U.S. Department of the Interior

U.S. Geological Survey

USGS Fact Sheet 003-99

May 1999

Alaska

JUNEAU

ASIAN ROUTES

POLAR

ROUTES

NORTH

AMERICAN

ROUTES

ACTIVE VOLCANO 

EXPLANATION

FAIRBANKS

ANCHORAGE

Figure 1. International air traffic

corridors and active volcanoes in

Alaska.

Figure 2. USGS volcano seismologists

servicing a seismic station south of

Crater Peak, Mt. Spurr volcano.

Since the 1890’s, the U.S. Geological

Survey (USGS) has been mapping,

collecting, and interpreting earthscience data in Alaska. This longterm endeavor continues today. The

USGS in Alaska (http://wwwak.wr.usgs.gov/), provides information about the State’s natural hazards,

landscape, natural resources, fish,

wildlife, and environment.

Hazards

Volcanoes

One of the most vital roles of the

USGS is to define and mitigate the

risk of volcanic eruptions. Alaska has

more than 40 active volcanoes that

collectively have averaged two

significant eruptions every year since

1945. Most of Alaska’s volcanoes lie

along a 1,600-mile arc from the

Aleutian Islands, through the Alaskan

Peninsula, and into south-central

Alaska (fig. 1). Damage from these

volcanoes has amounted to more than

$400 million in the last decade.

Volcanic ash is a severe threat to jet

aircraft that fly over the North Pacific

Ocean. On an average of 4 days each

year, explosive eruptions send

potentially lethal clouds of ash

directly into international air traffic

routes over and near Alaska. Anchorage International Airport is the

busiest air cargo hub in the United

States. Rapid detection and notification of eruptions beneath Alaskan air

routes are increasingly critical.

The Alaska Volcano Observatory

(AVO) (http://www.avo.alaska.edu/),

is cooperatively operated by the

USGS, the University of Alaska

Geophysical Institute, and the Alaska

Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys. The AVO monitors

volcanoes in real time (fig. 2), issues

timely eruption notifications, and

assesses and communicates volcanichazards information that might assist

in mitigating risks.

Earthquakes

Alaska is the most earthquake-prone

state in the Nation and one of the

most seismically active regions in the

world. At least one magnitude-7 or

greater earthquake occurs in Alaska

every year; a magnitude-8 or greater

earthquake occurs about every 14

years. All critical transportation,

communication, and oil transfer

facilities in Alaska are in regions of

high earthquake risk. The USGS, in

cooperation with the University of

Alaska and other Federal agencies,

records earthquake activity in the

State and helps to define the seismic

hazards. In addition, the USGS is a

partner in the Alaska Earthquake

Information Center in Fairbanks

(http://www-ak.wr.usgs.gov/aeic.

html) which performs round-theclock earthquake recording and

analysis, and disseminates information on the State’s earthquakes to the

public, media, and government

agencies.

Floods

Many of Alaska’s communities and

transportation facilities are located

along large rivers and are subject to

flooding caused by rainfall, seasonal

meltwater, and ice dams. USGS

hydrologists (fig. 3) survey flooded

areas by collecting and assessing

information about water levels,

discharge, and damage so that flood

frequencies and magnitudes along

rivers and streams throughout the

State can be predicted. This information (http://ak.water.usgs.gov/Data/

swdata.htm) is used by many agencies for flood warning, flood-plain

management, and risk assessment.

Unstable channel bottoms and

riverbanks, high sediment loads in

streams, and streamflow diversion by

icing frequently contribute to high

maintenance costs for highways,

bridges, and culverts throughout the
science for a changing world

State. The USGS also is surveying

selected bridge sites and is collecting

hydraulic data for analysis of bridgescour processes. This information is

used to assess bridges that may be at

risk of failure during floods.

Global Climate Change

As climate changes, the effects are

most rapid and most extreme in highlatitude areas, which makes Alaska a

premier natural laboratory for the

study of climate change in the United

States. The USGS brings together

numerous areas of research to focus

on both present climate change and

past changes deduced from the fossil

record. Working with eight other

nations, the USGS is applying stateof-the art remote sensing and geographic information systems technologies to map the vegetation of the

entire Arctic region. When it is completed, the project will provide a

comprehensive and consistent map of

vegetation with which changes can be

compared.

Understanding past climate change is

key to understanding climate changes

today. The USGS is reconstructing

climate and vegetation records for the

past 15,000 years. Detailed records of

such changes are preserved in deposits of lake sediments and peat in

many areas of Alaska. Sediment

records show that during the 20th

century, forests have expanded

northward, westward, and into higher

elevations in response to warmer

temperatures.

The USGS uses geodetic, photogrammetric, and satellite observations to

monitor the size and movement of

Alaska’s glaciers, which cover about

five percent of the State. Analyses of

historical responses of glaciers to

recorded weather patterns aid in our

understanding of the complex responses of glaciers to climate change.

For more information, follow the

links for “Glaciers and Climate” at

http://ak.water.usgs.gov/.

To make data on changing Arctic

systems available to researchers and

interested parties, the USGS maintains the Arctic Environmental Data

Directory (http://www-ak.wr.usgs.

gov/aedd/), which contains descriptions of data on global change

studies, environmental interactions,

and earth sciences.

Biological Resources

The Alaska Biological Science Center

(http://www.absc.usgs.gov/) and the

Alaska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife

Research Unit conduct research on

wildlife and their vast habitats in

Alaska. USGS scientists provide

biological information and research

findings to resource managers,

policymakers, and the public to

support sound management of

biological resources and ecosystems

in Alaska. Some of the major studies

are described as below.

Wolves

Management of wolves and their prey

is a major national environmental

issue. In Denali National Park, USGS

scientists are studying the population

dynamics of wolves and their major

prey species—caribou and moose.

Brown bears

Katmai National Park is a spectacular

subarctic wilderness that supports the

highest density of brown bears in the

world (fig. 4). USGS scientists and

collaborators have teamed up to study

the use patterns of people and bears at

selected high-use areas. The results

will help National Park Service

managers meet their dual mandate of

preserving nature while helping the

public enjoy those resources.

Dusky Canada geese

USGS scientists are studying the

largest known concentration of

breeding dusky Canada geese on the

Copper River Delta in Alaska. The

population has decreased significantly during the past 20 years as a

result of habitat changes caused by

earthquake uplift. USGS research will

aid managers in conserving these

geese.

Eiders

USGS and U.S. Fish and Wildlife

Service scientists are investigating the

population dynamics and ecology of

Steller’s and spectacled eiders

(northern sea ducks) in Alaska (fig.

5). In recent years, the nesting

population of these species has

decreased 50 to 97 percent. One

Figure 4. Brown bear at Katmai

National Park, site of highest density

of brown bears in the world

Figure 3. USGS hydrologist servicing

stream-gaging equipment.
Alaska

significant discovery is that lead

poisoning from spent shotgun pellets

in tundra wetlands limits recovery of

the eider population. The information

gathered during this research will be

used to develop recovery plans for

these two species under the Endangered Species Act.

Black brant

The USGS Alaska Cooperative Fish

and Wildlife Unit investigated the

influence of oilfield development on

black brant (small geese) on the

North Slope of Alaska. The study

indicates that oilfield development

has had few negative effects on black

brant, except for reduced nesting

success. The most likely hypothesis

for the reduced nesting success is that

human sources of food attract and

maintain high predator densities in

the oilfields.

Oil spill

USGS scientists and collaborators are

integrating studies of population

demographics, biomarkers, and prey

populations to determine the state of

recovery of the near-shore ecosystem

in Prince William Sound (fig. 6) after

the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill.

Scientists are trying to determine if

critical near-shore resources are

recovering from the oil spill.

Energy and Mineral Resources

Scientists of the USGS Energy

Program recently completed a new

quantitative assessment of the oil and

gas potential of the Arctic National

Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) 1002 Area.

This economic analysis estimated inplace, technically recoverable, and

economically recoverable oil and gas

resources. A summary of that assessment is available at http://energy.usgs.

gov/factsheets/ANWR/ANWR.html.

USGS activities also include petroleum geologic studies in the National

Petroleum Reserve–Alaska (NPRA),

an area of current industry exploration interest; evaluation of the resource potential of frozen natural

gases (hydrates) in northern Alaska;

evaluation of coalbed methane as a

local energy source for some Native

villages; and Cook Inlet petroleum

reservoir and coal studies. These

activities are in cooperation with

State agencies.

Scientists of the USGS Mineral

Resources Program, (http://wwwmrs-ak.wr.usgs.gov:80/wrmrsAK/) in

cooperation with State and Federal

agencies (Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Forest Service), are

investigating mineral potential in the

Wrangell area of southeast Alaska

and in the Sleetmute area in southwest Alaska. USGS scientists are

evaluating the effects of naturally

occurring minerals (such as mercury

and arsenic) and mining activities on

the environment in southwest and

east-central Alaska. Scientists (fig. 7)

are establishing the baseline and

background geologic, geochemical,

and biogeochemical framework for

the lower Fortymile River area in

east-central Alaska.

Historical datasets critical to understanding the mineral and energy

resources of the State are being

transferred to more accessible digital

formats. One focus is the data generated during two government oil and

gas exploration programs in the

NPRA from the 1940’s to the 1980’s.

The USGS is working with Federal,

State, and local agencies to update

bibliographic, mineral occurrence,

geochemical, and geologic databases

and to make them accessible on the

internet. Parts of these databases are

already accessible at http://imcg.wr.

usgs.gov/.

Water Resources

In 1997, the USGS began a 10-year

study of the Cook Inlet Basin as part

of the National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program. Waterquality issues in the Cook Inlet Basin

are related primarily to salmon

spawning and to documenting the

conditions in relatively undeveloped

environments (fig. 8). Streams

draining into Cook Inlet produce

world-renowned salmon runs. The

Figure 5. Spectacled eiders (northern

sea ducks).

Figure 6. Sea otter in oil-spill affected

Prince William Sound.

Figure 7. USGS geologists sampling

minerals in Alaska.
Printed on recycled paper

USGS office locations USGS State Representative

4230 University Drive

Suite 201

Anchorage, AK 99058

(907) 786-7100

FAX (907) 786-7150

USGS Home Page:

http://www.usgs.gov

Reports and products:

1-888-ASK-USGS

The USGS has 251

employees in Alaska

Chevak

Juneau

McKinley

Park

Fairbanks

Anchorage

Gustavus

Cook Inlet Basin NAWQA activities

(http://ak.water.usgs.gov/Projects/

nawqa.htm) will focus on describing

water quality in areas of residential

development, intense recreational use,

and timber harvesting. Cook Inlet has

abundant natural resources, and the

development of these resources could

adversely affect water quality and,

possibly, salmon populations. In

addition, an opportunity exists to

characterize water quality in undeveloped areas of the Cook Inlet Basin.

The availability of predevelopment

data would offer resource managers a

basis for evaluating any future waterquality changes.

In 1999, USGS hydrologists are collecting water discharge measurements

at 80 streamflow-gaging stations,

peak-flow data at 45 crest-stage

stations, and water levels at more than

30 observation wells. The surfacewater database includes data from

more than 2,600 sites (http://ak.water.

usgs.gov/Data/wtrindex.htm).

Mapping

The USGS has undertaken a program

to complete a digitally based mapping

program at 1:63,360 scale for the

entire State of Alaska. This program

will provide comprehensive statewide

coverage for hydrography (lakes,

rivers, shorelines) and terrain (digital

elevation models), as well as a

computer-scanned image of each

USGS paper map product that exists

for the State. Transportation (roads,

pipelines, railroads), and aerial

photography (digital orthophoto

quads) also will be available as digital

files for most map quadrangles.

The Alaska mapping and resource

management community is heavily

invested in computer-based mapping

and geographic information systems

(GIS) technology. In direct support of

computer mapping and GIS technology, the USGS operates a geoprocessing computer laboratory in

Anchorage, the only one of its kind in

the Nation. This facility provides

government agencies with access to

data from Earth-orbiting satellites,

digital image processing systems, and

GIS software to address a broad range

of natural resource issues.

The Alaska Geographic Data Committee (AGDC) is a consortium of

Federal, State, local government,

university, and private agencies that

has been working together since 1993

to build geographic information

partnerships (http://agdc.usgs.gov/).

Its purpose is to provide a forum for

the coordination of spatial-data

development projects, to foster the

development of coordinated methods

for implementing standards and

policies, and to review and respond to

Federal initiatives that affect Alaska.

Through the concerted efforts of its

joint membership, the AGDC has

brought several nationally funded

mapping programs to Alaska, resulting in the development of comprehensive statewide baseline digital databases.

The USGS Earth Science Information

Center in Anchorage and a Stateaffiliate office at the Geophysical

Institute in Fairbanks provide information on topics such as cartography,

geography, biology, digital data,

remote sensing, geology, geophysics,

geochemistry, hydrology, geohydrology, aerial photography (fig. 9), and

land use. These offices provide

reference materials, technical assistance, training and outreach activities,

and access to USGS data bases.

Figure 9. An Advanced Very High

Resolution Radiometer satellite image

of Alaska.

Figure 8. USGS hydrologists collecting

fish for tissue sampling for the

NAWQA program .