Unified Interior Regions
Alaska
The Alaska Region represents a resource-rich, dynamic landscape shaped by volcanos, earthquakes, major rivers, and glaciers. Here, we conduct research to inform management of Alaska’s extensive natural resources, inform national Arctic energy policy, and provide scientific information to help others understand, respond to, and mitigate impacts from natural hazards.
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Ocean Resources for America's Needs
Our scientists conduct research studies focused on geologic mapping, sampling and understanding of mineral and energy resources and studies of the geologic setting and processes to inform renewable energy development offshore.
Coastal and Marine Ecosystem Science
We bring together multidisciplinary expertise focused on developing tools and models to improve understanding of how healthy ecosystems function as well as how they respond to environmental changes and human impacts including ecosystem restoration. Research studies address coral reef, coastal wetland, benthic habitat and groundwater resources.
Conservation of native salmonids in South-Central Alaska
The proliferation of introduced northern pike in Southcentral Alaska is an urgent fishery management concern because pike are voracious predators that prey heavily on juvenile salmonids. Eradication of pike is not possible in connected freshwater networks, so managers must develop control methods that reduce pike populations to less destructive numbers. We are using field and bioenergetics...
Volcano Hazards Assessments Help Mitigate Disasters
The Volcano Hazards Program develops long-range volcano hazards assessments. These includes a summary of the specific hazards, their impact areas, and a map showing ground-hazard zones. The assessments are also critical for planning long-term land-use and effective emergency-response measures, especially when a volcano begins to show signs of unrest.
Alaska Volcano Observatory (AVO)
The AVO is a partnership among the USGS, the Geophysical Institute of the University of Alaska Fairbanks, and the Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys. To mitigate volcanic hazards, AVO monitors and studies Alaska's hazardous volcanoes to forecast and record eruptive activity. AVO also monitors volcanic activity in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.
Alaska Critical Minerals Cooperative
The project developed means to use several large legacy digital databases together in GIS to identify areas with mineral resource potential for critical minerals in Alaska.
Alaska Geophysical Survey Interpretation
Available geophysical data for Alaska have not been fully exploited. Project objectives were to conduct systematic analysis of existing gravity, aeromagnetic and airborne electromagnetic data to map geologic trends, structural geologic and tectonic patterns, and identify key lithologies for direct integration with geologic framework and mineral potential studies.
The "Snow Plow Theory"* of Early-Arriving Tsunamis
Release Date: JUNE 1, 2015
What is a splay fault, and how can they affect tsunamis?
* completely contrived term by this author, not a scientific term or theory
Webinar: From Icefield to Ocean: Impacts of Glacier Change in Alaska
Check out this webinar to learn more about glacial loss in the Gulf of Alaska.
Mount Elbert Gas Hydrate Stratigraphic Test Well
Field Report
COOK NAWQA Data Clearinghouse
This page will serve as the repository for data collected by the Cook Inlet Basin NAWQA team using NAWQA sampling protocols. Data sets collected using NAWQA protocols but not collected as part of the Cook Inlet Basin NAWQA program are identified with an asterisk (*). A list of ...
Water Resources for Alaska GIS datasets Statewide Coverages
Legacy Data for AK Precipitation, Hydrologic Unit Map, and Streamflow analysis regions for AK and conterminous basins in Canada.
USGS Research Vessel Alaskan Gyre
The R/V Alaskan Gyre is a 50-foot fiberglass seiner that has been converted into a versatile research vessel to provide USGS scientists and collaborators with access to remote marine areas of Alaska and serve as a mobile laboratory. The vessel was built by Ledford Marine of Marysville, Washington in 1989 and is...
Wildlife Potential Habitat Forecasting Project Photographic Transect Data
WildCast's (WILDlife Potential Habitat ForeCASTing Project) photographic transect project of northwest Alaska provides access to the photographs, videos, flight routes, and associated data, that were taken during July 16, 17, and 18, 2013. The images depict...
Goose Mass and Vegetation Data, Colville River Delta, Alaska, 2012-2017
This data release contains three tables of information from the Colville River Delta, Alaska (CDR): offtake of Carex subspathacea (2012-2014), standing crop of C. subspathacea (2012-2014), and snow goose and black brant gosling mass data (2012-2017). Data were collected as part of the USGS Changing Arctic Ecosystems Initiative to understand the response of wildlife to rapi
Offshore baseline for the exposed West Beaufort Sea, Alaska coastal region (Colville River to Point Barrow) generated to calculate shoreline change rates
This dataset includes a reference baseline used by the Digital Shoreline Analysis System (DSAS) to calculate rate-of-change statistics for the exposed north coast of Alaska coastal region between the Colville River and Point Barrow for the time period 1947 to 2012. This baseline layer serves as the starting point for all transects cast by the DSAS application and can be used to establish meas...
Multibeam bathymetry data between Cross Sound and Dixon Entrance, offshore southeastern Alaska, collected from 2016-05-17 to 2016-06-12 during field activity 2016-625-FA
Multibeam bathymetry data were collected along the Queen Charlotte-Fairweather Fault between Icy Point and Dixon Entrance, offshore southeastern Alaska from 2016-05-17 to 2016-06-12. Data were collected aboard the Alaska Department of Fish and Game R/V Medeia using a Reson SeaBat 7160 multibeam echosounder, Reson 7k Control Center, and HYPACK. This data release contains approximately 4,
Offshore baseline for the exposed Eastern Chukchi Sea, Alaska coastal region (Point Barrow to Icy Cape) generated to calculate shoreline change rates
This dataset includes a reference baseline used by the Digital Shoreline Analysis System (DSAS) to calculate rate-of-change statistics for the exposed north coast of Alaska coastal region between Point Barrow and Icy Cape for the time period 1947 to 2012. This baseline layer serves as the starting point for all transects cast by the DSAS application and can be used to establish measurement po...
Offshore baseline for the sheltered Eastern Chukchi Sea, Alaska coastal region (Point Barrow to Icy Cape) generated to calculate shoreline change rates
This dataset includes a reference baseline used by the Digital Shoreline Analysis System (DSAS) to calculate rate-of-change statistics for the sheltered north coast of Alaska coastal between Point Barrow and Icy Cape for the time period 1947 to 2012. This baseline layer serves as the starting point for all transects cast by the DSAS application and can be used to establish measurement points...
Chirp seismic-reflection data of field activity 2015-651-FA; Chatham Strait and Cross Sound, southeastern Alaska from 2015-08-03 to 2015-08-21
This data release contains high-resolution seismic reflection data collected in August of 2015 to explore marine geologic hazards of inland waterways of southeastern Alaska. Sub-bottom profiles were acquired in the inland waters between Glacier Bay and Juneau, including Cross Sound and Chatham Strait. High-resolution seismic-reflection profiles were acquired to assess evidence for active...
Offshore baseline for the sheltered West Beaufort Sea, Alaska coastal region (Colville River to Point Barrow) generated to calculate shoreline change rates
This dataset includes a reference baseline used by the Digital Shoreline Analysis System (DSAS) to calculate rate-of-change statistics for the sheltered north coast of Alaska coastal region between the Colville River and Point Barrow for the time period 1947 to 2012. This baseline layer serves as the starting point for all transects cast by the DSAS application and can be used to establish me...
Multichannel sparker seismic-reflection data between Cross Sound and Dixon Entrance, offshore southeastern Alaska, collected from 2016-05-17 to 2016-06-12 during field activity 2016-625-FA
Multichannel sparker (MCS) seismic-reflection data were collected along the Queen Charlotte-Fairweather Fault between Cross Sound and Dixon Entrance, offshore southeastern Alaska from 2016-05-17 to 2016-06-12. Data were collected aboard the Alaska Department of Fish and Game R/V Medeia, and recorded using a 32 channel GeoEel digital streamer, an Applied Acoustics power supply, and a
Multichannel minisparker seismic-reflection data of field activity 2015-651-FA; Chatham Strait and Cross Sound, southeastern Alaska from 2015-08-03 to 2015-08-21
This data release contains high-resolution multichannel seismic (MCS) reflection data collected in August of 2015 to explore marine geologic hazards of inland waterways of southeastern Alaska. Sub-bottom profiles were acquired in the inland waters between Glacier Bay and Juneau, including Cross Sound and Chatham Strait. High-resolution seismic-reflection profiles were acquired to assess evi...
NPPSD Resources and Protocols
List of resources and protocols used by the North Pacific Pelagic Seabird Database (NPPSD).
Gravel bar on the north fork of the Agashashok River, Alaska
A gravel bar on the north fork of the Agashashok River, Alaska. This work is part of the Hydro-Ecology of Arctic Thawing (HEAT): Hydrology project that takes place in the Arctic Network Parks because they lie in a region that is rapidly warming. This study focuses on
...
Lindsay Carlson swabbing hunter harvested ducks in western Alaska
Lindsay Carlson swabbing hunter-harvested ducks in western Alaska as part of USGS research to investigate the persistence of avian influenza viruses in North American wetlands. USGS scientists and colleagues found that influenza A viruses may remain infectious in surface waters of northern wetlands for more than seven months.
A misty morning in the headwaters of the Akillik River, Alaska
A misty morning in the headwaters of the Akillik River, Alaska. This work is part of the Hydro-Ecology of Arctic Thawing (HEAT): Hydrology project that takes place in the Arctic Network Parks because they lie in a region that is rapidly warming. This study focuses on
...
View of Unalakleet from the air
Unalakleet village on the low-lying barrier spit at the inlet of the Unalakleet River and Norton Sound, Alaska.
Twentymile River sonar on a bridge
Twentymile River sonar on a bridge
Scientific crew and drone operators
Scientific crew and drone operators. Left to right: Richard Kolyer (NASA), Jack McFarland (USGS), Kristen Manies (USGS), and Jonas Jonsson (NASA)
Glaucous-winged Gull chick on Bogoslof Island in August 2018
A Glaucous-winged Gull on the rock floor of the Bogoslof Volcano a year after it explosively erupted.
Knik River sonar on a bridge
Knik River sonar on a bridge
Glaucous-winged Gull chick walking on Bogoslof Island in August 2018
A Glaucous-winged Gull on the rock floor of the Bogoslof Volcano a year after it explosively erupted.
Methane drone hovering above permafrost
Looking up at a drone hovering near an open-path methane analyzer mounted on a flux tower. Instruments mounted on both the towers and on the drones are measuring gases emitted from the soil.
USGS on the Colville River Delta, Alaska
Alaska Native Science and Engineer Program (ANSEP) student and USGS intern Parker Pickett on the Colville River Delta, Alaska, helping to band molting snow geese and black brant.
Christina Ahlstrom and gull with satellite transmitter
Christina Ahlstrom holding a gull tagging with a satellite transmitter.
Residents and critical infrastructure in the nation's six highest-risk volcanic areas—including the Alaska region-- will benefit from increased monitoring and analysis as a result of Recovery Act funds being channeled into volcano monitoring, Secretary Salazar announced today.
When Alaska's Kasatochi Volcano erupted on Aug. 7, 2008, it virtually sterilized Kasatochi Island, covering the small Aleutian island with a layer of ash and other volcanic material several meters thick.
The eruption also provided a rare research opportunity: the chance to see how an ecosystem develops from the very first species to colonize the island.
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the world's oceans, but relatively impoverished in many natural resources, particularly oil and gas. It is the home to a large fisheries industry that is seemingly in peril, and the place itself, a peaceful namesake, can erupt into cataclysmic disasters on a moment's notice.
Alaska's Redoubt Volcano continues to emit a plume of water vapor, gas and minor ash after its 19th successive explosion this past weekend. Scientists believe the volcano has entered a new period of cyclical lava dome growth marked by small earthquakes and intermittent tremors.
Scientists from the Alaska Volcano Observatory and the Unified Command will host a news conference at 1:00PM AKDT (5:00PM EASTERN TIME) at the USGS Alaska Science Center in the Glenn Olds Hall Conference Room, Anchorage, AK, to discuss the continuing eruption of Mount Redoubt Volcano.
High resolution photos are available on the Alaska Volcano Observatory, Redoubt Activity Web site.
Mount Redoubt Volcano, 106 miles southwest of Anchorage, Alaska, erupted explosively more than 10 times this week, sending ash skyrocketing as high as 65,000 feet into the air.
The eruption of Redoubt poses a threat to national and international aviation as volcanic ash is sent into the busy North Pacific flight paths between North America and Asia.
Scientists from the Alaska Volcano Observatory will host a news conference at 1:30PM AKDT (5:30PM EASTERN TIME) at the USGS Alaska Science Center in the Glenn Olds Hall Conference Room, Anchorage, AK, to discuss the continuing eruption of Mount Redoubt Volcano and yesterday's (March 26) overflight of the volcano.
Scientists from the Alaska Volcano Observatory will host a news conference at 1:30PM AKDT (5:30PM EASTERN TIME) at the USGS Alaska Science Center in the Glenn Olds Hall Conference Room, Anchorage, AK, to discuss the continuing eruption of Mount Redoubt Volcano.
Scientists from the Alaska Volcano Observatory will host a news conference at 12:00PM AKDT (4PM EASTERN TIME) at the USGS Alaska Science Center in the Glenn Olds Hall Conference Room, Anchorage, AK, to discuss the continuing eruption of Mount Redoubt Volcano.
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) will award up to $7 million in grants and cooperative agreements for earthquake research in 2010.
Interested researchers can apply online at GRANTS.GOV under the funding opportunity number 10HQPA0001. Applications are due May 13, 2009.
Coastal erosion has more than doubled in Alaska - up to 45 feet per year - in a 5-year period between 2002 and 2007 along a 40-mile stretch of the Beaufort Sea.
New b-roll footage of Alaska's Redoubt Volcano shows its current state of unrest, including vapor plumes emanating from holes in the newly deformed Drift Glacier near the volcano summit. This footage was shot from an aerial observation and gas measurement flight initiated in Anchorage.
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Locations
Alaska Science Center
Phone: (907) 786-7000
Fax: (907) 786-7020
Alaska Climate Adaptation Science Center
Alaska Volcano Observatory (AVO)
http://www.avo.alaska.edu/contact.php
Phone: 907-786-7497
Anchorage Field Office - Water
Phone: 907-786-7000
Fairbanks Field Office - Water
Phone: 907-479-5645
Juneau Field Office - Water
Phone: 907-586-7216
