb and grass cover...

We studied survival of adult female and duckling spectacled eiders (Somateria fischeri) during brood rearing on the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, Alaska from 1993 to 1995. Duckling survival to 30 days of age averaged 34% with a 95% confidence interval from 25 to 47%. Half (49%) of radiomarked adult females had lost all their ducklings by 30 days after hatch. Most (74%) duckling mortality...

During the first six months of 1993, about 3500 dead and moribund guillemots (Uria aalge) were observed throughout the northern Gulf of Alaska coast (ca 1800 km range). Mortality peaked during March. Highest numbers were observed in western Prince William Sound and along the south coast of the Kenai Peninsula. Large flocks of live guillemots gathered in nearshore waters, in contrast to...

Epithermal mineral deposits and occurrences of southwestern Alaska consist of Hg-Sb and gold- and sulfide-bearing vein lodes. Numerous Hg-Sb lodes are located throughout a region measuring several tens of thousands of square kilometers in and surrounding the Kuskokwim River basin in southwestern Alaska. The Hg-Sb lodes are hosted in sedimentary rocks of the Cretaceous Kuskokwim Group...

Calcareous rocks of Kinderhookian (early Early Mississippian) age are widely distributed across the Howard Pass quadrangle in the western Brooks Range. Most occur in the lower part of the Lisburne Group (herein called the Rough Mountain Creek unit) and the upper part of the Endicott Group (Kayak Shale) in two sequences (Key Creek and Aniuk River) of the Endicott Mountains allochthon...

During 1996, the Alaska Volcano Observatory (AVO) responded to eruptive activity, anomalous seismicity, or suspected volcanic activity at 10 of the approximately 40 active volcanic centers in the state of Alaska. As part of a formal role in KVERT (the Kamchatkan Volcano Eruption Response Team), AVO staff also disseminated information about eruptions and other volcanic unrest at six...

No abstract available.

No abstract available.

We conducted experimental photographic surveys of black brant and Canada geese in a pre-migration staging area on the Alaska Peninsula to compare precision and efficiency of this technique to currently employed ocular estimates. Video and digital cameras sensitive to near infrared and visible radiation were tested at various altitudes and with lenses of different focal length. Using...

We examined digestive tract contents and stable nitrogen isotope ratios in breast muscles of Flesh-footed Shearwaters Puffinus carneipes associated with high-seas driftnet fisheries in the central North Pacific Ocean. Small fish, Lanternfish (Myctophidae) and Pacific Saury Cololabis saira, were the principal prey found in the digestive tracts. Pieces of unidentified fish, possibly...

Controls on accretion of flysch and mélange terranes at convergent margins are poorly understood. Southern Alaska's Chugach terrane forms the outboard accretionary margin of the Wrangellia composite terrane, and consists of two major lithotectonic units, including Triassic-Cretaceous mélange of the McHugh Complex and Late Cretaceous flysch of the Valdez Group. The contact between the...