Dynamics of food availability, body condition and physiological stress response in breeding Black-legged Kittiwakes
A.S. Kitaysky, J.C. Wingfield, John F. Piatt
1999, Functional Ecology (13) 577-584
1. The seasonal dynamics of body condition (BC), circulating corticosterone levels (baseline, BL) and the adrenocortical response to acute stress (SR) were examined in long-lived Black-legged Kittiwakes, Rissa tridactyla, breeding at Duck (food-poor colony) and Gull (food-rich colony) Islands in lower Cook Inlet, Alaska. It was tested whether the dynamics...
Maturation, fecundity, and intertidal spawning of Pacific sand lance in the northern Gulf of Alaska
Martin D. Robards, John F. Piatt, G.A. Rose
1999, Journal of Fish Biology (54) 1050-1068
Pacific sand lance Ammodytes hexapterus in Kachemak Bay, Alaska, showed no sexual dimorphism in length-to-weight (gonad-free) ratio or length-at-age relationship. Most matured in their second year, males earlier in the season than females, but females (31%) attained a higher gonadosomatic index than males (21%). Sand lance spawned intertidally once each...
Benthic marine debris, with an emphasis on fishery-related items, surrounding Kodiak Island, Alaska, 1994-1996
N.A. Hess, C. A. Ribic, I. Vining
1999, Marine Pollution Bulletin (38) 885-890
Composition and abundance of benthic marine debris were investigated during three bottom trawl surveys in inlet and offshore locations surrounding Kodiak Island, Alaska, 1994-1996. Debris items were primarily plastic and metal regardless of trawl location. Plastic bait jars, fishing line, and crab pots were the most common fishery-related debris items...
Genetic structure of the world's polar bear populations
David Paetkau, Steven C. Amstrup, E.W. Born, W. Calvert, A.E. Derocher, G.W. Garner, F. Messier, I. Stirling, M.K. Taylor, O. Wiig, C. Strobeck
1999, Molecular Ecology (8) 1571-1584
We studied genetic structure in polar bear (Ursus maritimus) populations by typing a sample of 473 individuals spanning the species distribution at 16 highly variable microsatellite loci. No genetic discontinuities were found that would be consistent with evolutionarily significant periods of isolation between groups. Direct comparison of movement data and...
1:2,000,000-scale Hydrologic Units of the United States
John Watermolen
1999, Report
This data set has been superseded by huc2m. This file contains hydrologic unit boundaries and codes for the conterminous United States along with Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. It was revised for inclusion in the National Atlas of the United States of America, and updated to...
Deformation across the Alaska-Aleutian Subduction Zone near Kodiak
J.C. Savage, J. L. Svarc, W.H. Prescott
1999, Geophysical Research Letters (26) 2117-2120
The Kodiak-Katmai geodetic array, nine monuments distributed along a profile trending north-northwestward across Kodiak Island and the Alaska Peninsula, was surveyed in 1993, 1995 and 1997 to determine the deformation at the Alaska-Aleutian subduction zone. Velocities on Kodiak island measured relative to the stable North American...
Detrital zircon geochronology of the Adams Argillite and Nation River Formation, east-central Alaska, U.S.A
G. E. Gehrels, M. J. Johnsson, D. G. Howell
1999, Journal of Sedimentary Research (69) 135-144
The Cambrian Adams Argillite and the Devonian Nation River Formation are two sandstone-bearing units within a remarkably complete Paleozoic stratigraphic section in east-central Alaska. These strata, now foreshortened and fault-bounded, were originally contiguous with miogeoclinal strata to the east that formed as a...
Geology of Unga Island and the northwestern part of Popof Island: Chapter 2 in A geological and geophysical study of the gold-silver vein system of Unga Island, Southwestern Alaska
James R. Riehle, Frederic H. Wilson, Nora B. Shew, Willis H. White
1999, Open-File Report 99-136-2
The first geologic map of Unga Island was published by Atwood (1911; scale 1:250,000), who correctly inferred the middle Tertiary age of the volcanic rocks and made the important distinction between the lava flows and the intrusive domes. Although Burk's (1964) reconnaissance map of the Alaska Peninsula (scale 1:250,000) has...
Carboniferous and older carbonate rocks: Lithofacies, extent, and reservoir quality: Chapter CC in The oil and gas resource potential of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge 1002 area, Alaska
Julie A. Dumoulin
1999, Open-File Report 98-34-CC
Carboniferous and older carbonate rocks are potential hydrocarbon reservoir facies for four plays in the 1002 area of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. These rocks include several units in the pre-Carboniferous basement and the Carboniferous Lisburne Group. Data from exploratory wells west of the 1002 area, outcrops south of the...
Tidally generated sea-floor lineations in Bristol Bay, Alaska, USA
M. S. Marlow, A.J. Stevenson, H. Chezar, R.A. McConnaughey
1999, Geo-Marine Letters (19) 219-226
Highly reflective linear features occur in water depths of 20-30 m in northern Bristol Bay (Alaska, USA) and are, in places, over 600 m in length. Their length-to-width ratio is over 100:1. The lineations are usually characterized by large transverse ripples with wavelengths of 1-2 m. The lineations trend about...
A new magnetic view of Alaska
R. W. Saltus, T. L. Hudson, G. G. Connard
1999, GSA Today (9) 1-6
A new, publicly available aeromagnetic data compilation spanning Alaska enables analysis of the regional crustal character of this tectonically diverse and poorly understood part of the North American Cordillera. The merged data were upward-continued by 10 km (mathematically smoothed without assumptions about sources) to enhance crustal-scale magnetic features and facilitate...
Multi-year persistence of oil mousse on high energy beaches distant from the Exxon Valdez spill origin
Gail V. Irvine, Daniel H. Mann, Jeffrey W. Short
1999, Marine Pollution Bulletin (38) 572-584
For at least 5 yr after the Exxon Valdez spill, relatively unweathered oil mousse has persisted on the exposed rocky shores of Shelikof Strait 500 km from Prince William Sound, Alaska. Previously it was thought that oil would be rapidly removed from such geomorphic settings by wave action. Oil mousse...
Regeneration alternatives for upland white spruce after burning and logging in interior Alaska
R.V. Densmore, G.P. Juday, J.C. Zasada
1999, Canadian Journal of Forest Research (29) 413-423
Site-preparation and regeneration methods for white spruce (Picea glauca (Moench) Voss) were tested near Fairbanks, Alaska, on two upland sites which had been burned in a wildfire and salvage logged. After 5 and 10 years, white spruce regeneration did not differ among the four scarification methods but tended to be...
Effects of hydraulic roughness on surface textures of gravel‐bed rivers
John M. Buffington, David R. Montgomery
1999, Water Resources Research (35) 3507-3521
Field studies of forest gravel‐bed rivers in northwestern Washington and southeastern Alaska demonstrate that bed‐surface grain size is responsive to hydraulic roughness caused by bank irregularities, bars, and wood debris. We evaluate textural response by comparing reach‐average median grain size (D50) to that predicted from the total...
PAH refractory index as a source discriminant of hydrocarbon input from crude oil and coal in Prince William Sound, Alaska
F. D. Hostettler, R.J. Rosenbauer, K.A. Kvenvolden
1999, Conference Paper, Organic Geochemistry
Geochemical correlation and differentiation of hydrocarbons from crude oils and coals is difficult. The complex mixture of the hydrocarbon constituents and the dynamic nature of these constituents in the environment as they weather contribute to this difficulty A new parameter, the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) refractory index, is defined here...
Expansion of forest stands into tundra in the Noatak National Preserve, northwest Alaska
F. Suarez, Dan Binkley, Margot W. Kaye, R. Stottlemyer
1999, Écoscience (6) 465-470
Temperatures across the northern regions of North America have been increasing for 150 years, and forests have responded to this increase. In the Noatak National Preserve in Alaska, white spruce (Picea glauca [Moench] Voss) forests reach their northern limit, occurring primarily on well-drained sites and as gallery forests along streams....
A new magnetic view of Alaska
R. W. Saltus, T. L. Hudson, G. G. Connard
1999, GSA Today (9)
A new, publicly available aeromagnetic data compilation spanning Alaska enables analysis of the regional crustal character of this tectonically diverse and poorly understood part of the North American Cordillera. The merged data were upward-continued by 10 km (mathematically smoothed without assumptions about sources) to enhance crustal-scale magnetic features and facilitate...
Incubation behavior of Spectacled Eiders on the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, Alaska
Paul L. Flint, J.B. Grand
1999, Condor (101) 413-416
We studied incubation behavior of Spectacled Eiders (Somateria fischeri) on the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta in 1996. We trapped 19 females on their nests and weighed them in early incubation and again at hatch. Average daily weight loss for incubating females was 16.6 ± 1.0 g day-1, which resulted in a...
Late Pleistocene environments of the western Noatak basin, northwestern Alaska
S. A. Elias, T. D. Hamilton, M. E. Edwards, J. E. Beget, A.P. Krumhardt, C. Lavoie
1999, Geological Society of America Bulletin (111) 769-789
Glacial Lake Noatak formed repeatedly during middle and late Pleistocene time as expanding glaciers from the DeLong Mountains blocked the Noatak River valley. Downcutting by the Noatak River has exposed thick sediment successions in bluffs up to 86 m high. Two river bluffs, Nk-26 and Nk-29A, contain correlative organic-rich flood-plain...
Stratigraphic framework of Holocene volcaniclastic deposits, Akutan Volcano, east-central Aleutian Islands, Alaska
C. F. Waythomas
1999, Bulletin of Volcanology (61) 141-161
Akutan Volcano is one of the most active volcanoes in the Aleutian arc, but until recently little was known about its history and eruptive character. Following a brief but sustained period of intense seismic activity in March 1996, the Alaska Volcano Observatory began investigating the geology of the volcano and...
Implications of climate change for Alaska's seabirds
Rosa Meehan, G. Vernon Byrd, George J. Divoky, John F. Piatt
Gunter Weller, Patricia A. Anderson, editor(s)
1999, Conference Paper, Assessing the consequences of climate change for Alaska and the Bering Sea region
Seabirds are prominent and highly visible components of marine ecosystems that will be affected by global climate change. The Bering Sea region is particularly important to seabirds; populations there are larger and more diverse than in any similar region in North America—over 90% of seabirds breeding in the continental United...
Harlequin Duck recovery from the Exxon Valdez oil spill: A population genetics perspective
Richard B. Lanctot, Buddy L. Goatcher, Kim T. Scribner, Sandra L. Talbot, Barbara J. Pierson, Daniel Esler, Denny Zwiefelhofer
1999, The Auk (116) 781-791
Concerns about Harlequin Duck (Histrionicus histrionicus) population recovery following the Exxon Valdez oil spill led biologists to ask whether birds located in different molting and wintering areas belong to genetically distinct and, thus, demographically independent populations. Owing to the lack of direct observations of movements among marine areas, three classes...
Use of female nest characteristics in the sexual behaviour of male sockeye salmon
T.R. Hamon, C.J. Foote, G.S. Brown
1999, Journal of Fish Biology (55) 459-471
On three island beaches in Iliamna Lake, Alaska, large numbers of male sockeye salmon gathered and spawned in artificial excavations that mimicked a female's nest immediately prior to spawning, while apparently ignoring the control site. The number of males attracted was correlated positively with changes in the operational sex ratio....
Rock, stream sediment, and heavy-mineral concentrate geochemical data from Unga and western Popof Islands, Alaska Peninsula, Alaska: Chapter 6 in A geological and geophysical study of the gold-silver vein system of Unga Island, Southwestern Alaska
Frederic H. Wilson, Stan E. Church, Elizabeth Bailey
1999, Open-File Report 99-136-6
The data reported here was collected during the 1982-1988 mineral resource assessment of the Port Moller and adjacent quadrangles (see Wilson and others, 1996). Analytical data for virtually all of the samples reported here has been previously published in a series of U.S.G.S. Open-File reports, including Angeloni and others (1985),...
Surgical and immediate postrelease mortality of harlequin ducks (Histrionicus histrionicus) implanted with abdominal radio transmitters with percutaneous antennae
Daniel M. Mulcahy, Daniel Esler
1999, Journal of Zoo and Wildlife Medicine (30) 397-401
Radiotelemetry is an essential tool in the study of free-ranging bird populations, and a variety of transmitter-attachment methods have been developed. A promising new method is abdominal implantation of a transmitter with a percutaneous antenna. Researchers using this technique should be concerned about and aware of mortality during surgery and...
