History of earthquakes and tsunamis along the eastern Aleutian-Alaska megathrust, with implications for tsunami hazards in the California Continental Borderland
Holly F. Ryan, Roland E. von Huene, Ray E. Wells, David W. Scholl, Stephen Kirby, Amy E. Draut
Julie A. Dumoulin, C. Dusel-Bacon, editor(s)
2012, Professional Paper 1795-A
During the past several years, devastating tsunamis were generated along subduction zones in Indonesia, Chile, and most recently Japan. Both the Chile and Japan tsunamis traveled across the Pacific Ocean and caused localized damage at several coastal areas in California. The question remains as to whether coastal California, in particular...
Influence of permafrost distribution on groundwater flow in the context of climate-driven permafrost thaw: Example from Yukon Flats Basin, Alaska, United States
Michelle Ann Walvoord, Clifford I. Voss, Tristan P. Wellman
2012, Water Resources Research (48)
Understanding the role of permafrost in controlling groundwater flow paths and fluxes is central in studies aimed at assessing potential climate change impacts on vegetation, species habitat, biogeochemical cycling, and biodiversity. Recent field studies in interior Alaska show evidence of hydrologic changes hypothesized to result from permafrost degradation. This study...
Streamflow record extension for selected streams in the Susitna River Basin, Alaska
Janet H. Curran
2012, Scientific Investigations Report 2012-5210
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),...
Assessment of the Coal-Bed Gas Total Petroleum System in the Cook Inlet-Susitna region, south-central Alaska
William A. Rouse, David W. Houseknecht
2012, Scientific Investigations Report 2012-5145
The Cook Inlet-Susitna region of south-central Alaska contains large quantities of gas-bearing coal of Tertiary age. The U.S. Geological Survey in 2011 completed an assessment of undiscovered, technically recoverable coal-bed gas resources underlying the Cook Inlet-Susitna region based on the total petroleum system (TPS) concept. The Cook Inlet Coal-Bed Gas...
Plant toxins and trophic cascades alter fire regime and succession on a boral forest landscape
Zhilan Feng, Jorge A. Alfaro-Murillo, Donald L. DeAngelis, Jennifer Schmidt, Matthew Barga, Yiqiang Zheng, Muhammad Hanis B. Ahmad Tamrin, Mark Olson, Tim Glaser, Knut Kielland, F. Stuart Chapin III, John Bryant
2012, Ecological Modelling (244) 79-92
Two models were integrated in order to study the effect of plant toxicity and a trophic cascade on forest succession and fire patterns across a boreal landscape in central Alaska. One of the models, ALFRESCO, is a cellular automata model that stochastically simulates transitions from spruce dominated 1 km2 spatial...
Ecological context for the North Pacific Landscape Conservation Cooperative
Andrea Woodward, Audrey Taylor, Anne Weekes
2012, Open-File Report 2012-1211
The North Pacific Landscape Conservation Cooperative (NPLCC) encompasses the temperate coastal rainforest and extends from the coastal mountains to the near-shore from the Kenai Peninsula, Alaska to Bodega Bay, California. The area spans multiple agency, state, and international boundaries over more than 22 degrees of latitude, including a wide range...
Local-area-enhanced, 2.5-meter resolution natural-color and color-infrared satellite-image mosaics of the Haji-Gak mineral district in Afghanistan: Chapter C in Local-area-enhanced, high-resolution natural-color and color-infrared satellite-image mosaics of mineral districts in Afghanistan
Philip A. Davis, Laura E. Cagney, Scott A. Arko, Michelle L. Harbin
2012, Data Series 709-C
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Defense Task Force for Business and Stability Operations, prepared databases for mineral-resource target areas in Afghanistan. The purpose of the databases is to (1) provide useful data to ground-survey crews for use in performing detailed assessments of the...
Publications of the Volcano Hazards Program 2010
Manuel Nathenson
2012, Open-File Report 2012-1177
The Volcano Hazards Program of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is part of the Geologic Hazards Assessments subactivity as funded by Congressional appropriation. Investigations are carried out in the USGS and with cooperators at the Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys, University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute, University of...
Range expansion of nonindigenous caribou in the Aleutianarchipelago of Alaska
Mark A. Ricca, Floyd W. Weckerly, Adam Duarte, Jeffrey C. Williams
2012, Biological Invasions (14) 1779-1784
Caribou (Rangifer tarandus) are nonindigenous to all but the eastern-most island of the Aleutian archipelago of Alaska. In 1958–1959, caribou were intentionally introduced to Adak Island in the central archipelago, and the population has at least tripled in recent years subsequent to the closure of a naval air facility. Although...
Comparison of three methods for long-term monitoring of boreal lake area using Landsat TM and ETM+ imagery
Jennifer K. Roach, Brad Griffith, David Verbyla
2012, Canadian Journal of Remote Sensing (38) 427-440
Programs to monitor lake area change are becoming increasingly important in high latitude regions, and their development often requires evaluating tradeoffs among different approaches in terms of accuracy of measurement, consistency across multiple users over long time periods, and efficiency. We compared three supervised methods for lake classification from Landsat...
Hydrology and modeling of flow conditions at Bridge 339 and Mile 38-43, Copper River Highway, Alaska
Timothy P. Brabets
2012, Scientific Investigations Report 2012-5153
The Copper River basin, the sixth largest watershed in Alaska, drains an area of 24,200 square miles in south-central Alaska. This large, glacier-fed river flows across a wide alluvial fan before it enters the Gulf of Alaska. The Copper River Highway, which traverses the alluvial fan, has been affected by...
Early retreat of the Alaska Peninsula Glacier Complex and the implications for coastal migrations of First Americans
Nicole Misarti, Bruce P. Finney, James W. Jordan, Herbert D. G. Maschner, Jason A. Addison, Mark D. Shapley, Andrea P. Krumhardt, James E. Beget
2012, Quaternary Science Reviews (48) 1-6
The debate over a coastal migration route for the First Americans revolves around two major points: seafaring technology, and a viable landscape and resource base. Three lake cores from Sanak Island in the western Gulf of Alaska yield the first radiocarbon ages from the continental shelf of the Northeast Pacific...
Subducting plate geology in three great earthquake ruptures of the western Alaska margin, Kodiak to Unimak
Roland E. von Huene, John J. Miller, Wilhelm Weinrebe
2012, Geosphere (8) 628-644
Three destructive earthquakes along the Alaska subduction zone sourced transoceanic tsunamis during the past 70 years. Since it is reasoned that past rupture areas might again source tsunamis in the future, we studied potential asperities and barriers in the subduction zone by examining Quaternary Gulf of Alaska plate history, geophysical...
Population dynamics of king eiders breeding in northern Alaska
Rebecca L. Bentzen, Abby N. Powell
2012, Journal of Wildlife Management (76) 1011-1020
The North American population of king eiders (Somateria spectabilis) has declined by more than 50% since the late 1970s for unknown reasons. King eiders spend most of their lives in remote areas, forcing managers to make regulatory and conservation decisions based on very little information. We incorporated available published estimates...
Field information links permafrost carbon to physical vulnerabilities of thawing
Jennifer W. Harden, Charles Koven, Chien-Lu Ping, Gustaf Hugelius, A. David McGuire, P. Camill, Torre Jorgenson, Peter Kuhry, Gary Michaelson, Jonathan A. O’Donnell, Edward A.G. Schuur, Charles Tamocai, Kevin Johnson, G. Grosse
2012, Geophysical Research Letters (39)
Deep soil profiles containing permafrost (Gelisols) were characterized for organic carbon (C) and total nitrogen (N) stocks to 3m depths. Using the Community Climate System Model (CCSM4) we calculate cumulative probability functions (PDFs) for active layer depths under current and future climates. The difference in PDFs over time was multiplied...
Diversity of active aerobic methanotrophs along depth profiles of arctic and subarctic lake water column and sediments
Ruo He, Matthew J. Wooller, John W. Pohlman, John Quensen, James M. Tiedje, Mary Beth Leigh
2012, ISME Journal (6) 1937-1948
Methane (CH4) emitted from high-latitude lakes accounts for 2–6% of the global atmospheric CH4 budget. Methanotrophs in lake sediments and water columns mitigate the amount of CH4 that enters the atmosphere, yet their identity and activity in arctic and subarctic lakes are poorly understood. We used stable isotope probing (SIP),...
Map showing extent of glaciation in the Eagle quadrangle, east-central Alaska
Florence R. Weber, Frederic H. Wilson
2012, Open-File Report 2012-1138
This map covers the Eagle 1:250,000-scale quadrangle in the northeastern part of the Yukon-Tanana Upland in Alaska. It shows the extent of five major glacial advances, former glacial lakes, and present fragmented terrace deposits related to the advances. The Yukon-Tanana Upland is an area of about 116,550 km2 between the...
Thermal and hydrological observations near Twelvemile Lake in discontinuous permafrost, Yukon Flats, interior Alaska, September 2010-August 2011
Steven M. Jepsen, Joshua C. Koch, Joshua R. Rose, Clifford I. Voss, Michelle Ann Walvoord
2012, Open-File Report 2012-1121
A series of ground-based observations were made between September 2010 and August 2011 near Twelvemile Lake, 19 kilometers southwest of Fort Yukon, Alaska, for use in ongoing hydrological analyses of watersheds in this region of discontinuous permafrost. Measurements include depth to ground ice, depth to water table, soil texture, soil...
Mate loss affects survival but not breeding in black brant geese
Christopher A. Nicolai, James S. Sedinger, David H. Ward, W. Sean Boyd
2012, Behavioral Ecology (23) 643-648
For birds maintaining long-term monogamous relationships, mate loss might be expected to reduce fitness, either through reduced survival or reduced future reproductive investment. We used harvest of male brant during regular sport hunting seasons as an experimental removal to examine effects of mate loss on fitness of female black brant...
A climate for speciation: rapid spatial diversification within the Sorex cinereus complex of shrews
Andrew G. Hope, Kelly A. Speer, John R. Demboski, Sandra L. Talbot, Joseph A. Cook
2012, Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution (64) 671-684
The cyclic climate regime of the late Quaternary caused dramatic environmental change at high latitudes. Although these events may have been brief in periodicity from an evolutionary standpoint, multiple episodes of allopatry and divergence have been implicated in rapid radiations of a number of organisms. Shrews of the Sorex cinereus...
An assessment of the carbon balance of arctic tundra: comparisons among observations, process models, and atmospheric inversions
A. D. McGuire, T.R. Christensen, D. Hayes, A. Heroult, E. Euskirchen, Y. Yi, J.S. Kimball, C. Koven, P. Lafleur, P.A. Miller, W. Oechel, P. Peylin, Murray Williams
2012, Biogeosciences (9) 4543-4594
Although arctic tundra has been estimated to cover only 8% of the global land surface, the large and potentially labile carbon pools currently stored in tundra soils have the potential for large emissions of carbon (C) under a warming climate. These emissions as radiatively active greenhouse gases in the form...
Process-based coastal erosion modeling for Drew Point (North Slope, Alaska)
Thomas M. Ravens, Benjamin M. Jones, Jinlin Zhang, Christopher D. Arp, Joel A. Schmutz
2012, Journal of Waterway, Port, Coastal and Ocean Engineering (138) 122-130
A predictive, coastal erosion/shoreline change model has been developed for a small coastal segment near Drew Point, Beaufort Sea, Alaska. This coastal setting has experienced a dramatic increase in erosion since the early 2000’s. The bluffs at this site are 3-4 m tall and consist of ice-wedge bounded blocks of...
Colonizing the world in spite of reduced MHC variation
L. Gangoso, M. Alcaide, J.M. Grande, J. Munoz, Sandra L. Talbot, Sarah A. Sonsthagen, G. Kevin Sage, J. Figuerola
2012, Journal of Evolutionary Biology (25) 1438-1447
Reduced immune gene diversity is thought to negatively affect the capacity of organisms to adapt to pathogen challenges, which represent a major force in natural selection. Genes of the Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC) are the most widely invoked adaptive loci in conservation biology, and have become the most popular genetic...
Wetland selection by breeding and foraging black terns in the Prairie Pothole Region of the United States
Valerie A. Steen, Abby N. Powell
2012, The Condor (114) 155-165
We examined wetland selection by the Black Tern (Chlidonias niger), a species that breeds primarily in the prairie pothole region, has experienced population declines, and is difficult to manage because of low site fidelity. To characterize its selection of wetlands in this region, we surveyed 589 wetlands throughout North and...
National Enhanced Elevation Assessment at a glance
Gregory I. Snyder
2012, Fact Sheet 2012-3088
Elevation data are essential for hazards mitigation, conservation, infrastructure development, national security, and many other applications. Under the leadership of the U.S. Geological Survey and the member States of the National Digital Elevation Program (NDEP), Federal agencies, State agencies, and others work together to acquire high-quality elevation data for the...
