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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: 3084

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...

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

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

A postulated new source for the White River Ash, Alaska: A section in Geologic studies in Alaska by the US. Geological Survey, 1990 A postulated new source for the White River Ash, Alaska: A section in Geologic studies in Alaska by the US. Geological Survey, 1990

The White River Ash (Lerbekmo and others, 1968), product of two of the most voluminous pyroclastic eruptions in North America in the past 2,000 yr, blankets much of the Yukon Terrtory, Canada, and a small part of adjoining eastern Alaska. Lerbekmo and Campbell (1969) narrowed the source of the ash to an area northeast of the Mt. Bona-Mt. Churchill massif in the St. Elias Mountains of...
Authors
Robert G. McGimsey, Donald H. Richter, Gregory D. DuBois, T. P. Miller

Roosting behavior of premigratory Dunlins (Calidris alpina) Roosting behavior of premigratory Dunlins (Calidris alpina)

We studied roosting behavior of Dunlins (Calidris alpina) during late summer along the coast of the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, Alaska, in relation to tidal cycle, time of day, time of season, and occurrence of predators. Within Angyoyaravak Bay, peak populations of 70,000-100,000 Dunlins occur each year. The major diurnal roost sites were adjacent to intertidal feeding areas, provided an...
Authors
Colleen M. Handel, Robert E. Gill

Suppression of guinea pig ileum induced contractility by plasma albumin of hibernators Suppression of guinea pig ileum induced contractility by plasma albumin of hibernators

Previous studies suggest that hibernation may be regulated by internal opioids and that the putative “hibernation induction trigger” (HIT) may itself be an opioid. This study examined the effect of plasma albumin (known to bind HIT) on induced contractility of the guinea pig ileum muscle strip. Morphine (400 nM) depressed contractility and 100 nM naloxone restored it. Ten milligrams of...
Authors
David S. Bruce, Douglas L. Ambler, Timothy M. Henschel, Peter R. Oeltgen, Sita P. Nilekani, Steven C. Amstrup

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

Density of loons in central Alaska Density of loons in central Alaska

Loons breed across North America from the high arctic south to about 43 north latitude. (AOU 1983). Populations, particularly of Common Loons (Gavia immer) have recently declined in the continental U.S. and southern Canada (Sutcliff 1979, Titus and VanDruff 1981, McIntyre 1988). As a result, state and private natural resource organizations began more intensive monitoring of loon...
Authors
Richard B. Lanctot, Pham Xuan Quang
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