Alaskan Coastline Research Articles

COMPOSITION, ABUNDANCE, AND TIMING OF POST-BREEDING MIGRANT LANDBIRDS AT YAKUTAT, ALASKA

The eastern Gulf of Alaska coastline is suspected of providing an important pathway for birds migrating to and from Alaska. Because no intensive study of landbird migration has been conducted in this region, we used mist nets to study the post-breeding migration of landbirds along the coast from 1994 through 1999. Over six post-breeding periods, we netted for a total of 316 days (23,538 net-hr) and captured 13,490 individuals of 46 species (57.3 birds/100 net-hr). Six species constituted >65% of all captures (ordered by abundance): Orange-crowned Warbler (Vermivora celata), Hermit Thrush (Catharus guttatus), Lincoln's Sparrow (Melospiza lincolnii), Ruby-crowned Kinglet (Regulus calendula), Fox Sparrow (Passerella iliaca), and Yellow Warbler (Dendroica petechia). Most birds captured (71%) were Nearctic-Neotropical migrants, and percentages of hatching-year (HY) birds varied from 51 to 90% among common species. Daily capture rates of all species were highest between mid-August and mid-September. Migration of HY individuals preceded that of after-hatching-year (AHY) birds in 70% of the Nearctic-Neotropical species. Masses of HY Nearctic-Neotropical migrants were significantly less than those of AHY individuals. High capture rates and consistent annual use indicate that the eastern Gulf of Alaska coast is an important pathway for many small landbird migrants, particularly Nearctic-Neotropical species, departing breeding grounds in southern Alaska.

Reflections on the Fate of Alexei Chirikov's Missing Men

The Russian crew from Captain Alexei Chirikov's ship Sv. Pavel went missing on the American shore in 1741. This article examines the question of their fate, arguing that the men sought refuge among the Tlingit, who occupied the Alaskan coastline where the men went ashore. The article hypothesizes on the fate of the crew, using historic documents, modern sources written in Russian and English, as well as Tlingit oral history.

THE GRAPHICAL RESOURCE DATABASE: FOUNDATION FOR GEOGRAPHIC RESPONSE PLANS

ABSTRACT Geographic Response Strategies (GRSs) proliferating in the Prince William Sound and Kodiak Island, Alaska area are relying increasingly on the Graphical Resource Database (GRD) sensitive resources maps. GRD allows response planners to select GRS sites from thousands of miles of remote, highly sensitive shoreline. GRD consists of a stand-alone Geographic Information System (GIS) containing maps, photos, and thousands of records contributed by 15 state and federal agencies and two citizens' regional councils. GRD addresses the Southcentral Alaska coastline centered on Prince William Sound and stretching 800 kilometers from the Copper River to Kodiak Island. Alyeska Pipeline Service Company in Valdez maintains the database as a GIS. Alyeska distributes annual updates on 500-megabyte CD-ROMs to more than 40 public and industry response-planning groups.

Studies of pelagic-benthic coupling extended onto the Soviet continental shelf in the northern Bering and Chukchi seas

Studies of pelagic-benthic coupling and benthic carbon cycling in the northern Bering and Chukchi seas were extended onto the Soviet continental shelf as part of the third U.S.A.-U.S.S.R. Oceanographic Expedition to the Bering and Chukchi seas in 1988. High sediment oxygen uptake rates (an indicator of food supply to the benthos) and benthic biomass were observed in the western shelf regions of the Gulf of Anadyr, Chirikov Basin and southern Chukchi Sea. Low sediment respiration and faunal biomass were observed in the central and slope areas of the Gulf of Anadyr and near the Alaska coastline. Both high sediment respiration and benthic biomass were related to regions of high carbon deposition to the benthos and sediment organic carbon content. Preliminary studies of sediment accumulation, measured using organic carbon content and atmospherically-derived 210Pb values in surface sediments, were low in the sandy regions of the northern Bering Sea, with higher sediment accumulation zones occurring in the silt and clay regions in the central Gulf of Anadyr and southern Chukchi Sea. Hydrodynamics have a major influence on organic carbon loading and sediment composition, which in turn influences benthic community structure, biomass and sediment respiration in this Arctic region.

Overview of Bird Search and Rescue and Response Efforts During the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill

ABSTRACT The Exxon Valdez oil spill presented the International Bird Rescue Research Center with a variety of unique and unprecedented challenges. One was the development and management of two search and rescue programs: one in Prince William Sound, with the home base being Valdez, and the other along the Kenai Peninsula, with Seward as home base. Local fishing boats, float planes, and personnel were organized to create two functional search and rescue fleets that combed about 900 miles of coastline in search of live oiled birds and oiled carcasses. This effort resulted in the capture of 1,630 live oiled birds and the recovery of thousands of dead oiled birds and mammals. During most oil spills only one oiled bird rehabilitation center is needed to care for all the affected birds. Strong currents began moving oil out of Prince William Sound and north along the Alaskan coastline. At the same time, public pressure to save the victims of the spill increased. It became evident that animal care services in even the most remote areas needed to be developed. Four oiled bird care centers and four search and rescue programs were strategically located near the most heavily affected areas to care for live oiled animals. This paper focuses on how both of the oiled bird search and rescue programs were created and functioned throughout the six-month-long oiled bird rescue and rehabilitation effort. It emphasizes the chronology of planning and decision-making processes during this crisis. Further discussion highlights how the search and rescue fleets coordinated their efforts with the rehabilitation centers for the greatest effectiveness. The paper also discusses the capture and safety techniques used during the actual pursuit of animals and the initial care and transportation of captured birds.

Oceanographic and meteorological effects on autumn sea-ice distribution in the western Arctic

Oceanographic, meteorological and sea-ice data were obtained from the northern Bering Sea and Chukchi Sea during the autumns of 1987 and 1988. Ice-edge location was observed from ships and via AVHRR satellite data, and ice-drift information was obtained from ARGOS-tracked drift buoys. Meteorological data were obtained from ships, from an ARGOS-tracked meteorological station and from synoptic charts. The ice edge was significantly farther south in 1988 than during other years and impacted the Alaskan coastline. In 1987, the ice edge was, conversely, anomalously far north. Ice melt-back in certain regions, such as along the Alaskan coast and in Herald Canyon, was due to input from warm ocean currents. The larger-scale interannual differences in ice extent were, however, due to interannual differences in the regional winds. In particular, the anomalous and extreme southward extent of the ice edge during 1988 was due to northerly to northwesterly winds, which held the summer pack ice against the the beach. Meltwater from this ice salt-stratified the upper water column, so that the ice eventually became effectively insulated against vertical flux of heat from the underlying warm water in the coastal current.

Oceanographic and meteorological effects on autumn sea-ice distribution in the western Arctic

Oceanographic, meteorological and sea-ice data were obtained from the northern Bering Sea and Chukchi Sea during the autumns of 1987 and 1988. Ice-edge location was observed from ships and via AVHRR satellite data, and ice-drift information was obtained from ARGOS-tracked drift buoys. Meteorological data were obtained from ships, from an ARGOS-tracked meteorological station and from synoptic charts. The ice edge was significantly farther south in 1988 than during other years and impacted the Alaskan coastline. In 1987, the ice edge was, conversely, anomalously far north. Ice melt-back in certain regions, such as along the Alaskan coast and in Herald Canyon, was due to input from warm ocean currents. The larger-scale interannual differences in ice extent were, however, due to interannual differences in the regional winds. In particular, the anomalous and extreme southward extent of the ice edge during 1988 was due to northerly to northwesterly winds, which held the summer pack ice against the the beach. Meltwater from this ice salt-stratified the upper water column, so that the ice eventually became effectively insulated against vertical flux of heat from the underlying warm water in the coastal current.

Modern pollen rain and vegetational history of the Malaspina Glacier district, Alaska

Seventy surface pollen samples from coastal forest, coastal meadow, muskeg, tree line, and alpine tundra communities form a basis for interpreting fossil pollen assemblages in the Malaspina Glacier district, Alaska. Poflen and macrofossil analyses of three radiocarbon-dated fossil sections from Icy Cape indicate that vegetational changes resulting from plant succession can be distinguished from those of migrational and climatic origin. Vegetation of the early Holocene xerothermic interval (10,000–7600 yr B.P.) was dominated by Alnus communities. Wetter conditions ensued, enabling generative muskeg surfaces to develop and first Picea sitchensis, then Tsuga heterophylla to expand from areas southeastward. Climatic cooling in more recent millennia (3500 yr B.P. to the present) is indicated by the appearance and persistent growth of Tsuga mertensiana and Selaginella selaginoides along this portion of the Gulf of Alaska coastline.

Deep water renewals and oxygen consumption in an Alaskan fjord

The deep and bottom waters of Resurrection Bay, a single-silled fjord on the south-central Alaskan coastline, are renewed annually by inflows of dense water (σt>26·0), during summer and fall months. Renewals are related to seasonal variations in the density of continental shelf source water: density maxima in summer result from a relaxation of a winter coastal downwelling condition. Deep water renewals may begin as early as April–May and are complete by September–October. During 1973 renewals were sufficient to replace the topographic basin volume 3–4 times over, but were less by half during the same period in 1974. Oxygen consumption rates in the bottom 100 m of the water column were highest (214±98 μ mol l− year−1) during fall and early winter months following summer phytoplankton production and were less (107±62 μ mol l−1) during late winter and spring. Consuption rates 10 m above the sediments were about double the deep (100 m) basin estimates, and approximately 30% of the in situ annual primary production was oxidized in the fjord bottom waters (20 m) and underlying surface sediments.

Fan-Delta Sedimentology and Tectonic Setting--Yallahs Fan Delta, Southeast Jamaica

Fan deltas have been defined as alluvial fans that prograde into a standing body of water from an adjacent highland. Most large Holocene fan deltas are located at the edge of active continental margins and island-arc systems where high-gradient braided streams deposit their sediment load of coarse detritus. Such coastlines are usually wave dominated and receive between 100 and 300 cm of annual precipitation. The Yallahs fan delta along the southeast coast of Jamaica is a typical example of this type of fan-delta complex. The Yallahs River debouches from the Blue Mountains and has built a 10.5-sq km lobate fan delta composed of sand to boulder-size detritus. The morphology of the Yallahs delta is controlled in part by the foothills of the Blue Mountains which bound the delta on three sides and by a steep offshore profile which causes waves to break and expend most of their energy directly against the delta front. Environments comprising the subaerial delta plain include erosional and depositional beaches, abandoned and braided channels, flood plains, and salt-water ponds. The subaqueous delta environment is characterized by steep slopes and numerous submarine channels dominated by mass-gra ity processes resulting in patchy sediment-size distribution. Active coral growth occurs along the western delta margin. Sedimentologic characteristics of the Yallahs fan delta and published information on the southeast coast of Alaska provide data for the construction of two stratigraphic models that can be used for the recognition of ancient fan-delta deposits. The model based on the characteristics of the Yallahs fan delta is applicable to ancient fan-delta deposits that grade directly onto continental and/or island-arc slopes. These deposits are characterized by proximal, gravelly, braided-stream deposits that grade seaward into interbedded gravels and sands at the shoreline and to muddy gravels and muds of the slope. The second model, based on the characteristics of the southeast Alaska coastline, is applicable to fan-delta deposits that prograde onto continental and/or island shelves. These deposi s are characterized by gravelly, proximal, braided-stream deposits that grade seaward into sandy, distal braided-stream deposits, well-laminated sands of the beach and nearshore zone, and finally into burrowed shoreface muds. The two models represent end members of a spectrum of fan-delta types common in ancient sedimentary sequences ranging in age from Precambrian to Pleistocene.

Twentieth-Century History of Gulf of Alaska Coastline, Cape Suckling to Cape Spencer: ABSTRACT

The 500 km of Gulf of Alaska coastline between Cape Suckling and Cape Spencer contains several segments that may be the most actively changing and dynamic on the earth's surface. Included in the changes during the twentieth century are the filling of two bays, the formation of a third bay, and the erosion and retreat of more than 250 km of coastline, some by more than 2 km. Baseline information for this study consists of 1893-1920 maps prepared by the U.S.-Canadian Boundary Survey, pre-1920 U.S. Geological Survey investigations, later maps from many sources, and photographs made since 1895. Field observations to refine and confirm map interpretations were conducted between 1975 and 1979. Tsivat and Kaliakh Bays, both mapped on 1913 USGS topographic maps, filled in with glacially derived sediment before 1940. Icy Bay, a 40-km-long fiord, has formed since 1906 following the retreat of Guyot glacier. The coastline east of Icy Bay has retreated 1.3 km since 1940 and probably twice that amount since 1906. This stretch of coast also includes Lituya Bay, the site of at least two earthquake-generated giant waves in this century alone, and Malaspina glacier, where 66 sq km of new coastal land formed between 1895 and 1941. In the past four decades the new Malaspina coastline has undergone erosion and retreat. Many other smaller changes have occurred, most of which can be well documented. Despite the remoteness of the study area, it may prove to be one of the best observation areas for studying the dynamics of actively changing coastlines. End_of_Article - Last_Page 446------------

Marine paleoclimatology and paleoecology of a Pleistocene invertebrate fauna from Amchitka Island, Aleutian Islands, Alaska

Sea cliff exposures at the head of South Bight on Amchitka Island contain an invertebrate fauna consisting of 24 bivale, 14 gastropod, 4 barnacle, 2 brachiopod, 1 amphineuran, 1 echinoid, 1 annelid and 2 planktonic foraminifer species and various unstudied bryozoans, benthonic foraminifers and ostracodes, as well as bone fragments of marine mammals. With the exception of 4 species of Chlamys, all taxa appear to be living along the Alaskan coastline today. Paleotemperature analyses based on the average size of adult Hiatella arctica, the median of midpoints technique, the extralimital species technique, a biogeographic method, species distribution and coiling ratios of planktonic foraminifers, and oxygen stable isotope ratios give varied values. The extralimital species, biogeographic and oxygen isotope techniques are judged to give the most reliable evidence of paleotemperature at South Bight. These data suggest that mean February sea surface temperature was about 3.9° C and that mean August temperatures were somewhere between 10.0° C and 11.7° C. Present-day mean February temperature at South Bight is 3.9° C and mean August temperature is 10.0° C. The fauna lived in shallow (0–23 m?) water in a sublittoral environment on the open coast. Remains of a few rocky-shore littoral organisms were displaced downslope a short distance where they accumulated with remains of epifaunal, infaunal and neritopelagic elements of the inner sublittoral zone and open ocean planktonic foraminifers. The fauna is most closely comparable to that of the present-day Aleutian Province, and to a lesser degree comparable to that of the Arctic. Astarte bennettii, A. borealis, Diplodonta aleutica, and Liomesus nux are unreported in North Pacific strata older than those of the Einahnuhtan transgression, and Chlamys hanaishiensis amchitkana, C. islandica powersi and C. coatsi middletonensis are unknown from strata younger than those of the Einahnuhtan. However, the almost entirely modern aspect of the fauna, coupled with the absence of Astarte mortonensis-like variants of the Astarte borealis lineage, and radiometric dates on bone and shell material of 130,000 ± 15,000 years, appear to indicate a Kotzebuan age.

Sedimentary Features and Nearshore Processes of Arctic and Sub-Arctic Beaches: ABSTRACT

Arctic beaches show characteristic sedimentary features that readily distinguish them from beaches in more temperate zones. Along the Alaska coastline in the eastern Arctic and subarctic regions of the Bering Sea, many exotic microtopographic structures may persist throughout summer, if spring and summer weather conditions are mild enough. On prograding sections of the coast, similar features might be preserved in the stratigraphic cross section of the beach. Microrelief features develop in spring and early summer as a result of dynamic processes associated with breakup of sea ice and thawing of kaimoo, permafrost, snow banks, and stranded blocks of ice. On the beach 2 different types of microrelief occur. Along the backshore and the upper foreshore, small streamlets and mud flows fed by melting snow and thawing permafrost produce micro-outwash and microdeltaic deposits. In the swash zone, movement of grounded sea ice by wind and waves produces ice-push ridges; melting of kaimoo ice leaves a kaimoo ridge, and melting of stranded gravel- and sand-rich brash ice creates sea-ice kettles and sea-ice sand and gravel cones. Within the nearshore areas, close to the shoreline, sea ice locally scours the bottom sediment into small randomly oriented ridges and troughs. Farther offshore, small randomly spaced hummocks of coarse sand and gravel form where ice-rafted sediment drops from grounded or stabilized melting sea ice. End_of_Article - Last_Page 620------------