Using redundant primer sets to detect multiple native Alaskan fish species from environmental DNA
Damian M. Menning, Trey Simmons, Sandra L. Talbot
2020, Conservation Genetics Resources (12) 109-123
Accurate and timely data regarding freshwater fish communities is important for informed decision-making by local, state, tribal, and federal land and resource managers; however, conducting traditional gear-based fish surveys can be an expensive and time-consuming process, particularly in remote areas, like those that characterize much of Alaska. To help address...
Focus areas for data acquisition for potential domestic sources of critical minerals—Rare earth elements
Jane M. Hammarstrom, Connie L. Dicken
2019, Open-File Report 2019-1023-A
Rare earth elements (REEs) are critical mineral commodities for the United States. In response to a need for information on potential domestic sources of REEs in mineral deposits, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) identified broad focus areas throughout the conterminous United States and Alaska as a guide for selecting new...
Integration of microfacies analysis, inorganic geochemical data, and hyperspectral imaging to unravel mudstone depositional and diagenetic processes in two cores from the Triassic Shublik Formation, Northern Alaska
Katherine J. Whidden, Justin E. Birdwell, Julie A. Dumoulin, Lionel C. Fonteneau, Brigette Martini
2019, Conference Paper, SEG global meeting abstracts
The Middle – Upper Triassic Shublik Formation is an organic-rich heterogeneous carbonate-siliciclastic-phosphatic unit that generated much of the oil in the Prudhoe Bay field and other hydrocarbon accumulations in northern Alaska. A large dataset, including total organic carbon (TOC), X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray fluorescence (XRF) and inductively coupled plasma –...
Future directions in sea otter research and management
Randall W. Davis, James L. Bodkin, Heather A. Coletti, Daniel Monson, Shawn E. Larson, Lilian P. Carswell, Linda M. Nichol
2019, Frontiers in Marine Science (5)
The conservation and management of sea otters has benefited from a dedicated research effort over the past 60 years enabling this species to recover from a few thousand in the early 20th century to about 150,000 today. Continued research to allow full, pre-exploitation recovery and restoration of nearshore ecosystems should...
Preliminary geologic map of the Greater Antilles and the Virgin Islands
Frederic H. Wilson, Greta Orris, Floyd Gray
2019, Open-File Report 2019-1036
IntroductionThis geologic map of the Greater Antilles and the Virgin Islands is a compilation of information from the literature, integrated to provide a seamless geologic map of the region. The geology shown on sheet 1 covers Cuba, the island of Hispaniola, which includes Haiti and the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, the...
Geology and assessment of undiscovered oil and gas resources of the Amerasia Basin Province, 2008
David W. Houseknecht, Kenneth J. Bird, Christopher P. Garrity
Thomas E. Moore, Donald L. Gautier, editor(s)
2019, Professional Paper 1824-BB
The Amerasia Basin Province encompasses the Canada Basin and the sediment prisms along the Alaska and Canada margins, outboard from basinward margins (hingelines) of the rift shoulders that formed during extensional opening of the Canada Basin. The province includes the Mackenzie River delta and slope, the outer shelves and marine...
Limited detection of antibodies to clade 2.3.4.4 A/Goose/Guangdong/1/1996 lineage highly pathogenic H5 avian influenza virus in North American waterfowl
David E. Stallknecht, Clara Kienzle-Dean, Nick Davis-Fields, Christopher S. Jennelle, Andrew S. Bowman, Jacqueline M. Nolting, Walter Boyce, James Crum, Jefferson Santos, Justin D. Brown, Diann Prosser, Susan E.W. De La Cruz, Joshua T. Ackerman, Michael L. Casazza, Scott Krauss, Daniel Perez, Andrew M. Ramey, Rebecca L. Poulson
2019, Journal of Wildlife Diseases (56) 47-57
During 2014, highly pathogenic (HP) influenza A viruses (IAVs) of the A/Goose/Guangdong/1/1996 lineage (GsGD-HP-H5), originating from Asia, were detected in domestic poultry and wild birds in Canada and the US. These clade 2.3.4.4 GsGD-HP-H5 viruses included reassortants possessing North American lineage gene segments; were detected in wild birds in the...
Managing effects of drought and other water resource challenges in Alaska and the Pacific Northwest
Jessica E. Halofsky, Jeremy Littell, David L. Peterson, Gregory D. Hayward, Rebecca Gravenmier
2019, Report, Effects of drought on forests and rangelands in the United States: Translating science into management responses
This is a Cooperator Report. As such, there is no specific abstract. The physical, ecological, and social environments of Alaska and the Pacific Northwest (PNW) region of the United States are extremely diverse. Alaska ranges from the Arctic Ocean and the very cold, dry environments of the North Slope to the...
Monitoring boreal avian populations: How can we estimate trends and trajectories from noisy data?
Christian Roy, Nicole L Michel, Colleen M. Handel, Steven Van Wilgenburg, Curtis Burkhalter, Kirsty A B Gurney, David Messmer, Karine Prince, Clark S Rushing, James E Saracco, Richard Schuster, Adam C. Smith, Paul A Smith, Peter Solymos, Lisa A Venier, Benjamin Zuckerberg
2019, Avian Conservation and Ecology (14)
Substantial effort has been dedicated to developing reliable monitoring schemes for North American bird populations, but our ability to monitor bird populations in the boreal forest remains limited because of the sparsity of long-term data sets, particularly in northerly regions. Given the importance of the boreal forest for many migratory...
Element cycling in the Middle-Late Triassic Shublik Formation: Mineralization vs. recycling of biolimiting nutrients in an unconventional resource play
Katherine J. Whidden, Julie A. Dumoulin, James Macquaker, Justin E. Birdwell, Adam Boehlke, Katherine L. French
2019, Conference Paper, New directions in geosciences for unconventional resources
The Triassic Shublik Formation in northern Alaska is one of the major source rocks in North America, having generated much of the petroleum in Prudhoe Bay and associated fields. The middle Shublik Formation, the focus of this study, is a highly phosphatic, organic-rich carbonate mudstone interval. Apatite cements can occur...
The US Geological Survey’s Earth Mapping Resources Initiative (Earth MRI)—Providing framework geologic, geophysical, and elevation data to the nation’s critical mineral-bearing regions
Warren C. Day, Benjamin J. Drenth, Anne E. McCafferty, Anjana K. Shah, David A. Ponce, James V. Jones III, V. J. Grauch
2019, Newsletter
New detailed mapping of the geologic resources of the Nation has the potential to significantly close the gap in the essential data needed to fuel a modern era of economic development and technological innovation, while at the same time dramatically enhancing our understanding of the fundamental way geology impacts everyday...
Recovery planning in a dynamic system: Integrating uncertainty into a decision support tool for an endangered songbird
Jessica Stanton, Jenny Marek, Linnea S. Hall, Barbara E. Kus, Allison Alvarado, Bruce K. Orr, Eric Morrissette, Laura Riege, Wayne E. Thogmartin
2019, Ecology and Society (24)
Along the Santa Clara River in California, populations of the federally and state-listed Least Bell's Vireo (Vireo bellii pusillus) are recovering from near extirpation. Habitat protection and restoration, as well as controlling rates of brood parasitism, are thought to be the primary drivers of this recovery. Continuing successful management...
Conservation status of the world’s swan populations, Cygnus sp. and Coscoroba sp.: a review of current trends and gaps in knowledge
Eileen Rees, Lei Cao, P. Clausen, J. M. Coleman, J. Cornely, O. Einarsson, Craig R. Ely, R. Kingsford, Ming Ma, C. E. Mitchell, S. Nagy, T. Shimada, Jeffrey Snyder, D. Solovyeva, W. Tijsen, Y. Vilna, R. Wlodarczyk, K. Brides
2019, Wildfowl
Recent estimates of the world’s swan Cygnus sp. populations indicate that there are currently between 1.5–1.6 million birds in 8 species, including the Coscoroba Swan Coscoroba coscoroba as an honorary swan. Monitoring programmes in Europe and North America indicate that most populations increased following the introduction of national and international legislation to protect the...
U.S. Geological Survey — Department of the Interior Region 11, Alaska—2019 annual science report
Dee Williams, Elizabeth Powers, editor(s)
2019, Open-File Report 2019-1141
In keeping with our national mission, the USGS in Alaska provides timely and objective scientific information to help the Nation address issues and solve problems in five major topical areas (listed alphabetically):Energy and Minerals;Geospatial Mapping;Natural Hazards;Water Quality, Streamflow, and Ice Dynamics; andWildlife, Fish, and Habitat. The USGS in Alaska engages about...
National assessment of shoreline change — Historical shoreline change along the north coast of Alaska, Icy Cape to Cape Prince of Wales
Ann E. Gibbs, Alexander G. Snyder, Bruce M. Richmond
2019, Open-File Report 2019-1146
Beach erosion is a persistent problem along most open-ocean shores of the United States. Along the Arctic coast of Alaska, coastal erosion is widespread and threatens communities, defense and energy-related infrastructure, and coastal habitat. As coastal populations continue to expand and infrastructure and habitat are increasingly threatened by erosion, there...
Streambed scour evaluations and conditions at selected bridge sites in Alaska, 2016–17
Robin A. Beebee, Karenth L. Dworsky, Schyler J. Knopp
2019, Scientific Investigations Report 2019-5110
Stream stability, flood frequency, and streambed scour potential were evaluated at 20 Alaskan river- and stream-spanning bridges lacking a quantitative scour analysis or having unknown foundation details. Three of the bridges had been assessed shortly before the study described in this report but were re-assessed using different methods or data....
Catastrophic landscape modification from a massive landslide tsunami in Taan Fiord, Alaska
Colin K Bloom, Breanyn MacInnes, Bretwood Higman, Dan H. Shugar, Jeremy G. Venditti, Bruce M. Richmond, Eric L. Bilderback
2019, Geomorphology (353)
The October 17th, 2015 Taan Fiord landslide and tsunami generated a runup of 193 m, nearly an order of magnitude greater than most previously surveyed tsunamis. To date, most post-tsunami surveys are from earthquake-generated tsunamis and the geomorphic signatures of landslide tsunamis or their potential for preservation are largely uncharacterized. Additionally,...
Visualizing populations of North American sea ducks: Maps to guide research and management planning
John M. Pearce, Paul L. Flint, Mary E. Whalen, Sarah A. Sonsthagen, Josh Stiller, Vijay P. Patil, Timothy D. Bowman, Sean Boyd, Shannon S. Badzinski, H.G. Gilchrist, Scott G. Gilliland, Christine Lepage, Pam Loring, Daniel McAuley, Nic McLellan, Jason Osenkowski, Eric T. Reed, Anthony J. Roberts, Myra Robertson, Tom Rothe, David E. Safine, Emily D. Silverman, Kyle A. Spragens
2019, Open-File Report 2019-1142
North American sea ducks generally breed in mid- to northern-latitude regions and nearly all rely upon marine habitats for much of their annual cycle. Most sea duck species remained poorly studied until the 1990s when declines were noted in several species and populations. Subsequent research, much of which was funded...
The seasonal energetic landscape of an apex marine carnivore, the polar bear
Anthony M. Pagano, Todd C. Atwood, George M. Durner, Terrie M. Williams
2019, Ecology
Divergent movement strategies have enabled wildlife populations to adapt to environmental change. In recent decades, the Southern Beaufort Sea subpopulation of polar bears (Ursus maritimus) has developed a divergent movement strategy in response to diminishing sea ice where the majority of the subpopulation (73–85%) stays on the sea ice in...
Use of subsistence-harvested whale carcasses by polar bears in the southern Beaufort Sea
Kate M Lillie, Eric M Gese, Todd C. Atwood, Mary M Conner
2019, Arctic (72) 337-484
The availability of a food subsidy has the potential to influence the condition, behavior, fitness, and population dynamics of a species. Since the early 2000s, monitoring efforts along the coast of northern Alaska indicated a higher proportion of polar bears (Ursus maritimus) of the southern Beaufort Sea (SB) subpopulation come...
High rates of inflation during a noneruptive episode of seismic unrest at Semisopochnoi Volcano, Alaska in 2014–2015
Kimberly Degrandpre, Jeremy D. Pesicek, Zhong Lu, Heather R. DeShon, Diana Roman
2019, Journal of Geophysical Research (20) 6163-6186
Magma intrusion rate is a key parameter in eruption triggering but is poorly quantified in existing geodetic studies. Here we examine two episodes of rapid inflation in this context. Two noneruptive microseismic swarms were recorded at Semisopochnoi Volcano, Alaska in 2014–2015. We use differential SAR techniques and TerraSAR‐X images to...
Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta Berry Outlook: Final Report
Nicole M. Herman-Mercer, Rachel A. Loehman
2019, Report
No abstract available. ...
Machine learning classifiers for attributing tephra to source volcanoes: An evaluation of methods for Alaska tephras
Matthew Bolton, Britta Jensen, Kristi L. Wallace, Nore Praet, David Fortin, Darrell Kaufman, Marc De Batist
2019, Journal of Quaternary Science (35) 81-92
Glass composition-based correlations of volcanic ash (tephra) traditionally rely on extensive manual plotting. Many previous statistical methods for testing correlations are limited by using geochemical means, masking diagnostic variability. We suggest that machine learning classifiers can expedite correlation, quickly narrowing the list of likely candidates...
Geology and assessment of undiscovered oil and gas resources of the Arctic Alaska Province, 2008
David W. Houseknecht, Kenneth J. Bird, Christopher Garrity
Thomas E. Moore, Donald L. Gautier, editor(s)
2019, Professional Paper 1824-E
The Arctic Alaska Province encompasses all lands and adjacent continental shelf areas north of the Brooks Range-Herald Arch tectonic belts and south of the northern (outboard) margin of the Alaska rift shoulder. Even though only a small part is thoroughly explored, it is one of the most prolific petroleum provinces...
The August 2018 Kaktovik earthquakes: Active tectonics in northeastern Alaska revealed With InSAR and seismology
E. Gaudreau, E.K. Nissen, Eric A. Bergman, Harley M. Benz, F. Tan, E. Karasözen
2019, Geophysical Research Letters (46) 14412-14420
The largest earthquakes recorded in northern Alaska (Mw 6.4 and Mw 6.0) occurred ~6 hours apart on August 12, 2018 in the northeastern Brooks Range. The earthquakes were captured by Sentinel-1 InSAR satellites and Earthscope Transportable Array seismic data, giving insight into the little-known active tectonic processes of Arctic Alaska,...
