High-latitude dust in the Earth system
Joanna E Bullard, Matthew Baddock, Tom Bradwell, John Crusius, Eleanor Darlington, Diego Gaiero, Santiago Gasso, Gudrun Gisladottir, Richard Hodgkins, Robert McCulloch, Cheryl NcKenna Neuman, Tom Mockford, Helena Stewart, Throstur Thorsteinsson
2016, Reviews of Geophysics (54) 447-485
Natural dust is often associated with hot, subtropical deserts, but significant dust events have been reported from cold, high latitudes. This review synthesizes current understanding of high-latitude (≥50°N and ≥40°S) dust source geography and dynamics and provides a prospectus for future research on the topic. Although the fundamental processes controlling...
Sedimentary petrology and reservoir quality of the Middle Jurassic Red Glacier Formation, Cook Inlet forearc basin: Initial impressions
K. P. Helmold, D. L. LePain, Richard G. Stanley
2016, Preliminary Interpretive Report 2016-1-4
The Division of Geological & Geophysical Surveys and Division of Oil & Gas are currently conducting a study of the hydrocarbon potential of Cook Inlet forearc basin (Gillis, 2013, 2014; LePain and others, 2013; Wartes, 2015; Herriott, 2016 [this volume]). The Middle Jurassic Tuxedni Group is recognized as a major...
Reconnaissance stratigraphy of the Red Glacier Formation (Middle Jurassic) near Hungryman Creek, Cook Inlet basin, Alaska
D. L. LePain, Richard G. Stanley, K. P. Helmold
2016, Preliminary Interpretive Report 2016-1-3
Geochemical data suggest the source of oil in upper Cook Inlet fields is Middle Jurassic organic-rich shales in the Tuxedni Group (Magoon and Anders, 1992; Lillis and Stanley, 2011; LePain and others, 2012, 2013). Of the six formations in the group (Detterman, 1963), the basal Red Glacier Formation is the...
Nonmarine facies in the Late Triassic(?) to Early Jurassic Horn Mountain Tuff member of the Talkeetna Formation, Horn Mountain, lower Cook Inlet basin, Alaska
D. L. LePain, Richard G. Stanley, K. P. Helmold
2016, Preliminary Interpretive Report 2016-1-2
The Talkeetna Formation is a prominent lithostratigraphic unit in south-central Alaska. In the Iniskin–Tuxedni area, Detterman and Hartsock (1966) divided the formation into three mappable units including, from oldest to youngest, the Marsh Creek Breccia, the Portage Creek Agglomerate, and the Horn Mountain Tuff Members. The Horn Mountain Tuff Member...
An empirical approach for estimating stress-coupling lengths for marine-terminating glaciers
Ellyn Enderlin, Gordon S. Hamilton, Shad O’Neel, Timothy C. Bartholomaus, Mathieu Morlighem, John W. Holt
2016, Frontiers in Earth Science (4) 1-12
Variability in the dynamic behavior of marine-terminating glaciers is poorly understood, despite an increase in the abundance and resolution of observations. When paired with ice thicknesses, surface velocities can be used to quantify the dynamic redistribution of stresses in response to environmental perturbations through computation of the glacier force balance. However,...
Katmai National Park and Preserve and Alagnak Wild River: Geologic resources inventory report
Chad Hults, Judith E. Fierstein
2016, Natural Resource Report NPS/NRSS/GRD/NRR—2016/1314
The Geologic Resources Inventory (GRI) is one of 12 inventories funded by the National Park Service (NPS) Inventory and Monitoring Program. The Geologic Resources Division of the NPS Natural Resource Stewardship and Science Directorate administers the GRI. This GRI report was written for resource managers to support science-informed decision making....
Semiautomatic mapping of permafrost in the Yukon Flats, Alaska
Mats Lundh Gulbrandsen, Burke J. Minsley, Lyndsay B. Ball, Thomas Mejer Hansen
2016, Geophysical Research Letters (43) 12131-12137
Thawing of permafrost due to global warming can have major impacts on hydrogeological processes, climate feedback, arctic ecology, and local environments. To understand these effects and processes, it is crucial to know the distribution of permafrost. In this study we exploit the fact that airborne electromagnetic (AEM) data are sensitive...
Increased prevalence of antibiotic-resistant E. coli in gulls sampled in southcentral Alaska is associated with urban environments
Clara Atterby, Andrew M. Ramey, Gabriel Gustafsson Hall, Josef Jarhult, Stefan Borjesson, Jonas Bonnedahl
2016, Infection Ecology and Epidemiology (6) 1-7
BackgroundAntibiotic-resistant bacteria pose challenges to healthcare delivery systems globally; however, limited information is available regarding the prevalence and spread of such bacteria in the environment. The aim of this study was to compare the prevalence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in large-bodied gulls (Larus spp.) at urban...
Deciduous trees are a large and overlooked sink for snowmelt water in the boreal forest
Jessica Young, W. Robert Bolton, Uma Bhatt, Jordi Cristobal, Richard Thoman
2016, Scientific Reports (6) 1-10
The terrestrial water cycle contains large uncertainties that impact our understanding of water budgets and climate dynamics. Water storage is a key uncertainty in the boreal water budget, with tree water storage often ignored. The goal of this study is to quantify tree water content during the snowmelt and growing...
Surveillance for Eurasian-origin and intercontinental reassortant highly pathogenic influenza A viruses in Alaska, spring and summer 2015
Andrew M. Ramey, John M. Pearce, Andrew B. Reeves, Rebecca L. Poulson, Jennifer Dobson, Brian Lefferts, Kyle A. Spragens, David E. Stallknecht
2016, Virology Journal (13) 1-6
Background: Eurasian-origin and intercontinental reassortant highly pathogenic (HP) influenza A viruses (IAVs) were first detected in North America in wild, captive, and domestic birds during November–December 2014. Detections of HP viruses in wild birds in the contiguous United States and southern Canadian provinces continued into winter and spring...
A possible source mechanism of the 1946 Unimak Alaska far-field tsunami, uplift of the mid-slope terrace above a splay fault zone
Roland E. von Huene, John J. Miller, Dirk Klaeschen, Peter Dartnell
2016, Pure and Applied Geophysics (173) 4189-4201
In 1946, megathrust seismicity along the Unimak segment of the Alaska subduction zone generated the largest ever recorded Alaska/Aleutian tsunami. The tsunami severely damaged Pacific islands and coastal areas from Alaska to Antarctica. It is the charter member of “tsunami” earthquakes that produce outsized far-field tsunamis for the recorded magnitude....
Haemosporidian parasite infections in grouse and ptarmigan: Prevalence and genetic diversity of blood parasites in resident Alaskan birds
Matthew M. Smith, Caroline R. Van Hemert, Richard Merizon
2016, International Journal for Parasitology: Parasites and Wildlife (5) 229-239
Projections related to future climate warming indicate the potential for an increase in the distribution and prevalence of blood parasites in northern regions. However, baseline data are lacking for resident avian host species in Alaska. Grouse and ptarmigan occupy a diverse range of habitat types throughout the northern hemisphere and...
Conservation status of polar bears (Ursus maritimus) in relation to projected sea-ice declines
Eric V. Regehr, Kristin L. Laidre, H. Resit Akcakaya, Steven C. Amstrup, Todd C. Atwood, Nicholas J. Lunn, Martyn E. Obbard, Harry Stern, Gregory W. Thiemann, Øystein Wiig
2016, Biology Letters (12) 1-5
Loss of Arctic sea ice owing to climate change is the primary threat to polar bears throughout their range. We evaluated the potential response of polar bears to sea-ice declines by (i) calculating generation length (GL) for the species, which determines the timeframe for conservation assessments; (ii) developing a standardized...
Multidecadal increases in the Yukon River Basin of chemical fluxes as indicators of changing flowpaths, groundwater, and permafrost
Ryan C. Toohey, Nicole M. Herman-Mercer, Paul F. Schuster, Edda A. Mutter, Joshua C. Koch
2016, Geophysical Research Letters (43) 12120-12130
The Yukon River Basin, underlain by discontinuous permafrost, has experienced a warming climate over the last century that has altered air temperature, precipitation, and permafrost. We investigated a water chemistry database from 1982 to 2014 for the Yukon River and its major tributary, the Tanana River. Significant increases of Ca,...
Interactions among vegetation, climate, and herbivory control greenhouse gas fluxes in a subarctic coastal wetland
K.C. Kelsey, A.J. Leffler, K.H. Beard, Joel A. Schmutz, R.T. Choi, J.M. Welker
2016, Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences (121) 2960-2975
High-latitude ecosystems are experiencing the most rapid climate changes globally, and in many areas these changes are concurrent with shifts in patterns of herbivory. Individually, climate and herbivory are known to influence biosphere-atmosphere greenhouse gas (GHG) exchange; however, the interactive effects of climate and herbivory in driving GHG...
GIS-based identification of areas that have resource potential for critical minerals in six selected groups of deposit types in Alaska
Susan M. Karl, James V. Jones III, Timothy S. Hayes, editor(s)
2016, Open-File Report 2016-1191
Alaska has considerable potential for undiscovered mineral resources. This report evaluates potential for undiscovered critical minerals in Alaska. Critical minerals are those for which the United States imports more than half of its total supply and which are largely derived from nations that cannot be considered reliable trading partners. In...
Alaska geology revealed
Frederic H. Wilson, Keith A. Labay
2016, General Information Product 168
This map shows the generalized geology of Alaska, which helps us to understand where potential mineral deposits and energy resources might be found, define ecosystems, and ultimately, teach us about the earth history of the State. Rock units are grouped in very broad categories on the basis of age...
Widespread kelp-derived carbon in pelagic and benthic nearshore fishes
Vanessa R. von Biela, Seth D. Newsome, James L. Bodkin, Gordon H. Kruse, Christian E. Zimmerman
2016, Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science (181) 364-374
Kelp forests provide habitat for diverse and abundant fish assemblages, but the extent to which kelp provides a source of energy to fish and other predators is unclear. To examine the use of kelp-derived energy by fishes we estimated the contribution of kelp- and phytoplankton-derived carbon using carbon (δ13C) and...
Impacts of shore expansion and catchment characteristics on lacustrine thermokarst records in permafrost lowlands, Alaska Arctic Coastal Plain
Josefine Lenz, Benjamin M. Jones, Sebastian Wetterich, Rik Tjallingii, Michael Fritz, Christopher D. Arp, Natalia Rudaya, Guido Grosse
2016, arktos (2)
Arctic lowland landscapes have been modified by thermokarst lake processes throughout the Holocene. Thermokarst lakes form as a result of ice-rich permafrost degradation, and they may expand over time through thermal and mechanical shoreline erosion. We studied proximal and distal sedimentary records from a thermokarst lake located on the Arctic...
Cretaceous–Cenozoic burial and exhumation history of the Chukchi shelf, offshore Arctic Alaska
William H. Craddock, David W. Houseknecht
2016, AAPG Bulletin (100) 63-100
Apatite fission track (AFT) and vitrinite reflectance data from five exploration wells and three seafloor cores illuminate the thermal history of the underexplored United States Chukchi shelf. On the northeastern shelf, Triassic strata in the Chevron 1 Diamond well record apatite annealing followed by cooling, possibly during the Triassic to...
Evaluation of gas production potential from gas hydrate deposits in National Petroleum Reserve Alaska using numerical simulations
Manish S. Nandanwar, Brian J. Anderson, Taiwo Ajayi, Timothy S. Collett, Margarita V. Zyrianova
2016, Journal of Natural Gas Science and Engineering (36) 760-772
An evaluation of the gas production potential of Sunlight Peak gas hydrate accumulation in the eastern portion of the National Petroleum Reserve Alaska (NPRA) of Alaska North Slope (ANS) is conducted using numerical simulations, as part of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) gas hydrate Life Cycle Assessment program. A field...
Using thermal limits to assess establishment of fish dispersing to high-latitude and high-elevation watersheds
Karen M. Dunmall, Neil J. Mochnacz, Christian E. Zimmerman, Charles Lean, James D. Reist
2016, Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences (73) 1750-1758
Distributional shifts of biota to higher latitudes and elevations are presumably influenced by species-specific physiological tolerances related to warming temperatures. However, it is establishment rather than dispersal that may be limiting colonizations in these cold frontier areas. In freshwater ecosystems, perennial groundwater springs provide critical winter thermal refugia in these...
Mid-21st-century climate changes increase predicted fire occurrence and fire season length, Northern Rocky Mountains, United States
Karin L. Riley, Rachel A. Loehman
2016, Ecosphere (7)
Climate changes are expected to increase fire frequency, fire season length, and cumulative area burned in the western United States. We focus on the potential impact of mid-21st-century climate changes on annual burn probability, fire season length, and large fire characteristics including number and size for a study area in...
When winners become losers: Predicted nonlinear responses of arctic birds to increasing woody vegetation
Sarah J. Thompson, Colleen M. Handel, Rachel M. Richardson, Lance B. McNew
2016, PLoS ONE (11) 1-17
Climate change is facilitating rapid changes in the composition and distribution of vegetation at northern latitudes, raising questions about the responses of wildlife that rely on arctic ecosystems. One widely observed change occurring in arctic tundra ecosystems is an increasing dominance of deciduous shrub vegetation. Our goals were to examine...
Space use of a dominant Arctic vertebrate: Effects of prey, sea ice, and land on Pacific walrus resource selection
William S. Beatty, Chadwick V. Jay, Anthony S. Fischbach, Jacqueline M. Grebmeier, Rebecca L. Taylor, Arny L. Blanchard, Stephen C. Jewett
2016, Biological Conservation (203) 25-32
Sea ice dominates marine ecosystems in the Arctic, and recent reductions in sea ice may alter food webs throughout the region. Sea ice loss may also stress Pacific walruses (Odobenus rosmarus divergens), which feed on benthic macroinvertebrates in the Bering and Chukchi seas. However, no studies have examined the effects...
