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USGS2003

Revised Cretaceous and Tertiary stratigraphic nomenclature in the Colville Basin, Northern Alaska

A revised stratigraphic nomenclature is proposed for Cretaceous and Tertiary geologic units of the central and western North Slope of Alaska. This revised nomenclature is a simplified and broadly applicable scheme suitable for a suite of digital geologic quadrangle maps being prepared jointly by the U.S. Geological Survey and the Alaska Department of Natural Resources, Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys and Division of Oil and Gas. This revised nomenclature scheme is a simplification of a complex stratigraphic terminology that developed piecemeal during five decades of geologic investigations of the North Slope. It is based on helicopter-supported geologic field investigations incorporating information from high-resolution aerial photography, satellite imagery, paleontology, reflection seismic records, and sequence stratigraphic concepts. This revised nomenclature proposes the abandonment of the Colville Group; demotion of the Nanushuk Group to formation status; abandonment of six formations (Kukpowruk, Tuktu, Grandstand, Corwin, Chandler, and Ninuluk); revision of four formations (Sagavanirktok, Prince Creek, Schrader Bluff, and Seabee); elevation of the Tuluvak Tongue of the Prince Creek Formation to formation status; revision of two members (Franklin Bluffs Member and Sagwon Member of the Sagavanirktok Formation); abandonment of eight members or tongues (Kogosukruk, Rogers Creek, Barrow Trail, Sentinel Hill, Ayiyak, Shale Wall, Niakogon, and Killik); and definition of one new member (White Hills Member of the Sagavanirktok Formation).

Professional Paper↗

USGS2008

Variations in Community Exposure and Sensitivity to Tsunami Hazards on the Open-Ocean and Strait of Juan de Fuca Coasts of Washington

Evidence of past events and modeling of potential future events suggest that tsunamis are significant threats to communities on the open-ocean and Strait of Juan de Fuca coasts of Washington. Although potential tsunami-inundation zones from a Cascadia Subduction Zone (CSZ) earthquake have been delineated, the amount and type of human development in tsunami-prone areas have not been documented. A vulnerability assessment using geographic-information-system tools was conducted to document variations in developed land, human populations, economic assets, and critical facilities relative to CSZ-related tsunami-inundation zones among communities on the open-ocean and Strait of Juan de Fuca coasts of Washington (including Clallam, Jefferson, Grays Harbor, and Pacific Counties). The tsunami-inundation zone in these counties contains 42,972 residents (24 percent of the total study-area population), 24,934 employees (33 percent of the total labor force), and 17,029 daily visitors to coastal Washington State Parks. The tsunami-inundation zone also contains 2,908 businesses that generate $4.6 billion in annual sales volume (31 and 40 percent of study-area totals, respectively) and tax parcels with a combined total value of $4.5 billion (25 percent of the study-area total). Although occupancy values are not known for each site, the tsunami-inundation zone also contains numerous dependent-population facilities (for example, schools and child-day-care centers), public venues (for example, religious organizations), and critical facilities (for example, police stations and public-work facilities). Racial diversity of residents in tsunami-prone areas is low?89 percent of residents are White and 8 percent are American Indian or Alaska Native. Nineteen percent of the residents in the tsunami-inundation zone are over 65 years in age, 30 percent of the residents live on unincorporated county lands, and 35 percent of the households are renter occupied. Employees in the tsunami-inundation zone are largely in businesses related to health care and social assistance, accommodation and food services, and retail trade, reflecting businesses that cater to a growing retiree and tourist population. Community vulnerability, described here by exposure (the amount of assets in tsunami-prone areas) and sensitivity (the relative percentage of assets in tsunami-prone areas) varies among 13 incorporated cities, 7 Indian reservations, and 4 counties. The City of Aberdeen has the highest relative community exposure to tsunamis, whereas the City of Long Beach has the highest relative community sensitivity. Levels of community exposure and sensitivity to tsunamis are found to be related to the amount and percentage, respectively, of a community?s land that is in a tsunami-inundation zone. This report will further the dialogue on societal risk to tsunami hazards in Washington and help risk managers to determine where additional risk-reduction strategies may be needed.

Scientific Investigations Report↗

USGS1966

Gravity survey and regional geology of the Prince William Sound epicentral region, Alaska

Sedimentary and volcanic rocks of Mesozoic and early Tertiary age form a roughly arcuate pattern in and around Prince William Sound, the epicentral region of the Alaska earthquake of 1964. These rocks include the Valdez Group, a predominantly slate and graywacke sequence of Jurassic and Cretaceous age, and the Orca Group, a younger sequence of early Tertiary age. The Orca consists of a lower unit of dense-average 2.87 g per cm 3 (grams per cubic centimeter) pillow basalt and greenstone intercalated with sedimentary rocks and an upper unit of lithologically variable sandstone interbedded with siltstone or argillite. Densities of the clastic rocks in both the Valdez and Orca Groups average about 2.69 g per cm 3 . Granitic rocks of relatively low density (2.62 g per cm 3 ) cut the Valdez and Orca Groups at several localities. Both the Valdez and the Orca Groups were complexly folded and extensively faulted during at least three major episodes of deformation: an early period of Cretaceous or early Tertiary orogeny, a second orogeny that probably culminated in late Eocene or early Oligocene time and was accompanied or closely followed by emplacement of granitic batholiths, and a third episode of deformation that began in late Cenozoic time and continued intermittently to the present. About 500 gravity stations were established in the Prince William Sound region in conjunction with postearthquake geologic investigations. Simple Bouguer anomaly contours trend approximately parallel to the arcuate geologic structure around the sound. Bouguer anomalies decrease northward from +40 mgal (milligals) at the southwestern end of Montague Island to -70 mgal at College and Harriman Fiords. Most of this change may be interpreted as a regional gradient caused by thickening of the continental crust. Superimposed on the gradient is a prominent gravity high of as much as 65 mgal that extends from Elrington Island on the southwest, across Knight and Glacier Islands to the Ellamar Peninsula and Valdez on the northeast. This high coincides with the wide belt of greenstone and pillow basalt of the Orca Group and largely reflects the high density of these volcanic rocks. A large low in the east-central part of the sound is inferred to have a composite origin, and results from the combined effects of low-density sedimentary and granitic rocks. The Prince William Sound gravity high extends southwest-northeast without major horizontal offset for more than 100 miles. Thus the belt of volcanic rocks causing the high constitutes a major virtually continuous, geologic element of south-central Alaska.

Alaska↗

USGS1976

Structure and evolution of Bering Sea shelf south of St. Lawrence Island

The virtually featureless Beringian shelf south of St. Lawrence Island is underlain structurally by at least 14 basins. Encompassing a total area of more than 300,000 sq km, most of the basins are either elongate structural sags, grabens, or half (asymmetric) grabens beneath the outer shelf. The regional trend of these basins is northwest, parallel with that of the continental margin. Two of the basins, St. George and Navarin, contain 7 to 10 km of Upper Cretaceous(?) and Cenozoic sedimentary strata. A major divergence in dip of beds in the upper half of the sedimentary section may reflect an abrupt shelf-wide change in the rate of sedimentation and/or subsidence, probably during the Miocene. The outer sub-shelf basement grabens and adjacent ridges (horsts) are bounded by high-angle normal faults that exhibit growth-type structure. St. Matthew basin, an elongate, southwest-trending feature of the inner shelf, lies along the offshore expression of the Kaltag fault of western Alaska. The Kaltag fault, like the Denali fault in southwestern Alaska, does not extend to the outer Bering Sea shelf but ends or turns parallel with the margin within the inner shelf. The inner shelf is underlain by a broad basement high, Nunivak arch, the seaward half of which is characterized by an arcuate belt of high-frequency and high-amplitude magnetic anomalies. This zone of intense magnetic anomalies along the shelf is probably the signature of a Mesozoic magmatic arc that extends from southwestern Alaska to eastern Siberia and consists of Jurassic to Cretaceous plutonic and volcanic rocks. We speculate that this magmatic arc resulted from oblique convergence and subduction in the Mesozoic between the Kula(?) and North American plates along the eastern Beringian margin. Folding and uplift in the area of the present outer shelf occurred contemporaneously with magmatism along the inner shelf. Plate convergence apparently ceased by the end of the Mesozoic or t e beginning of the Cenozoic. Subsequently, the foldbelt underlying the outer shelf was eroded extensively and rifted extensionally to form large, deep basins. On the average, the shelf has subsided more than 1.5 km. Subsidence and sediment burial of the eroded orogen formed the modern Beringian shelf.

AAPG Bulletin↗

USGS2012

Streamflow record extension for selected streams in the Susitna River Basin, Alaska

Daily streamflow records for water years 1950–2010 in the Susitna River Basin range in length from 4 to 57 years, and many are distributed within that period in a way that might not adequately represent long-term streamflow conditions. Streamflow in the basin is affected by the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO), a multi-decadal climate pattern that shifted from a cool phase to a warm phase in 1976. Records for many streamgages in the basin fell mostly within one phase of the PDO, such that monthly and annual statistics from observed records might not reflect streamflow conditions over a longer period. Correlations between daily discharge values sufficed for extending streamflow records at 11 of the 14 streamgages in the basin on the basis of relatively long-term records for one or more of the streamgages within the basin, or one outside the basin, that were defined as index stations. Streamflow at the index stations was hydrologically responsive to glacier melt and snowmelt, and correlated well with flow from similar high-elevation, glaciated basins, but flow in low-elevation basins without glaciers could not be correlated to flow at any of the index stations. Kendall-Theil Robust Line multi-segment regression equations developed for one or more index stations were used to extend daily discharge values to the full 61-year period for all 11 streamgages. Monthly and annual statistics prepared for the extended records show shifts in timing of breakup and freeze-up and magnitude of snowmelt peaks largely predicted by the PDO phase.

Alaska↗

USGS2006

Local response of a glacier to annual filling and drainage of an ice-marginal lake

Ice-marginal Hidden Creek Lake, Alaska, USA, outbursts annually over the course of 2-3 days. As the lake fills, survey targets on the surface of the 'ice dam' (the glacier adjacent to the lake) move obliquely to the ice margin and rise substantially. As the lake drains, ice motion speeds up, becomes nearly perpendicular to the face of the ice dam, and the ice surface drops. Vertical movement of the ice dam probably reflects growth and decay of a wedge of water beneath the ice dam, in line with established ideas about jo??kulhlaup mechanics. However, the distribution of vertical ice movement, with a narrow (50-100 m wide) zone where the uplift rate decreases by 90%, cannot be explained by invoking flexure of the ice dam in a fashion analogous to tidal flexure of a floating glacier tongue or ice shelf. Rather, the zone of large uplift-rate gradient is a fault zone: ice-dam deformation is dominated by movement along high-angle faults that cut the ice dam through its entire thickness, with the sense of fault slip reversing as the lake drains. Survey targets spanning the zone of steep uplift gradient move relative to one another in a nearly reversible fashion as the lake fills and drains. The horizontal strain rate also undergoes a reversal across this zone, being compressional as the lake fills, but extensional as the lake drains. Frictional resistance to fault-block motion probably accounts for the fact that lake level falls measurably before the onset of accelerated horizontal motion and vertical downdrop. As the overall fault pattern is the same from year to year, even though ice is lost by calving, the faults must be regularly regenerated, probably by linkage of surface and bottom crevasses as ice is advected toward the lake basin.

Journal of Glaciology↗

USGS2000

Revision of Primary Series Maps

In 1992, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) completed a 50-year effort to provide primary series map coverage of the United States. Many of these maps now need to be updated to reflect the construction of new roads and highways and other changes that have taken place over time. The USGS has formulated a graphic revision plan to help keep the primary series maps current. Primary series maps include 1:20,000-scale quadrangles of Puerto Rico, 1:24,000- or 1:25,000-scale quadrangles of the conterminous United States, Hawaii, and U.S. Territories, and 1:63,360-scale quadrangles of Alaska. The revision of primary series maps from new collection sources is accomplished using a variety of processes. The raster revision process combines the scanned content of paper maps with raster updating technologies. The vector revision process involves the automated plotting of updated vector files. Traditional processes use analog stereoplotters and manual scribing instruments on specially coated map separates. The ability to select from or combine these processes increases the efficiency of the National Mapping Division map revision program.

Fact Sheet↗

USGS2010

Distal volcano-tectonic seismicity near Augustine Volcano: Chapter 6 in The 2006 eruption of Augustine Volcano, Alaska

Clustered earthquakes located 25 km northeast of Augustine Volcano occurred more frequently beginning about 8 months before the volcano’s explosive eruption in 2006. This increase in distal seismicity was contemporaneous with an increase in seismicity directly below the volcano’s vent. Furthermore, the distal seismicity intensified penecontemporaneously with signals in geodetic data that appear to reveal a transition from magmatic inflation of the volcano to dike injection. Focal mechanisms for five events within the distal cluster show strike-slip-fault movement. Directly above the earthquake cluster, shallow (<5 km deep) folds and faults mapped using multichannel seismic-reflection data strike northeast, parallel to the regional structural grain. About 10 km northeast of Augustine Volcano, however, the Augustine-Seldovia arch, an important trans-basin feature, strikes west and intersects the northeast-striking structural zone. We propose that the fault causing the distal earthquake cluster strikes northwest, subparallel to the arch, and is a right-lateral strike-slip fault. Future earthquake monitoring might show whether increasing activity in the remote cluster can aid in making eruption forecasts.

Alaska↗

USGS2013

Doppler weather radar observations of the 2009 eruption of Redoubt Volcano, Alaska

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) deployed a transportable Doppler C-band radar during the precursory stage of the 2009 eruption of Redoubt Volcano, Alaska that provided valuable information during subsequent explosive events. We describe the capabilities of this new monitoring tool and present data captured during the Redoubt eruption. The MiniMax 250-C (MM-250C) radar detected seventeen of the nineteen largest explosive events between March 23 and April 4, 2009. Sixteen of these events reached the stratosphere (above 10 km) within 2–5 min of explosion onset. High column and proximal cloud reflectivity values (50 to 60 dBZ) were observed from many of these events, and were likely due to the formation of mm-sized accretionary tephra-ice pellets. Reflectivity data suggest that these pellets formed within the first few minutes of explosion onset. Rapid sedimentation of the mm-sized pellets was observed as a decrease in maximum detection cloud height. The volcanic cloud from the April 4 explosive event showed lower reflectivity values, due to finer particle sizes (related to dome collapse and related pyroclastic flows) and lack of significant pellet formation. Eruption durations determined by the radar were within a factor of two compared to seismic and pressure-sensor derived estimates, and were not well correlated. Ash dispersion observed by the radar was primarily in the upper troposphere below 10 km, but satellite observations indicate the presence of volcanogenic clouds in the stratosphere. This study suggests that radar is a valuable complement to traditional seismic and satellite monitoring of explosive eruptions.

Alaska↗

USGS2018

Integrated population modeling provides the first empirical estimates of vital rates and abundance for polar bears in the Chukchi Sea

Large carnivores are imperiled globally, and characteristics making them vulnerable to extinction (e.g., low densities and expansive ranges) also make it difficult to estimate demographic parameters needed for management. Here we develop an integrated population model to analyze capture-recapture, radiotelemetry, and count data for the Chukchi Sea subpopulation of polar bears ( Ursus maritimus ), 2008–2016. Our model addressed several challenges in capture-recapture studies for polar bears by including a multievent structure reflecting location and life history states, while accommodating state uncertainty. Female breeding probability was 0.83 (95% credible interval [CRI] = 0.71–0.90), with litter sizes of 2.18 (95% CRI = 1.71–2.82) for age-zero and 1.61 (95% CRI = 1.46–1.80) for age-one cubs. Total adult survival was 0.90 (95% CRI = 0.86–0.92) for females and 0.89 (95% CRI = 0.83–0.93) for males. Spring on-ice densities west of Alaska were 0.0030 bears/km 2 (95% CRI = 0.0016–0.0060), similar to 1980s-era density estimates although methodological differences complicate comparison. Abundance of the Chukchi Sea subpopulation, derived by extrapolating density from the study area using a spatially-explicit habitat metric, was 2,937 bears (95% CRI = 1,552–5,944). Our findings are consistent with other lines of evidence suggesting the Chukchi Sea subpopulation has been productive in recent years, although it is uncertain how long this will continue given sea-ice loss due to climate change.

Scientific Reports↗

USGS2012

Mixed sediment beach processes: Kachemak Bay, Alaska

Mixed sediment beaches are morphologically distinct from and more complex than either sand or gravel only beaches. Three digital imaging techniques are employed to quantify surficial grain size and bedload sediment transport rates along the mixed sediment beaches of Kachemak Bay, Alaska. Applying digital imaging procedures originally developed for quickly and efficiently quantifying grain sizes of sand to coarse sediment classes gives promising results. Hundreds of grain size estimates lead to a quantitative characterization of the region's sediment at a significant reduction in cost and time as compared to traditional techniques. Both the sand and coarse fractions on this megatidal beach mobilize into self-organized bedforms that migrate alongshore with a seasonally reflecting the temporal pattern of the alongshore component of wave power. In contrast, the gravel bedforms also migrate in the cross-shore without significant seasonally suggesting that swash asymmetry is sufficient to mobilize the gravel even during low energy summer conditions.

Conference Paper↗

USGS1991

Seasonal patterns of prey availability and the foraging behavior of arctic foxes ( Alopex lagopus ) in a waterfowl nesting area

The foraging behavior of arctic foxes was observed in a waterfowl nesting area on the Yukon–Kuskokwim Delta of Alaska in 1985–1986. Observations were made during peak fox activity from two towers, 3 m high, located in different community types. Data were collected continuously for individual foxes on specific activities, the community in which activities occurred, and the type of food obtained. After migratory birds started nesting in the area, the food potentially available to foxes changed from microtines, old caches, and carrion to include eggs and birds. This change was reflected in the foraging behavior of the foxes as they switched to predation on eggs. After nesting began, the search success rate of foxes increased (from <30% to >50%) and search duration decreased (mean 19.7 s before nest initiation versus mean 9.4 s in mid-incubation) as the rate of food acquisition increased. Over 80% of the eggs taken by foxes were cached rather than eaten immediately, which extended the availability of this temporally limited resource to foxes. Eggs were the primary prey of arctic foxes during the nesting stages in both years, even though microtine populations were high in one year (1985) and low in the other (1986).

Alaska↗

USGS2020

Focus areas for data acquisition for potential domestic resources of 11 critical minerals in the conterminous United States, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico—Aluminum, cobalt, graphite, lithium, niobium, platinum-group elements, rare earth elements, tantalum, tin, titanium, and tungsten

In response to a need for information on potential domestic sources of critical minerals, the Earth Mapping Resources Initiative (Earth MRI) was established to identify and prioritize areas for acquisition of new geologic mapping, geophysical data, and elevation data to improve our knowledge of the geologic framework of the United States. Phase 1 of Earth MRI concentrated on those geologic terranes favorable for hosting the rare earth elements (REEs). Phase 2 continued to address the REEs and also identified focus areas for potential domestic sources of 10 more of the 35 critical minerals on the U.S. critical minerals list (aluminum, cobalt, graphite, lithium, niobium, platinum-group elements, tantalum, tin, titanium, tungsten). This report describes the methodology, data sources, and summary results for mineral systems that host these 11 critical minerals in the conterminous United States, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico; Alaska is covered in a separate report. The mineral systems framework adopted for this study links critical mineral commodities to families of genetically related mineral deposit types. The mineral systems approach is an efficient approach, providing a simultaneous evaluation of geologic terranes through aggregation of genetically related mineral deposit types that are much larger than individual ore deposits. Geologic, geochemical, topographic, and geophysical mapping provided by Earth MRI will document geologic features that reflect the extent of individual mineral systems and provide information about critical mineral deposits that may not have been recognized previously. Each critical mineral commodity is discussed in terms of importance to the Nation’s economy, modes of occurrence, mineral systems, and deposit types along with maps and tables listing examples of focus areas for each critical mineral. Important mineral systems for these critical minerals include chemical weathering systems for aluminum (bauxite); placer systems for titanium and REEs; metamorphic systems for graphite; mafic magmatic systems for platinum-group elements and cobalt; lacustrine evaporite and porphyry tin systems for lithium; and copper-molybdenum-gold (Cu-Mo-Au) systems for tungsten. REEs occur in many different mineral systems. Focus areas were developed by scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey in collaboration with scientists from State geological surveys and other institutions. This first national-scale compilation of focus areas represents an initial step in addressing the Nation’s critical mineral needs by screening areas for acquisition of new data to provide the geologic framework necessary for identifying domestic sources of critical minerals.

Open-File Report↗

USGS2012

Cambrian–Ordovician sedimentary rocks of Alaska

Cambrian-Lower Ordovician carbonate rocks that likely formed as part of the Laurentian continental margin, and may thus have been part of the Cambrian-Ordovician great American carbonate bank, occur in east-central Alaska in the Nation Arch area. These strata accumulated on the southwestern margin (present-day coordinates) of the Yukon stable block, a broad area of early Paleozoic carbonate platform deposition in the northern Yukon Territory, and constitute two successions. The first consists of approximately 900 m (∼2950 ft) of shallow-water limestone and dolostone that are in part silicified, laminated, oolitic, and pisolitic, and make up the lower member of the Jones Ridge Limestone. Conodonts, trilobites, archaeo-cyathids, and brachiopods indicate an age of Early Cambrian to early Early Ordovician (Tremadoc; Ibexian) and have Laurentian biogeographic affinities. Upper Ordovician bio-clastic limestone (the upper member of the Jones Ridge Limestone) unconformably overlies these strata. A roughly coeval, but somewhat deeper water, succession crops out near the Jones Ridge Limestone and consists of, in ascending order, the Funnel Creek Limestone, Adams Argillite, and Hillard Limestone. The Funnel Creek (15-400 m [50-1310 ft] thick) is mainly nonfossilif-erous, extensively silicified, commonly oolitic limestone and dolostone and is assumed to be Lower Cambrian in age. It is overlain by argillite, siltstone, cross-laminated quartzite, and oolitic to sandy limestone of the Adams Argillite (90-180 m [295-550 ft] thick). This unit contains the trace fossil Oldhamia and Lower Cambrian archaeocyathids and trilobites that have Siberian affinities. The Hillard (30-150 m [100-490 ft] thick) is chiefly limestone, with local ooids, edgewise and boulder conglomerate, and phosphatic horizons, and likely formed in a platform-margin setting. Trilobites and brachiopods from this unit are Early Cambrian to earliest Ordovician in age and have mainly Laurentian affinities. Slope and/or basinal rocks of the Road River Formation that are as old as Early Ordovician (early middle Arenig; Ibexian) unconformably overlie the Hillard Limestone. Abrupt facies transitions between the two Nation Arch area carbonate successions may reflect relatively steep paleoslopes and/or telescoping of facies by imbricate thrust faults. Carbonate strata of Cambrian–Ordovician age are also found north of the Nation Arch area in the Porcupine terrane. These rocks have been little studied, and their precise Stratigraphic succession and paleogeographic setting are uncertain. The few fossil collections indicate mainly Laurentian affinities and include Cambrian(?) trilobites and Lower and Middle Ordovician conodonts. Lower Paleozoic strata of the Porcupine terrane probably formed at or near the northwestern edge (present-day coordinates) of the Yukon stable block. Cambrian–Ordovician carbonate strata occur widely in northern Alaska (parts of the Arctic Alaska, York, and Seward terranes) and interior Alaska (Farewell terrane). These rocks share distinctive lithologic and faunal features and were deposited in a range of shallow-shelf to basinal environments. Carbonate platform successions in northern and interior Alaska include fossils of both Laurentian and Siberian biotic provinces and may have formed on a single crustal fragment that rifted away from the Siberian craton during the late Proterozoic. These Alaskan strata were most likely in faunal exchange with, but not physically attached to, the great American carbonate bank. Lower–Middle Ordovician carbonate and siliciclastic rocks are also found in the White Mountains, Livengood, and Ruby terranes of interior Alaska, the Alexander terrane in southeastern Alaska, and the Goodnews terrane in southwestern Alaska. These successions were likely not attached to Laurentia during their deposition, although some authors have proposed Laurentian origins for the White Mountains and Livengood terranes. Little detailed information is available on the resource potential of Cambrian–Ordovician successions in Alaska. Most have low porosity and are too thermally mature to be prospective for oil and gas, although a few units in east-central and northern Alaska may have some potential as petroleum source and reservoir rocks. Strata of this age have potential for metallic mineral resources; strata-bound Zn-Pb ± Ag occurrences are known in the Funnel Creek Limestone in east-central Alaska, as well as several units of possible Cambrian and/or Ordovician age in northern and interior Alaska.

Alaska↗

USGS2009

Model-Based Predictions of the Effects of Harvest Mortality on Population Size and Trend of Yellow-Billed Loons

Yellow-billed loons (Gavia adamsii) breed in low densities in northern tundra habitats in Alaska, Canada, and Russia. They migrate to coastal marine habitats at mid to high latitudes where they spend their winters. Harvest may occur throughout the annual cycle, but of particular concern are recent reports of harvest from the Bering Strait region, which lies between Alaska and Russia and is an area used by yellow-billed loons during migration. Annual harvest for this region was reported to be 317, 45, and 1,077 during 2004, 2005, and 2007, respectively. I developed a population model to assess the effect of this reported harvest on population size and trend of yellow-billed loons. Because of the uncertainty regarding actual harvest and definition of the breeding population(s) affected by this harvest, I considered 25 different scenarios. Predicted trends across these 25 scenarios ranged from stability to rapid decline (24 percent per year) with halving of the population in 3 years. Through an assessment of literature and unpublished satellite tracking data, I suggest that the most likely of these 25 scenarios is one where the migrant population subjected to harvest in the Bering Strait includes individuals from breeding populations in Alaska (Arctic coastal plain and the Kotzebue region) and eastern Russia, and for which the magnitude of harvest varies among years and emulates the annual variation of reported harvest during 2004-07 (317, 45, and 1,077 yellow-billed loons). This scenario, which assumes no movement of Canadian breeders through the Bering Strait, predicts a 4.6 percent rate of annual population decline, which would halve the populations in 15 years. Although these model outputs reflect the best available information, confidence in these predictions and applicable scenarios would be greatly enhanced by more information on harvest, rates of survival and reproduction, and migratory pathways.

Open-File Report↗

USGS1978

Stamukhi shoals of the Arctic - some observations from the Beaufort Sea

A number of linear shoals, representing pronounced topographic anomalies on the surface of the Arctic shelf, have been studied in the Prudhoe Bay area. These shoals have been referred to in several previous studies. Based on seismic reflection records, Reimnitz et al., (1972a), stated that the shoals are constructional features younger than the post-Wisconsin transgression. Large chunks of grounded ice have frequently been seen on the linear shoals of the inner shelf. These ice chunks form barriers parallel to the shore (Reimnitz, et al. 1972b). Reimnitz and Barnes (1974) considered the lack of gravel concentrations on the shoals to be evidence that the stream of pack ice drifting past northern Alaska carries very little gravel today. Lewellen (1977) referred to the linear shoals as submerged barrier islands, while Reimnitz, et al., (1977b) pointed out that, although similar in shape to barrier islands, the linear shoals are very different in composition and do not appear to represent drowned harrier islands. They show that the shoals localize the formation of major shear and pressure events in the ice, which in turn cause the formation of linear belts of deformed and grounded ice. Today the shoals appear to be migrating under the influence of ice-bottom interaction, and indeed may have formed in response to ice-bottom interaction within the "stamukhi zone". The shoals migrate rather slowly and retain their shapes over periods of 25 years, yet control the location and stabilize the outer edge of the floating fast ice zone, and provide shelter for the inner shelf and coast. Reimnitz et al. (1977b) surmised that similar artificial structures might be used to modify the ice environment on the arctic shelf.

Alaska↗

USGS2009

The Mackenzie River magnetic anomaly, Yukon and Northwest Territories, Canada-Evidence for Early Proterozoic magmatic arc crust at the edge of the North American craton

We characterize the nature of the source of the high-amplitude, long-wavelength, Mackenzie River magnetic anomaly (MRA), Yukon and Northwest Territories, Canada, based on magnetic field data collected at three different altitudes: 300 m, 3.5 km and 400 km. The MRA is the largest amplitude (13 nT) satellite magnetic anomaly over Canada. Within the extent of the MRA, source depth estimates (8–12 km) from Euler deconvolution of low-altitude aeromagnetic data show coincidence with basement depths interpreted from reflection seismic data. Inversion of high-altitude (3.5 km) aeromagnetic data produces an average magnetization of 2.5 A/m within a 15- to 35-km deep layer, a value typical of magmatic arc complexes. Early Proterozoic magmatic arc rocks have been sampled to the southeast of the MRA, within the Fort Simpson magnetic anomaly. The MRA is one of several broad-scale magnetic highs that occur along the inboard margin of the Cordillera in Canada and Alaska, which are coincident with geometric changes in the thrust front transition from the mobile belt to stable cratonic North America. The inferred early Proterozoic magmatic arc complex along the western edge of the North American craton likely influenced later tectonic evolution, by acting as a buttress along the inboard margin of the Cordilleran fold-and-thrust belt.

Yukon Territory, Northwest Territories↗

USGS2004

Earthquake nucleation by transient deformations caused by the M = 7.9 Denali, Alaska, earthquake

The permanent and dynamic (transient) stress changes inferred to trigger earthquakes are usually orders of magnitude smaller than the stresses relaxed by the earthquakes themselves, implying that triggering occurs on critically stressed faults. Triggered seismicity rate increases may therefore be most likely to occur in areas where loading rates are highest and elevated pore pressures, perhaps facilitated by high-temperature fluids, reduce frictional stresses and promote failure. Here we show that the 2002 magnitude M = 7.9 Denali, Alaska, earthquake triggered wide-spread seismicity rate increases throughout British Columbia and into the western United States. Dynamic triggering by seismic waves should be enhanced in directions where rupture directivity focuses radiated energy, and we verify this using seismic and new high-sample GPS recordings of the Denali mainshock. These observations are comparable in scale only to the triggering caused by the 1992 M = 7.4 Landers, California, earthquake, and demonstrate that Landers triggering did not reflect some peculiarity of the region or the earthquake. However, the rate increases triggered by the Denali earthquake occurred in areas not obviously tectonically active, implying that even in areas of low ambient stressing rates, faults may still be critically stressed and that dynamic triggering may be ubiquitous and unpredictable.

Nature↗