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: 3088
Status and ecology of kittiwakes (Rissa tridactyla and R. brevirostris) in the North Pacific Status and ecology of kittiwakes (Rissa tridactyla and R. brevirostris) in the North Pacific
Black-legged Kittiwakes (Rissa tridactyla) are widely distributed in the subarctic North Pacific and adjacent seas, with a total breeding population of about 2.6 million individuals. Red-legged Kittiwakes (R. brevirostris) breed in four locations, and at least 95% of their estimated world population of 230,000 birds nest on one island (St. George, Pribilof Islands). Compared to Black...
Authors
Scott A. Hatch, G.V. Byrd, D.B. Irons, G.L. Hunt
Cytonuclear genetic architecture in mosquitofish populations and the possible roles of introgressive hybridization Cytonuclear genetic architecture in mosquitofish populations and the possible roles of introgressive hybridization
Spatial genetic structure in populations of mosquitofish (Gambusia) sampled throughout the south-eastern United States was characterized using mitochondrial (mt) DNA and allozyme markers. Both sets of data revealed a pronounced genetic discontinuity (along a broad path extending from south-eastern Mississippi to north-eastern Georgia) that corresponds to a recently recognized distinction...
Authors
Kim T. Scribner, John C. Avise
Deep-water facies of the Lisburne Group, west-central Brooks Range, Alaska Deep-water facies of the Lisburne Group, west-central Brooks Range, Alaska
Deep-water lithofacies of the Lisburne Group (chiefly Carboniferous) occur in thurst sheets in the western part of the foreland fold-and-thrust belt of the Brooks Range and represent at least three discrete units. The Kuna Formation (Brooks Range allochthon) consists mostly of spiculitic mudstone and lesser shale; subordinate carbonate layers are chiefly diagenetic dolomite. The Akmalik...
Authors
Julie A. Dumoulin, Anita G. Harris, Jeanine M. Schmidt
Correlation of pre-Carboniferous carbonate successions of northern Alaska Correlation of pre-Carboniferous carbonate successions of northern Alaska
Fault-bounded successions of pre-Carboniferous (meta)carbonate rocks occur throughout northern Alaska. Successions studied in detail are those in the York Mountains (Seward Peninsula), the western and eastern Baird Mountains (western Brooks Range), the Snowden Mountain area (central Brooks Range), and the Sublik and Sadlerochit Mountains (eastern Brooks range); they are correlated on the...
Authors
Julie A. Dumoulin, Anita G. Harris
Geologic studies in Alaska by the U.S. Geological Survey, 1990 Geologic studies in Alaska by the U.S. Geological Survey, 1990
This collection of papers continues the annual series of U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) reports on geologic investigations in Alaska. From 1975 through 1988, the series was published as USGS circulars. The first of these appeared under the title "The United States Geological Survey in Alaska: Accomplishments during 1975," and the series continued to the last annual circular entitled...
Lower Cretaceous smarl turbidites of the Argo Abyssal Plain, Indian Ocean Lower Cretaceous smarl turbidites of the Argo Abyssal Plain, Indian Ocean
Sediments recovered during Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Leg 123 from the Argo Abyssal Plain (AAP) consist largely of turbidites derived from the adjacent Australian continental margin. The oldest abundant turbidites are Valanginian-Aptian in age and have a mixed (smarl) composition; they contain subequal amounts of calcareous and siliceous biogenic components, as well as clay and lesser...
Authors
Julie A. Dumoulin
Intraspecific variation in egg shape among individual emperor geese Intraspecific variation in egg shape among individual emperor geese
Within-clutch variability in shape of 1743 eggs from 301 nests of Emperor Geese (Chen canagicus) laid over a 5-yr period was measured. Individual females laid similar shaped eggs in successive years, and eggs among clutches within females could not be distinguished. Cluster analysis correctly identified 69.9% of 136 known conspecific parasitic eggs. Repeatability estimates of elongation...
Authors
Margaret R. Petersen
Sedimentary history of the Tethyan margins of eastern Gondwana during the Mesozoic Sedimentary history of the Tethyan margins of eastern Gondwana during the Mesozoic
A composite Mesozoic geological history for the Gondwana margins to the Eastern Tethys Ocean can be assembled from stratigraphic successions on the Australian and Himalayan margins and from drill sites of Ocean Drilling Program Legs 122 and 123. During the Triassic, this region drifted northwards, entering tropical paleolatitudes during the Late Triassic-Early Jurassic, then returned to...
Authors
James G. Ogg, Felix Gradstein, Julie A. Dumoulin, Massimo Sarti, Paul Brown
Breeding distribution of the Black Turnstone Breeding distribution of the Black Turnstone
Eighty-five percent of the world population of Black Turnstones (Arenaria melanocephala) nest on the central Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, Alaska, 65% concentrated in a narrow band of salt grass, graminoid, and dwarf shrub meadows within two km of the coast. An estimated 61,000 to 99,000 birds (95% CI), with a point estimate of 80,000 birds, breed on the central delta. About 15,000 others nest...
Authors
Colleen M. Handel, Robert E. Gill
Preliminary geologic map of the Cold Bay and False Pass quadrangles, Alaska Peninsula Preliminary geologic map of the Cold Bay and False Pass quadrangles, Alaska Peninsula
This map of the Cold Bay and False Pass 1:250,000-scale quadrangles on the Alaska Peninsula is a compilation based in part on the mapping conducted as part of the Alaska Mineral Resource Assessment Program (AMRAP) and the Geothermal Energy Program. Field studies by the authors began as early as 1973 in the quadrangles, but systematic mapping was not begun until 1988. Systematic mapping...
Authors
Frederic H. Wilson, Thomas P. Miller, Robert L. Detterman
Reproductive ecology of Emperor Geese: Survival of adult females Reproductive ecology of Emperor Geese: Survival of adult females
Life history theory predicts a decrease in survival with increased reproductive effort of individuals. This relationship, however, is highly variable among and within species. I studied the nesting success and survival of adult female Emperor Geese during 1982-1986 and found no direct evidence that differential reproductive effort as measured by the number of eggs laid or hatching...
Authors
Margaret R. Petersen
Volcanoes of Alaska: Kupreanof (Stepovak Bay) Volcanoes of Alaska: Kupreanof (Stepovak Bay)
No abstract available.
Authors
Frederic H. Wilson