Evaluating the validity of using unverified indices of body condition
J.L. Schamber, Daniel Esler, Paul L. Flint
2009, Journal of Avian Biology (40) 49-56
Condition indices are commonly used in an attempt to link body condition of birds to ecological variables of interest, including demographic attributes such as survival and reproduction. Most indices are based on body mass adjusted for structural body size, calculated as simple ratios or residuals from regressions. However, condition indices...
Tracking magma volume recovery at Okmok Volcano using GPS and an unscented kalman filter
T. Fournier, Jeffrey T. Freymueller, Peter Cervelli
2009, Journal of Geophysical Research B: Solid Earth (114)
Changes beneath a volcano can be observed through position changes in a GPS network, but distinguishing the source of site motion is not always straightforward. The records of continuous GPS sites provide a favorable data set for tracking magma migration. Dense campaign observations usually provide a better spatial picture...
Volcanic hazards to airports
Marianne C. Guffanti, Gari C. Mayberry, Thomas J. Casadevall, Richard Wunderman
2009, Natural Hazards (51) 287-302
Volcanic activity has caused significant hazards to numerous airports worldwide, with local to far-ranging effects on travelers and commerce. Analysis of a new compilation of incidents of airports impacted by volcanic activity from 1944 through 2006 reveals that, at a minimum, 101 airports in 28 countries were affected on 171...
Probabilistic tsunami hazard assessment at Seaside, Oregon, for near-and far-field seismic sources
F.I. Gonzalez, E.L. Geist, B. Jaffe, U. Kanoglu, H. Mofjeld, C.E. Synolakis, V.V. Titov, D. Areas, D. Bellomo, D. Carlton, T. Horning, J. Johnson, J. Newman, T. Parsons, R. Peters, C. Peterson, G. Priest, A. Venturato, J. Weber, F. Wong, A. Yalciner
2009, Journal of Geophysical Research C: Oceans (114)
The first probabilistic tsunami flooding maps have been developed. The methodology, called probabilistic tsunami hazard assessment (PTHA), integrates tsunami inundation modeling with methods of probabilistic seismic hazard assessment (PSHA). Application of the methodology to Seaside, Oregon, has yielded estimates of the spatial distribution of 100- and 500-year maximum tsunami amplitudes,...
Estimation of avian population sizes and species richness across a boreal landscape in Alaska
Colleen M. Handel, S.A. Swanson, Debora A. Nigro, Steven M. Matsuoka
2009, Wilson Journal of Ornithology (121) 528-547
We studied the distribution of birds breeding within five ecological landforms in Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve, a 10,194-km2 roadless conservation unit on the Alaska-Canada border in the boreal forest zone. Passerines dominated the avifauna numerically, comprising 97% of individuals surveyed but less than half of the 115 species recorded in...
Trends in streamflow in the Yukon River Basin from 1944 to 2005 and the influence of the Pacific Decadal Oscillation
T. P. Brabets, Michelle Ann Walvoord
2009, Journal of Hydrology (371) 108-119
Streamflow characteristics in the Yukon River Basin of Alaska and Canada have changed from 1944 to 2005, and some of the change can be attributed to the two most recent modes of the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO). Seasonal, monthly, and annual stream discharge data from 21 stations in the Yukon...
Rupture imaging of the Mw 7.9 12 May 2008 Wenchuan earthquake from back projection of teleseismic P waves
Y. Xu, K.D. Koper, O. Sufri, L. Zhu, Alexander R. Hutko
2009, Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems (10)
[1] The Mw 7.9 Wenchuan earthquake of 12 May 2008 was the most destructive Chinese earthquake since the 1976 Tangshan event. Tens of thousands of people were killed, hundreds of thousands were injured, and millions were left homeless. Here we infer the detailed rupture process of the Wenchuan earthquake by...
Plasma biochemistry values in emperor geese (Chen canagica) in Alaska: Comparisons among age, sex, incubation, and molt
J. Christian Franson, D. J. Hoffman, Joel A. Schmutz
2009, Journal of Zoo and Wildlife Medicine (40) 321-327
Reduced populations of emperor geese (Chen canagica), a Bering Sea endemic, provided the need to assess plasma biochemistry values as indicators of population health. A precursory step to such an investigation was to evaluate patterns of variability in plasma biochemistry values among age, sex, and reproductive period. Plasma from...
Observation and modeling of source effects in coda wave interferometry at Pavlof volcano
Matthew M. Haney, Wijik K. van, L.A. Preston, D.F. Aldridge
2009, The Leading Edge (28) 554-560
Sorting out source and path effects for seismic waves at volcanoes is critical for the proper interpretation of underlying volcanic processes. Source or path effects imply that seismic waves interact strongly with the volcanic subsurface, either through partial resonance in a conduit (Garces et al., 2000; Sturton and Neuberg, 2006)...
Estuarine Ecology of Juvenile Salmon in Western Alaska: a Review
Christian E. Zimmerman, Nicola Hillgruber
2009, Book chapter, American Fisheries Society Symposium
In the late 1990s and early 2000s, large declines in numbers of chum salmon Oncorhynchus keta and Chinook salmon O. tshawytscha returning to the Arctic-YukonKuskokwim (AYK) region (Alaska, USA) illuminated the need for an improved understanding of the variables controlling salmon abundance at all life stages. In addressing questions about...
Provenance of Holocene sediment on the Chukchi-Alaskan margin based on combined diffuse spectral reflectance and quantitative X-Ray Diffraction analysis
J.D. Ortiz, L. Polyak, J.M. Grebmeier, D. Darby, D. D. Eberl, S. Naidu, D. Nof
2009, Global and Planetary Change (68) 73-84
Sediment clay and silt mineral assemblages provide an excellent means of assessing the provenance of fine-grained Arctic sediment especially when a unique mineral assemblage can be tied to specific source areas. The diffuse spectral reflectance (DSR) first derivative measurements and quantitative X-Ray Diffraction (qXRD) on a high-resolution sediment core from...
Geomechanical response of permafrost-associated hydrate deposits to depressurization-induced gas production
J. Rutqvist, G. J. Moridis, T. Grover, T. Collett
2009, Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering (67) 1-12
In this simulation study, we analyzed the geomechanical response during depressurization production from two known hydrate-bearing permafrost deposits: the Mallik (Northwest Territories, Canada) deposit and Mount Elbert (Alaska, USA) deposit. Gas was produced from these deposits at constant pressure using horizontal wells placed at the top of a hydrate layer...
Fire behavior, weather, and burn severity of the 2007 anaktuvuk river tundra fire, North Slope, Alaska
Benjamin M. Jones, Crystal A. Kolden, Randi Jandt, John T. Abatzoglou, Frank Urban, Christopher D. Arp
2009, Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research (41) 309-316
In 2007, the Anaktuvuk River Fire (ARF) became the largest recorded tundra fire on the North Slope of Alaska. The ARF burned for nearly three months, consuming more than 100,000 ha. At its peak in early September, the ARF burned at a rate of 7000 ha d-1. The conditions potentially...
Late Quaternary stratigraphy and sedimentation patterns in the western Arctic Ocean
L. Polyak, J. Bischof, J.D. Ortiz, D. A. Darby, J.E.T. Channell, C. Xuan, D. S. Kaufman, R. Lovlie, D.A. Schneider, D. D. Eberl, R.E. Adler, E.A. Council
2009, Global and Planetary Change (68) 5-17
Sediment cores from the western Arctic Ocean obtained on the 2005 HOTRAX and some earlier expeditions have been analyzed to develop a stratigraphic correlation from the Alaskan Chukchi margin to the Northwind and Mendeleev-Alpha ridges. The correlation was primarily based on terrigenous sediment composition that is not affected by diagenetic...
Changes in vegetation in northern Alaska under scenarios of climate change, 2003-2100: Implications for climate feedbacks
Eugénie S. Euskirchen, Anthony D. McGuire, F. Stuart Chapin III, S. Yi, Catharine Copass Thompson
2009, Ecological Applications (19) 1022-1043
Assessing potential future changes in arctic and boreal plant species productivity, ecosystem composition, and canopy complexity is essential for understanding environmental responses under expected altered climate forcing. We examined potential changes in the dominant plant functional types (PFTs) of the sedge tundra, shrub tundra, and boreal forest ecosystems in ecotonal...
Bioenergetic model estimates of interannual and spatial patterns in consumption demand and growth potential of juvenile pink salmon (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha) in the Gulf of Alaska
J.H. Moss, D.A. Beauchamp, A.D. Cross, E.V. Farley, J.M. Murphy, J.H. Helle, R.V. Walker, K.W. Myers
2009, Deep-Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography (56) 2553-2559
A bioenergetic model of juvenile pink salmon (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha) was used to estimate daily prey consumption and growth potential of four ocean habitats in the Gulf of Alaska during 2001 and 2002. Growth potential was not significantly higher in 2002 than in 2001 at an alpha level of 0.05 (P=0.073)....
Late Proterozoic-Paleozoic evolution of the Arctic Alaska-Chukotka terrane based on U-Pb igneous and detrital zircon ages: Implications for Neoproterozoic paleogeographic reconstructions
J.M. Amato, J. Toro, E. L. Miller, G. E. Gehrels, G. L. Farmer, E.S. Gottlieb, A.B. Till
2009, Geological Society of America Bulletin (121) 1219-1235
The Seward Peninsula of northwestern Alaska is part of the Arctic Alaska-Chukotka terrane, a crustal fragment exotic to western Laurentia with an uncertain origin and pre-Mesozoic evolution. U-Pb zircon geochronology on deformed igneous rocks reveals a previously unknown intermediate-felsic volcanic event at 870 Ma, coeval with rift-related magmatism associated with...
Trace elements in Zn Pb Ag deposits and related stream sediments, Brooks Range Alaska, with implications for Tl as a pathfinder element
G.E. Graham, K.D. Kelley, J. F. Slack, A.E. Koenig
2009, Geochemistry: Exploration, Environment, Analysis (9) 19-37
The Zn-Pb-Ag metallogenic province of the western and central Brooks Range, Alaska, contains two distinct but mineralogically similar deposit types: shale-hosted massive sulphide (SHMS) and smaller vein-breccia occurrences. Recent investigations of the Red Dog and Anarraaq SHMS deposits demonstrated that these deposits are characterized by high trace-element concentrations of As,...
Geochemistry of yukon and copper river tributaries, Alaska
M. Carney, A. Ellis, T. Bullen, J. Langman
2009, Conference Paper, Proceedings of World Environmental and Water Resources Congress 2009 - World Environmental and Water Resources Congress 2009: Great Rivers
Alaska is already beginning to be affected by changes in global climate which make it a good location to study the feedback effects between climate, the water cycle and the carbon cycle. Using river dissolved elements and Sr isotopes we examine changes and/or differences in chemical weathering between watersheds in...
Infrasonic ambient noise interferometry from correlations of microbaroms
M.M. Haney
2009, Geophysical Research Letters (36)
We show that microbaroms, continuous infrasound fluctuations resulting from the interaction of the ocean with the atmosphere, have long-range correlation properties that make it possible to estimate the impulse response between two microphones from passive recordings. The processing is analogous to methods employed in the emerging field of ambient noise...
Dramatic declines of DDE and other organochlorines in spring migrant Peregrine Falcons from Padre Island, Texas, 1978-2004
Charles J. Henny, M.A. Yates, W.S. Seegar
2009, Journal of Raptor Research (43) 37-42
Peregrine Falcons (Falco peregrinus) captured in the spring at Padre Island, Texas, nest across the arctic and subarctic from Alaska to Greenland and winter throughout Latin America. Padre Island, located immediately north of the Mexican border, is the peregrines' first landfall in the U.S.A. after spending about 6 mo in...
Emsian (late Early Devonian) sponges from west-central and south-central Alaska
J.K. Rigby, R. B. Blodgett, N.K. Anderson
2009, Journal of Paleontology (83) 293-298
Relatively common specimens of the hypercalcified agelasiid sponge Hormospongia labyrinthica Rigby and Blodgett, 1983 and specimens of associated species of Hormospongia have been previously reported from Emsian and Eifelian stratigraphic units at several localities in south-central and southeastern Alaska (Rigby and Blodgett, 1983). Those sponges were first described from the...
Multi-segment earthquakes and tsunami potential of the Aleutian megathrust
I. Shennan, R. Bruhn, George Plafker
2009, Quaternary Science Reviews (28) 7-13
Large to great earthquakes and related tsunamis generated on the Aleutian megathrust produce major hazards for both the area of rupture and heavily populated coastlines around much of the Pacific Ocean. Here we use paleoseismic records preserved in coastal sediments to investigate whether segment boundaries control the largest ruptures or...
Scientific communications: Re-Os sulfide (bornite, chalcopyrite, and pyrite) systematics of the carbonate-hosted copper deposits at ruby creek, southern brooks range, Alaska
D. Selby, K.D. Kelley, M.W. Hitzman, J. Zieg
2009, Economic Geology (104) 437-444
New Re-Os data for chalcopyrite, bornite, and pyrite from the carbonate-hosted Cu deposit at Ruby Creek (Bornite), Alaska, show extremely high Re abundances (hundreds of ppb, low ppm) and contain essentially no common Os. The Re-Os data provide the first absolute ages of ore formation for the carbonate-hosted Ruby Creek...
Streamflow changes in Alaska between the cool phase (1947–1976) and the warm phase (1977–2006) of the Pacific Decadal Oscillation: The influence of glaciers
Glenn A. Hodgkins
2009, Water Resources Research (45)
Streamflow data from 35 stations in and near Alaska were analyzed for changes between the cool phase (1947–1976) and the warm phase (1977–2006) of the Pacific Decadal Oscillation. Winter, spring, and summer flow changes and maximum annual flow changes were different for glaciated basins (more than 10% glacier‐covered area) than...
