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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: 3095

Offset of Tertiary arcs on the Alaska Peninsula: A section in Geological Survey research, fiscal year 1981 Offset of Tertiary arcs on the Alaska Peninsula: A section in Geological Survey research, fiscal year 1981

Geologic mapping and potassium-argon dating by R. L. Detterman, F. H. Wilson, J. E. Case, and Nora Shew in the Ugashik and western part of the Karluk quadrangles have shown that the Eocene and Oligocene volcanic arc continues into these quadrangles from the south in the Chignik and Sutwik Island quadrangles. Surface exposures of the arc extend northward to approximately 57°30'N., or...
Authors

The Jeanie Point complex revisited The Jeanie Point complex revisited

The so-called Jeanie Point complex is a distinctive package of rocks within the Orca Group, a Tertiary turbidite sequence. The rocks crop out on the southeast coast of Montague Island, Prince William Sound, approximately 3 km northeast of Jeanie Point (loc. 7, fig. 44). These rocks consist dominantly of fine-grained limestone and lesser amounts of siliceous limestone, chert, tuff...
Authors
Julie A. Dumoulin, Marti L. Miller

Nestling diet and feeding rates of rhinoceros auklets in Alaska Nestling diet and feeding rates of rhinoceros auklets in Alaska

Food brought to nestling Rhinoceros Auklets (Cerorhinca monocerata) was sampled by applying tape or cloth muzzles to the chicks and collecting the uningested food from the burrow daily. Limited data were also gathered for Tufted and Horned puffins (Fratercula cirrhata and F. corniculata). Auklet chicks received an average of 34.1 g of food per night at Middleton Island in 1978, and 32.8...
Authors
Scott A. Hatch

The United States Geological Survey in Alaska: Accomplishments during 1982 The United States Geological Survey in Alaska: Accomplishments during 1982

This circular contains short topical and summary articles about the results of 1982 geologic studies on a wide range of subjects of economic and scientific interest. Included are lists of references cited for each article and a compilation of reports about Alaska written by members of the U.S. Geological Survey and published by the Geological Survey and other organizations.

Composition and energy contents of mature inshore spawning capelin (Mallotus villosus): Implications for seabird predators Composition and energy contents of mature inshore spawning capelin (Mallotus villosus): Implications for seabird predators

1. Lipid levels of capelin are highest in late fall and lowest during the summer spawning season; protein levels are constant at 13–14% body wt throughout the year. 2. Ovid females contained significantly more lipid and protein and less water and had higher energy densities than males and spent females. 3. Surgically-removed egg masses made up 34.2 ± 10.3% female body wt and were very...
Authors
W.A. Montevecchi, John F. Piatt

A transect of metamorphic rocks along the Copper River, Cordova and Valdez Quadrangles, Alaska: A section in The United States Geological Survey in Alaska: Accomplishments during 1982 A transect of metamorphic rocks along the Copper River, Cordova and Valdez Quadrangles, Alaska: A section in The United States Geological Survey in Alaska: Accomplishments during 1982

The lower Tertiary Orca Group is juxtaposed against the Upper Cretaceous Valdez Group along the Contact fault system (Winkler and Plafker, 1974, 198; Plafker and others, 1977)(fig. 33). In both groups, turbidites are the dominant rock type, with lesser mafic volcanic rocks (table 10). The Valdez Group, on the north, has traditionally been considered to be of higher metamorphic grade than...
Authors
Marti L. Miller, Julie A. Dumoulin, S.W. Nelson

Mechanism and ecological significance of sperm storage in the Northern Fulmar with reference to its occurrence in other birds Mechanism and ecological significance of sperm storage in the Northern Fulmar with reference to its occurrence in other birds

Sperm-storage glands were found in the uterovaginal (UV) region of the oviduct in Northern Fulmars (Fulmarus glacialis), Horned Puffins (Fratercula corniculata), and Leach's Storm-Petrels (Oceanodroma leucorhoa) collected before or shortly after egg laying. Previously described only in domestic Galliformes, UV sperm-storage glands may prove to be a common feature of the avian...
Authors
Scott A. Hatch

Pacific Coast Caspian Terns: Dynamics of an expanding population Pacific Coast Caspian Terns: Dynamics of an expanding population

Nesting distribution, age-related seasonal movements, survivorship, and mechanisms of population expansion in Pacific Coast Caspian Terns (Sterna caspia) were examined primarily through analysis of 412 recoveries of birds banded as juveniles between 1935 and 1980. Since the beginning of this century, the population has shifted from nesting in numerous small colonies associated with...
Authors
Robert E. Gill, L. Richard Mewaldt

The fledging of common and thick-billed murres on Middleton Island, Alaska The fledging of common and thick-billed murres on Middleton Island, Alaska

Three species of alcids, Common and Thick-billed murres (Uria aalge and U. lomvia) and the Razorbill (Alca torda), have post-hatching developmental patterns intermediate to precocial and semi-precocial modes (Sealy 1973). The young leave their cliff nest sites at about one quarter of adult weight and complete their growth at sea. At departure, an event here loosely referred to as...
Authors
Scott A. Hatch

Nest sites and eggs of Kittlitz's and Marbled murrelets Nest sites and eggs of Kittlitz's and Marbled murrelets

Fourteen known and three probable nests of Kittlitz's Murrelet (Brachyramphus brevirostris) and eight known and one probable nest of Marbled Murrelet (B. marmoratus) have been reported. Nests of Kittlitz's Murrelet tend to be at higher elevations and farther inland than those of Marbled Murrelet. Kittlitz's nests have much less vegetative cover than Marbled nests. Nests of both species...
Authors
Robert H. Day, Karen L. Oakley, D.R. Barnard
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