Strait Region Research Articles

Optimization of the High-Frequency Radar Sites in the Bering Strait Region

AbstractMonitoring surface currents by coastal high-frequency radars (HFRs) is a cost-effective observational technique with good prospects for further development. An important issue in improving the efficiency of HFR systems is the optimization of radar positions on the coastline. Besides being constrained by environmental and logistic factors, such optimization has to account for prior knowledge of local circulation and the target quantities (such as transports through certain key sections) with respect to which the radar positions are to be optimized.In the proposed methodology, prior information of the regional circulation is specified by the solution of the 4D variational assimilation problem, where the available climatological data in the Bering Strait (BS) region are synthesized with dynamical constraints of a numerical model. The optimal HFR placement problem is solved by maximizing the reduction of a posteriori error in the mass, heat, and salt (MHS) transports through the target sections in the region. It is shown that the MHS transports into the Arctic and their redistribution within the Chukchi Sea are best monitored by placing HFRs at Cape Prince of Wales and on Little Diomede Island. Another equally efficient configuration involves placement of the second radar at Sinuk (western Alaska) in place of Diomede. Computations show that 1) optimization of the HFR deployment yields a significant (1.3–3 times) reduction of the transport errors compared to nonoptimal positioning of the radars and 2) error reduction provided by two HFRs is an order of magnitude better than the one obtained from three moorings permanently maintained in the region for the last 5 yr. This result shows a significant advantage of BS monitoring by HFRs compared to the more traditional technique of in situ moored observations. The obtained results are validated by an extensive set of observing system simulation experiments.

A Bering Strait Indigenous Framework for Resource Management: Respectful Seal and Walrus Hunting

Western resource management is often contentious in northern indigenous communities, as it is can be poorly matched with local resource-use traditions. Expert seal and walrus hunters in the Bering Strait region of Alaska requested that Kawerak, Inc., a local tribal consortium, document seal and walrus hunting through the lens of the locally preferred framework of respect. We conducted semistructured interviews and focus groups with 84 expert elders and hunters regarding seal and walrus hunting and use. Local respectful hunting and use practices focused on appropriate relationships between humans and between humans and animals; traditional values; knowledge of seals, walruses, and environmental conditions; hunting and processing skills; and avoiding pollution. Experts explained this system was best transmitted through hands-on activities that build youth skills, values, and relationships with elders and adults. The respect framework and positive system of transmission through education differs markedly from Western resource management frameworks based on regulation and enforcement.

Qualitative Participatory Mapping of Seal and Walrus Harvest and Habitat Areas

In the Bering Strait region of Alaska decreasing sea ice and increasing development are driving environmental and policy changes that significantly impact federally recognized tribes, which depend on marine resources for cultural, economic, and nutritional reasons. Kawerak, Inc., an Alaska Native non-profit tribal consortium, conducted participatory ice seal and walrus harvest and habitat mapping in collaboration with nine of the region's federally recognized tribes. Participants were concerned that maps could misrepresent marine mammal mobility, limit future harvest area flexibility, increase outside regulation of harvest activities, generate conflict between communities, and attract commercial activity. This paper addresses these concerns through a technique called qualitative participatory mapping, which preserves local voices and priorities. This technique helped communicate and convey respect for traditional knowledge while lowering the probability of map misuse or misinterpretation. This work evaluated project results in terms of Elwood's dimensions of empowerment, which indicated the largest gain in capacity building, and more moderate gains for procedural and distributional empowerment.

Relevance of a Particularly Sensitive Sea Area to the Bering Strait Region: a Policy Analysis Using Resilience-Based Governance Principles

Hillmer-Pegram, K., and M. D. Robards. 2015. Relevance of a Particularly Sensitive Sea Area to the Bering Strait Region: a Policy Analysis Using Resilience-Based Governance Principles. Ecology and Society 20(1): 26. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-07081-200126

Estuary‐enhanced upwelling of marine nutrients fuels coastal productivity in the U.S. Pacific Northwest

AbstractThe Pacific Northwest (PNW) shelf is the most biologically productive region in the California Current System. A coupled physical‐biogeochemical model is used to investigate the influence of freshwater inputs on the productivity of PNW shelf waters using realistic hindcasts and model experiments that omit outflow from the Columbia River and Strait of Juan de Fuca (outlet for the Salish Sea estuary). Outflow from the Strait represents a critical source of nitrogen to the PNW shelf‐accounting for almost half of the primary productivity on the Vancouver Island shelf, a third of productivity on the Washington shelf, and a fifth of productivity on the Oregon shelf during the upwelling season. The Columbia River has regional effects on the redistribution of phytoplankton, but does not affect PNW productivity as strongly as does the Salish Sea. A regional nutrient budget shows that nitrogen exiting the Strait is almost entirely (98%) of ocean‐origin—upwelled into the Strait at depth, mixed into surface waters by tidal mixing, and returned to the coastal ocean. From the standpoint of nitrogen availability in the coastal euphotic zone, the estuarine circulation driven by freshwater inputs to the Salish Sea is more important than the supply of terrigenous nitrogen by rivers. Nitrogen‐rich surface waters exiting the Strait follow two primary pathways—to the northwest in the Vancouver Island Coastal Current and southward toward the Washington and Oregon shelves. Nitrogen flux from the Juan de Fuca Strait and Eddy Region to these shelves is comparable to flux from local wind‐driven upwelling.

Rewriting the history of an extinction-was a population of Steller's sea cows (Hydrodamalis gigas) at St Lawrence Island also driven to extinction?

The Kommandorskiye Islands population of Steller's sea cow (Hydrodamalis gigas) was extirpated ca 1768 CE. Until now, Steller's sea cow was thought to be restricted in historic times to Bering and Copper Islands, Russia, with other records in the last millennium from the western Aleutian Islands. However, Steller's sea cow bone has been obtained by the authors from St Lawrence Island, Alaska, which is significantly further north. Bone identity was verified using analysis of mitochondrial DNA. The nitrogen-15 (δ(15)N)/carbon-13 (δ(13)C) values for bone samples from St Lawrence Island were significantly (p ≤ 0.05) different from Bering Island samples, indicating a second population. Bone samples were dated to between 1030 and 1150 BP (approx. 800-920 CE). The samples date from close to the beginning of the mediaeval warm period, which could indicate that the population at St Lawrence Island was driven to extinction by climate change. A warming of the climate in the area may have changed the availability of kelp; alternatively or in addition, the animals may have been driven to extinction by the expansion of the Inuit from the Bering Strait region, possibly due to opening waterways, maybe following bowhead whales (Balaena mysticetus), or searching for iron and copper. This study provides evidence for a previously unknown population of sea cows in the North Pacific within the past 1000 years and a second Steller's sea cow extirpation event in recent history.

A bloom of Karlodinium australe (Gymnodiniales, Dinophyceae) associated with mass mortality of cage-cultured fishes in West Johor Strait, Malaysia

A recent (February 2014) mass mortality of fishes was observed in the cage-farming region of the West Johor Strait of Malaysia, involving over four different species of cultured fishes, numbering ∼50,000 fish. A field investigation at six stations along the West Johor Strait collected water samples and examined for the presence of harmful species. Dead fishes were collected for necropsy. The phytoplankton composition was dominated by a species of Karlodinium, at a considerably high cell concentration (0.31–2.34×106cellsl−1), and constituting 68.8–98.6% of the phytoplankton relative abundance at all stations. Detailed morphological assessment by light and scanning electron microscopy revealed that the species was Karlodinium australe de Salas, Bolch and Hallegraeff. This was supported by molecular evidence of the nuclear encoded large subunit ribosomal gene (LSU rDNA) and the second internal transcribed spacer (ITS2) via single-cell PCR. The sequences of LSU rDNA yielded 3.6–4.0% divergence when compared to the sister taxon, K. armiger; and >6.5% when compared to other Karlodinium species. Fish necropsy showed symptoms similar to those affected by karlotoxin ichthyotoxins. This is the first report of a mass mortality of cage-cultured and wild fishes attributed to the unarmored dinoflagellate K. australe.

Climate variability and ice-sheet dynamics during the last three glaciations

A composite North Atlantic record from DSDP Site 609 and IODP Site U1308 spans the past 300,000 years and shows that variability within the penultimate glaciation differed substantially from that of the surrounding two glaciations. Hematite-stained grains exhibit similar repetitive down-core variations within the Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 8 and 4–2 intervals, but little cyclic variability within the MIS 6 section. There is also no petrologic evidence, in terms of detrital carbonate-rich (Heinrich) layers, for surging of the Laurentide Ice Sheet through the Hudson Strait during MIS 6. Rather, very high background concentration of iceberg-rafted debris (IRD) indicates near continuous glacial meltwater input that likely increased thermohaline disruption sensitivity to relatively weak forcing events, such as expanded sea ice over deepwater formation sites. Altered (sub)tropical precipitation patterns and Antarctic warming during high orbital precession and low 65°N summer insolation appear related to high abundance of Icelandic glass shards and southward sea ice expansion. Differing European and North American ice sheet configurations, perhaps aided by larger variations in eccentricity leading to cooler summers, may have contributed to the relative stability of the Laurentide Ice Sheet in the Hudson Strait region during MIS 6.

The Rotten Renaissance in the Bering Strait

Situated in the Bering Strait region of Russia and Alaska, the ethnographic documentation presented here elucidates the role of the olfactory aesthetic in shaping human attitudes toward food. The focus is on the practices connected with the use of marine mammal products and recipes prepared by means of aging and fermentation. Since recent times, the olfactory responses to these historically important foods have been changing to where their smell is becoming undesirable on the whole and particularly unacceptable in certain social contexts. The present attitudes range from genuine fondness to an array of aversions. For many contemporary consumers, the social implications of the smells associated with consumption of aged foods and marine mammal products pose a daily concern, which they address in part through extensive washing and laundering. The featured ethnohistorical reconstruction captures the story of Soviet-era near annihilation of certain products and recipes in Chukotka, followed by a partial revitalization in the post-Soviet period. Examples of the gustatory, olfactory, and social experiences connected with food on both sides of the Bering Strait are offered. Cumulatively, these experiences speak of the extent to which foodways and food security are shaped by the realm of senses.

Thermochronologic constraints on Late Cretaceous to Cenozoic exhumation of the Bendeleben Mountains, Seward Peninsula, Alaska

In the Bendeleben Mountains, Seward Peninsula, mid-Cretaceous granites are exposed in an uplifted block bounded on its south side by an E-W striking normal fault. The Bendeleben fault has well-preserved scarps 4–7 m in height that offset Holocene moraines. Seismic activity, young normal faulting, and Quaternary basaltic volcanism are all evidence of active extension. South of the Bendeleben fault, there is a 3–4 km deep basin. Fifteen apatite (U-Th)/He ages from granitic samples of the footwall yield an Eocene weighted mean age of 41.3±4.8 Ma. Biotite 40Ar/39Ar ages from the country rock of the Bendeleben pluton are 81–83 Ma. In spite of the young fault scarps, HeFTy and Pecube thermal modeling results illustrate that rapid exhumation of the Bendeleben Mountains occurred in the Late Cretaceous-Eocene and slowed since the Oligocene. A weak age-elevation relationship of apatite He ages and a lack of correlation between age and distance from the fault indicate that exhumation was accomplished with minimal block rotation on a steeply dipping, long-lived normal fault. Timing of extension in the Seward Peninsula can be correlated with deformation in the offshore Hope Basin where seismic reflection lines document Early Tertiary large-magnitude normal faulting followed by minor post-Miocene reactivation. The faulting observed in the Bendeleben Mountains is part of an extensional system that spans a large portion of the Bering Strait region. The tectonic model proposed in previous studies suggests that clockwise rotation of the Bering block relative to North America is the cause of extensional deformation in western Alaska.

Quasi-synoptic transport, budgets and water mass transformation in the Azores–Gibraltar Strait region during summer 2009

We describe the circulation patterns in the Azores–Gibraltar Strait region (North-Eastern Atlantic) during the 2009 CAIBOX cruise on the basis of hydrographic and direct current velocity measurements. This study offers new data for a region where importation of central waters (subpolar and subtropical modes of Eastern North Atlantic Central Water) and exports of Mediterranean Water are strongly related to large-scale dynamics in the North Atlantic Ocean (Azores Current-Mediterranean Water system). The description is backed up quantitatively by the results of a box inverse model, which was used to obtain absolute water mass transport values consistent with thermal wind equations and with conservation of volume, salt and heat. The contributions of water masses were determined in an extended Optimum Multiparameter Analysis from a quasi-synoptic point of view, providing detail in addition to volume, salt and heat transport.The surface–subsurface large-scale current system in the region consists of the Azores Current (13.1±2.5 Sverdrup [Sv], 1Sv=106m3s−1), the Azores Counter-Current (5.2±2.1Sv), the Portugal Current (4.5±1.4Sv) and the Canary Current (7.1±1.1Sv). Broadly speaking, central waters are imported into the CAIBOX region at a rate of 1.6±0.9Sv, and Mediterranean Water is exported at a rate of 1.5±0.4Sv. The downwelling of central waters west of Gibraltar Strait was quantified at 1.1Sv. Not all this volume participates in MW formation, but 0.8Sv of entrained central waters; of which 0.5Sv are from central waters of subpolar origin and 0.3Sv from subtropical central waters. Of the 4.9Sv of subtropical central waters advected by the Azores Current, about 0.7Sv would reach the Gulf of Cadiz region either to take part in central water entrainment or to flow across the Gibraltar Strait as part of the Atlantic inflow to the Mediterranean Sea.

Source apportionment of the hydrocarbon background in sediment cores from Hecate Strait, a pristine sea on the west coast of British Columbia, Canada

Significant reserves of oil and gas have been predicted for Hecate Strait, a pristine, semi-enclosed sea on the continental shelf adjacent to British Columbia, on the west coast of Canada. To establish a baseline for the natural background of hydrocarbons in sediment prior to any further offshore oil and gas development or increase in oil tanker traffic in the Hecate Strait region, three sediment box cores were collected along a west to east transect across southern Hecate Strait in September 2003. 210Pb measurements established that the bottom sections date to ∼1920, pre-1800 and ∼1870, respectively, which predate any significant industrial development on the coast. Alkane and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) concentrations are low in most sediment samples and both the concentrations and fluxes differ little between surface and bottom core sections. PAH profiles exhibit a dominance of alkyl PAHs for each alkyl PAH homologous series with varying amounts of parent (unsubstituted) PAHs, while alkane chromatograms show no unresolved complex mixture (UCM), and there is little change in composition between present day and pre-1800 sediments for most parameters. Principal components analysis (PCA) models, and PAH and biomarker ratios indicate that composition patterns are consistent with low and varying natural petrogenic and pyrogenic inputs, with little or no anthropogenic input. The most likely primary source of petrogenic PAHs to the sediments is Cenozoic lignites from the Skonun Formation, which outcrops on Haida Gwai and underlies most of Hecate Strait. Two subsurface sections (deposited in ∼1990 and ∼1930) in the core from Milbanke Sound, on the east side of the transect, have elevated concentrations for the alkyl phenanthrene/anthracenes and dibenzothiophenes with no UCM, and most likely also have a source in immature coal. This study suggests that the Hecate Strait environment has low hydrocarbon concentrations, with an apparent minor role for oil seeps and a likelihood that most of the petrogenic PAH sources are shales or immature coals with limited PAH bioavailability. If these characteristics are representative of Hecate Strait sediments overlying the Queen Charlotte Basin, it may mean that biota are likely unadapted to the presence of oil and thus would be more sensitive to exposure to oil from an oil spill than those in a more impacted environment.

The deep seismic structure of the Earth's crust along the Antarctic Peninsula—A summary of the results from Polish geodynamical expeditions

A summary of the results of four Polish geophysical expeditions, which constituted an extensive programme of seismic wide-angle refraction experiments in the northern Antarctic Peninsula region between 1979 and 1991, is analysed here. The results include the interpretation of 20 deep seismic sounding profiles located along the western coast of the Antarctic Peninsula. Additionally, a few shallow seismic profiles in the Deception Island area and a total of 10 reflection profiles from the Bransfield Strait and Drake Passage area were carried out. Crustal velocity models extending across the Antarctic Peninsula continental shelf between the Adelaide Island and the Bransfield Strait show a typical continental crustal structure, with crustal thicknesses of 36–42km near the coast that decreases to 25–28km beneath the outer continental shelf. Farther north in the Bransfield Strait region, the models document a southeastward dip of the Moho discontinuity from a depth of 12km beneath the South Shetland Trench to 40km under the northern tip of the Antarctic Peninsula. Beneath the trough of the Bransfield Strait, a high-velocity body with P-wave velocities exceeding 7.0km/s was detected in a depth range of 6–32km.

Signature of the Gold Cove event (10.2 ka) in the Labrador Sea

One of the least known catastrophic meltwater and sediment-release events of the Laurentide ice-sheet during the early Holocene is the so-called Gold Cove proglacial lake outbursts, a drainage event through the Hudson Strait. This event may have disturbed circulation in the Labrador Sea by releasing freshwater. Here, we report data from four sediment cores and re-analysis of six published records spatially covering >2000 km from the mouth of Hudson Strait to the northeastern Sohm Abyssal Plain. Abundant detrital carbonate (DC) and less positive δ18O values in Neogloboquadrina pachyderma (sinistral) suggest a short-lived meltwater event in the Hudson Strait region. This discharge transported detrital-carbonate-rich sediment and shallow-water benthic forams southward along the Labrador margin, mixing with the North Atlantic Current near the Grand Banks. Sediments associated with this event were guided through the deep Labrador Sea from the mouth of Hudson Strait and the Northwest Atlantic Mid-Ocean Channel (NAMOC) to the Sohm Abyssal Plain. Furthermore, we report less positive δ13C values in the epibenthic foram Cibicidoides wuellerstorfi from the southern Labrador Sea during this event. Our twenty one 14C-AMS dates in addition to earlier published radiocarbon dates from the Labrador margin suggest that this DC event was coeval with the Gold Cove proglacial lake outbursts related to re-advance of the Laurentide ice-sheet.

The development of ships׳ routeing measures in the Bering Strait: Lessons learned from the North Atlantic right whale to protect local whale populations

As a precautionary measure to protect the culturally-significant bowhead whale (Balaena mysticetus) from vessel strike, this paper explores the potential for having the International Maritime Organization endorse ships׳ routeing measures in the Bering Strait region. The confined nature of the Bering Strait forces both vessel traffic and the migrating Bering–Chukchi–Beaufort stock of bowhead whales to occupy the same narrow space, thus putting individual animals at risk of vessel strike. The potential for vessel strike may become exacerbated as the reduction of Arctic sea ice makes the Arctic increasingly accessible, allowing vessels to transit through the Strait in greater densities. In drawing from lessons learned in the successful reduction of vessel strike to the North Atlantic right whale (Eubalaena glacialis), the author provides broad recommendations for implementing ships׳ routeing measures in the Bering Strait region based on findings by Citta et al. (2012). It is recommended that both the western side of Big Diomede Island and the western side of St. Lawrence Island be designated as seasonal Areas To Be Avoided (ATBA) during fall months when bowheads are known to inhabit the area. Alternatively, it is proposed that Traffic Separation Schemes (TSSs) be implemented so that vessels must keep to the eastern side of both Big Diomede Island and St. Lawrence Island during this time. Both measures would reduce the amount of overlap between migrating bowhead whales and transiting vessel traffic, effectively reducing the potential for vessel strike.

Hydroids (Cnidaria, Hydrozoa) from marine environments in Taiwan

AbstractBackgroundHydroids were identified from extensive surveys of benthos, and especially from worm tubes, in the Danshuei River estuary (DRE), in the northeast Taiwan Strait (NETS), and on a reef in Nanwan Bay (NWB), Taiwan.ResultsA total of 33 species (12 of them identified to generic and 1 to family rank only), referable to 22 genera, 12 families, and 2 orders, were distinguished. The majority of them were referable to order Leptothecata (84.8%) with the remainder being assigned to order Anthoathecata (15.2%). The only species found at NETS wasMonoserius pennarius(Linnaeus, 1758).Plumularia habereri(Stechow, 1909) was recorded at both DRE and NWB. The known range ofDynamena nanshaensis(Tang, 1991), recorded for the second time, is extended further north. Six species (Aglaophenia latecarinata,Plumularia floridana,Diphasia palmata,Dynamena brevis,Dynamena obliqua,Synthecium elegans) are recorded for the first time in waters adjacent to the Chinese mainland.ConclusionsSpecies composition and abundances varied considerably from one environment to another and especially between DRE and NWB. This study provides the first taxonomic account of the hydroid fauna inhabiting the eastern Taiwan Strait region.

Distributions of dissolved organic carbon and nitrogen in the western Okhotsk Sea and their effluxes to the North Pacific

The Okhotsk Sea is considered the only ventilation source area for North Pacific Intermediate Water (NPIW), which is widely distributed in the low and middle latitudes of the North Pacific. Previous studies have confirmed high levels of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) in NPIW, yet the amounts and the processes driving DOC export from the Okhotsk Sea are poorly understood. In this study, concentrations of DOC and dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) were measured in the western Okhotsk Sea during the summer of 2006, and additional DOC measurements were made during the late spring of 2010. Results indicate that DOC transport to the intermediate waters (26.7–27.0 σθ) occurs through two processes. The first process involves the spread of water discharged from the continental shelf (Dense Shelf Water), which contributes to a DOC and turbidity maxima in the 250–300m layer of Okhotsk Sea Mode Water (OSMW) located off the eastern Sakhalin coast. The second process involves diapycnal mixing in the Kuril Basin and the Bussol’ Strait, where DOC is transported to a depth greater than 800m. The ratio of DOC:DON in OSMW was significantly higher in the Kuril Basin and Bussol’ Strait than off of the Sakhalin coast, which suggests that the transport of terrigenous organic matter from the bottom occurs in the former regions. DOC and DON efflux from the Okhotsk Sea to the intermediate layer in the North Pacific water (26.7–27.0 σθ) were estimated to be 68–72TgCyr−1 and 5.4TgNyr−1, respectively, for which the DOC transported by diapycnal mixing accounts for 37%. We conclude that diapycnal mixing in the Kuril Basin and Bussol’ Strait regions could play a significant role in regulating the quality and quantity of DOC exported to the intermediate water in the North Pacific.

Assemblages of Quality Early Childhood Education and Care in the Cross-Taiwan Strait Geopolitical Space in Asia

This article draws from Deleuze and Guattari's (1987) social ontology philosophical approach to explore how neoliberal imaginaries are promoted within the Cross-Taiwan Strait region in Asia. Highlighting voucher policies from Hong Kong and Taiwan as examples, the analyses and discussions in this article seek to identify lines of flight as well as to understand reforms as the processes of “deterritorialization” and “reterritorialization” through which entangled (im)possibilities for the assemblages of quality early childhood education and care are crafted.

Molecular phylogeny and systematics of Australian and East Timorese Stenothyridae (Caenogastropoda: Truncatelloidea)

The Australian and East Timorese species belonging to the truncatelloid family Stenothyridae are revised using molecular data and morphological characters from the shell, operculum, radula and external and reproductive anatomy. The Australian species Stenothyra australis is redescribed and two previously recognised subspecies are shown to be synonyms. The New Guinean species Stenothyra paludicola van Benthem Jutting, 1963 is redescribed and recorded from the Torres Strait region of northern Australia, and two new subspecies of S. paludicola are described from the Northern Territory and East Timor; S. paludicola topendensis n. subsp. and S. paludicola timorensis n. subsp. respectively. Stenothyra gelasinosa n. sp. is described from Australia, comprising three allopatric subspecies; S. gelasinosa gelasinosa n. sp. and n. subsp. from the eastern seaboard, S. gelasinosa phrixa n. subsp. from northern Australia and S. gelasinosa apiosa n. subsp. from the Pilbara region of Western Australia. Stenothyra frustillum is considered a nomen dubium. Molecular phylogenetic analysis of these taxa and other Asian stenothyrids supports these systematic decisions and provides a preliminary interpretation of relationships within Stenothyridae.

Comparability of multiple data types from the bering strait region: Cranial and dental metrics and nonmetrics, mtDNA, and Y‐chromosome DNA

Different data types have previously been shown to have the same microevolutionary patterns in worldwide data sets. However, peopling of the New World studies have shown a difference in migration paths and timings using multiple types of data, spurring research to understand why this is the case. This study was designed to test the degree of similarity in evolutionary patterns by using cranial and dental metric and nonmetric data, along with Y-chromosome DNA and mtDNA. The populations used included Inuits from Alaska, Canada, Siberia, Greenland, and the Aleutian Islands. For comparability, the populations used for the cranial and molecular data were from similar geographic regions or had a shared population history. Distance, R and kinship matrices were generated for use in running Mantel tests, PROTEST analyses, and Procrustes analyses. A clear patterning was seen, with the craniometric data being most highly correlated to the mtDNA data and the cranial nonmetric data being most highly correlated with the Y-chromosome data, while the phenotypic data were also linked. This patterning is suggestive of a possible male or female inheritance, or the correlated data types are affected by the same or similar evolutionary forces. The results of this study indicate cranial traits have some degree of heritability. Moreover, combining data types leads to a richer knowledge of biological affinity. This understanding is important for bioarchaeological contexts, in particular, peopling of the New World studies where focusing on reconciling the results from comparing multiple data types is necessary to move forward.