Browsing by Subject "Alaska"
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Item Alaska Fracking Regulations Raise Bar for Disclosure Requirements(The Center for Global Energy, International Arbitration, and Environmental Law, 2013-01-08) Brown, JeremyItem Cumulative effects assessment and sustainable development under the National Environmental Policy Act(2004-12) Senner, Robert Glenn; Ward, Peter M., 1951-This dissertation presents a clear and systematic method for conducting cumulative effects assessments in the United States in a manner consistent with the 1997 guidelines of the President's Council on Environmental Quality and the 1999 guidance of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Federal Activities. This method has been developed in a collaborative process with federal and State of Alaska regulatory agency scrutiny during the renewal of the federal and state right-of-way leases for the Trans Alaska Pipeline System in 2004 and in the June 2004 Alaska Groundfish Fisheries Final Programmatic Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement prepared for the U.S. Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Marine Fisheries Service, Alaska Region. The dissertation describes the process through which the cumulative effects assessment method presented here was developed and presents this approach as a predictive tool with the potential to improve the implementation of sustainable development in the United States. In this context, the dissertation presents an overview of sustainability theory, distinguishing and reviewing representative examples from two major sectors of the sustainable development literature, called here the intergenerational equity strand and the human development strand. It identifies weaknesses in three key areas of the intergenerational equity strand -- lack of theorectical cohesion, insufficient tools for implementation, and an imbalance between normative goals and practical feasibility -- and argues that the human development strand, with its empirical emphasis on metrics and institutional frameworks, offers a model that can serve as a basis for unifying the two strands by providing a theoretical core, implementation tools, and practicable goals. Finally, the dissertation argues that sustainable development is implemented most effectively when it is enabled by institutions that facilitate public involvement, particularly participation by the broadest feasible representation of the affected stakeholders, and that such institutional mobilization can provide a stable and enduring basis to foster the intergenerational equity that is the central, distinguishing feature of sustainability.Item Final Report: Offshore Alaska Seismic Movements Program(Institute for Geophysics, 1982) Frohlich, Cliff; Nakamura, YosioThis report summarizes the results of 18 deployments of the Texas strong motion ocean bottom seismograph (SM-OBS) which took place between July 1980 and July 1982 offshore of Alaska. From these deployments, 12 instruments were recovered, and 10 recorded data. Some of the instruments were successfully recovered after more than 240 days, longer than any previous OBS deployment that we know of. Two of the instruments apparently recorded data from four different earthquakes. The recorded ground accelerations for these events were in the 10cm/sec2 to 20 cm/sec2 range. Unfortunately, only one earthquake of magnitude larger than 6.0 occurred near the SM-OBS instruments in the July 1980 - July 1982 period, and this was not recorded by the instruments. The main effort of the program was on the development of this new technology. Countless difficult problems encountered during the program were solved, but a few problems remained resulting in some instrumental malfunctions which affected all of the OBS deployments and prevented us from obtaining more data or data of uniformly high quality during this period. This report also evaluates some of these problems and suggests ways to avoid these problems in future SM-OBS programs. Considering the high potential for serious earthquake damage in the offshore Alaska region, it is imperative that the effort to obtain SM-OBS data continues.Item Focus on gas-to-liquids (GTL) : feasibility study to monetize Alaskan North Slope natural gas(2004-12) Marin, Rodolfo Rafael; Van Rensburg, W. C. J.The need to develop economically viable ways to transport stranded natural gas reserves to commercial markets is driving the development of new technologies. The Alaskan North Slope holds proven gas reserves of 35 Tcf, but its remote location and the investment required to monetize this gas have kept this source locked up. However, the need for environmentally friendly fuels on the US west coast and the outlook for high energy prices are, among other factors, encouraging the development of these reserves. Even though three methods have been proposed to monetize this gas (LNG, GTL-FT and pipeline) and there are two additional emerging technologies (CNG and Gas by Wire), this report only focuses on the development of Alaskan North Slope gas through the implementation of a stand-alone GTL-FT project. The study presents the current status of Alaskan North Slope gas reserves and production, a general review of the GTL-FT technology, and a specific description of the technical and economic elements of the GTL-FT project on the Alaskan North Slope. Finally, the report presents an economic evaluation of the different options to implement a large-scale GTL-FT project on the Alaskan North Slope, recommendations to make the project more attractive, and conclusions.Item Inorganic nitrogen uptake by two kelp species, Laminaria solidungula and Laminaria saccharina, in the Alaskan High Arctic(1995) Dibble, John Michael; Dunton, Kenneth H.The uptake of inorganic nitrate (NO₃⁻) and ammonium (NH₄⁺) by two co-occurring species of kelp, Laminaria solidungula and Laminaria saccharina, was compared using entire plants incubated under natural conditions in the field and in the laboratory. Field experiments were conducted in situ during ice-covered and open-water periods in the Boulder Patch kelp bed community in the Alaskan Beaufort Sea. The data obtained in these experiments do not provide evidence of Michaelis-Menten saturation kinetics. The uptake of NO₃⁻ and NH₄⁺ by both species appears to be a linear function of substrate concentration with no evidence of a saturating concentration although average substrate concentrations approach 80 μM. There was no significant difference between NO₃⁻ and NH₄⁺ uptake rates in conditions where either NO₃⁻ or NH₄⁺ were supplied at the same concentrations and no significant difference in uptake rates between species. The mean uptake rate at ambient nitrate concentrations in winter (4 - 7 μM) was 0.53 /μmoles gdw⁻¹h⁻¹. Uptake rate values obtained by substrate disappearance at ambient concentrations were corroborated by measurements of ¹⁵N stable isotope incorporation. Dark and light-exposed plants of both species also exhibited equivalent rates of uptake in short-term experiments with either NO₃⁻ or NH₄⁺ present as substrate. L. solidungula also demonstrated equal dark/light uptake with both nitrogen substrates present, revealing no competitive inhibition of either substrate. Time course disappearance for L. solidungula with NO₃⁻ or NH₄⁺ and NO₃⁻/NH₄⁺ followed second order kinetics. Water motion was shown to significantly enhance both NO₃⁻ and NH₄⁺ disappearance for L. solidungula. Linear growth rates in juvenile L. solidungula sporophytes were not affected by NO₃⁻ concentration, but this may be related to the translocation of organic nitrogen to support linear growth at low NO₃⁻ concentrations, based on the bleaching of distal blade tissues in nitrogen-starved plants. The nitrogen uptake rates determined in this study for both species at -1.8 to 5 °C agree closely with published uptake rates for temperate kelp species living at 15 °C, enabling L. solidungula and L. saccharina to maintain high growth rates at the low temperatures characteristic of polar environmentsItem Letter to H.B. Stenzel from F.Stearns MacNeil on 1964-02-02(1964-02-02) MacNeil, F.StearnsItem Letter to Henryk B. Stenzel from F.Stearns MacNeil on 1957-05-14(1957-05-14) MacNeil, F.StearnsItem Marine-continental transitions in a greenhouse world : reconstructing late Cretaceous deltas of paleopolar Arctic Alaska and Utah(2016-05) Van der Kolk, Dolores A.; Kerans, C. (Charles), 1954-; Hasiotis, Stephen T.; Steel, Ron; Snedden, John; Dalziel, IanNear horizontal (6° dipping) outcrop exposures of Upper Cretaceous (Santonian-Campanian) strata at Shivugak Bluffs in northern Alaska preserve an extensive record of a clinoform-topset system. These strata are generally subdivided lithostratigraphically into proximal shelf, deltaic, and shallow marine deposits of the Schrader Bluff Formation and lower delta plain, coastal plain, and fluvial deposits of the continental Prince Creek Formation. Shivugak Bluffs includes 400 m of continuous marine deposits overlain by 140 m of strata containing the marine–continental transition between the lower Schrader Bluff and Prince Creek formations. The marine-continental transition is one of the few outcrop expressions of an ancient, muddy, prograding river-dominated deltaic system that contains interdistributary bays that shoal upward into floodbasins with pedogenic modification. The lowermost 400 m of the lower Schrader Bluff Formation is divided into the Rogers Creek, Barrow Trail, and Sentinel Hill members interpreted as recurring deposits of river-dominated deltas comprising distributary mouth bars (DMBs), subaqueous terminal distributary channels (TDCs), interdistributary bays, medial delta front deposits, distal delta front deposits, and prodelta deposits interbedded with proximal shelf deposits. One interval within the Rogers Creek Member comprising the most hummocky cross-stratified (HCS) interval at Shivugak Bluffs is interpreted as wave-reworked DMB-TDC complexes or storm sheets. The Schrader Bluff (West Sak and Tabasco equivalent in the subsurface) and Prince Creek (Ugnu equivalent in the subsurface) formations are relevant to industry as outcrop analogs for numerous shallow, viscous- to heavy-oil reservoirs on the central North Slope, Alaska. From a reservoir perspective, a 36-m-thick subset of the Alaska succession within the Rogers Creek Member is compared to 36- and 34-m-thick wave-dominated successions of the Kenilworth and Grassy Members of the Blackhawk Formation in the Book Cliffs in eastern Utah. The Rogers Creek Member includes amalgamated DMB-TDC complexes (54%) with minor HCS wave-reworked deposits (46%). This succession is compared with the Kenilworth and Grassy members that exhibit predominantly swaley and HCS intervals (75–81%) with minor channel complexes (14–25%). The Blackhawk Formation, based on this analysis, is a poor reservoir analog for the lower Schrader Bluff Formation of Arctic Alaska.Item New geophysical parameters for understanding the evolution of the St. Elias Orogen, southern Alaska(2010-12) Worthington, Lindsay Lowe; Gulick, Sean P. S.; van Avendonk, Harm J; Pavlis, Terry L; Horton, Brian K; Cloos, Mark; Lavier, Luc LThe St. Elias Orogen is the result of oblique collision and flat-slab subduction in the Gulf of Alaska between North America (NA) and the Yakutat microplate (YAK). Extensive glaciation and a complex tectonic environment make this region a unique case study in which to examine the details of terrane accretion and the possible coupled influence of climate and tectonic drivers on the structural and topographic evolution of an orogenic wedge. The dataset for this project includes: 3 multi-channel seismic reflection surveys (~4000 km total seismic reflection data) and a ~450 km-long wide-angle seismic refraction profile. Reflection seismic profiles across the offshore YAK-NA deformation front, provide constraints for quantifying Pleistocene deformation recorded in the glaciomarine Yakataga formation. Growth strata and kinematic fold analysis allow comparison of relative timing of fault activity, which reveals temporal and spatial shifting of deformation within the margin towards the onshore eastern corner of the orogen. This information is important not only for the development of regional tectonic models, but also for understanding how climatic shifts may have affected the evolution of margin architecture during Pleistocene glacial-interglacial periods. Joint tomographic inversion of coincident reflection and refraction profiles constrains YAK crustal velocity and thickness. The offshore YAK crust ranges in thickness from 15 to 35 km, considerably thicker than normal oceanic crust. The crustal thickness and velocity structure support an oceanic plateau origin for the YAK microplate. Crustal velocity and structure are continuous across the YAK shelf except for a regional dip of the top of YAK crust of ~3° to the west. Moho arrivals across the profile do not mimic the dipping trajectory of the basement, indicating that the offshore YAK crust is doorstop-shaped, thinning in the convergence direction. This geometry leads to the following implications for the YAK-NA collision: first, uplift and deformation have intensified through time as successively thicker, more buoyant YAK crust attempts to subduct; second, current topography, exhumation and deformation patterns are partially controlled by underlying crustal geometry of converging YAK crust.Item Postsecondary Achievement of Deaf People in Alaska: 2017(2017) Garberoglio, Carrie Lou; Cawthon, Stephanie; Sales, AdamItem Seasonal dynamics of organic matter and inorganic nitrogen in surface waters of Alaskan Arctic streams and rivers(2015-12) Khosh, Matthew Solomon; McClelland, James W.; Dunton, Kenneth H; Liu, Zhanfei; Shank, Gerald C; Townsend-Small, AmyClimate-linked changes in hydrology and biogeochemical processes within Arctic watersheds are likely already affecting fluvial export of waterborne materials, including organic matter (OM) and dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN). Our understanding of Arctic watershed OM and DIN export response to climate change is hampered by a lack of contemporary baselines, as well as a dearth of seasonally comprehensive studies. This work focuses on characterizing OM and DIN concentrations and sources in six streams/rivers on the North Slope of Alaska during the entirety of the hydrologic year (May through October) in 2009 and 2010. The highest OM concentrations occurred during spring snowmelt, with results indicating that terrestrial vegetation leachates are the major source of dissolved OM, while particulate OM originates from a degraded soil source. Over the hydrologic year, soils became a progressively increasing source of dissolved OM, while autochthonous production made up a sizeable proportion of particulate OM during base flow conditions. DIN concentrations were low throughout the spring and summer and increased markedly during the late summer and fall. Our findings suggest that penetration of water into thawed mineral soils, and a reduction in nitrogen assimilation relative to remineralization, may increase DIN export from Arctic watersheds during the late summer and fall. Although recent studies of Arctic rivers have emphasized the importance of the spring thaw period on OM export, our understanding of the mechanisms that control water chemistry observations during this time are still lacking. Experimental leaching results, from experiments conducted in 2014, suggest that aboveground plant biomass is a major source of dissolved OM in Arctic catchments during the spring, and that the timing of freezing and drying conditions during the fall may impact dissolved OM leaching dynamics on that same material the following snowmelt. Improved knowledge of OM and DIN temporal trends and the mechanisms that control seasonal concentrations is essential for understanding export dynamics of these water constituents in Arctic river systems. Perhaps more importantly, increased understanding of the seasonal controls on OM and DIN export in Arctic rivers is critical for predicting how these systems will respond under future climate change scenarios.Item Seismic and morphologic analysis of the Gulf of Alaska Yakutat margin : evidence for recent trough mouth fan growth(2014-08) Swartz, John Marshall; Gulick, Sean P. S.; Goff, John; Catania, GinnyThe active St. Elias Orogen in southern Alaska was created by collision of the offshore Yakutat Terrane with North America. These mountains exhibit the highest coastal relief in the world and also are home to temperate tidewater glaciers, one of the most powerful erosive agents known. Glaciation in Southern Alaska has occurred since the Miocene, but climatic shifts associated with the intensification of Northern Hemisphere glaciation at ~2.5 Ma and the mid-Pleistocene transition at ~1 Ma have led to drastic increases in glacial erosion and associated offshore sediment transport and deposition. The Yakutat continental shelf has hosted ice streams during glacial advances since the mid-Pleistocene, but it is only recently that ice has reached the continental shelf edge itself. Quantitative morphologic analysis finds significant variability along the slope, with an relatively gentle gradient trough mouth fan building off the Yakutat Sea Valley, a shelf-crossing glacial trough, due to massive sediment supply from the heart of the St. Elias Orogen, while farther to the east the extremely steep continental margin is heavily gullied and sediment bypasses the slope reaching the offshore Surveyor fan. Seismic stratigraphy indicates that ice streams first reached the shelf edge with the mid-Pleistocene climate transition, a shift from 41 ka to 100 ka glacial-interglacial climate cycles. This increase in glacial durations allowed not only the ice to sustain advances to the shelf edge, but led to amplified erosion and climate-tectonic feedback effects.Item Tectonic and sedimentary processes of the southeast Alaska margin(2016-04-28) Walton, Maureen Anne LeVoir; Gulick, Sean P. S.; Christeson, Gail L; Haeussler, Peter J; Horton, Brian K; Mohrig, David CStrike-slip tectonics dominate the southeast Alaska margin. The Queen Charlotte-Fairweather Fault transform system extends ~1200 km from southern Canada north to Yakutat Bay, Alaska, accommodating nearly 4.5 cm/yr of dextral offset between the Pacific and North American plates. This dissertation aims to better characterize the transform plate boundary by examining the accommodation of oblique transpression, crustal structure, seismogenic faults, and tectonic influence on regional sedimentary processes. We address fundamental tectonic questions utilizing a suite of geophysical data including multichannel seismic (MCS) reflection, bathymetry, magnetics, gravity, and earthquake data. A 2011 MCS survey reveals subsurface channel deposits related to the development of the deep-sea Baranof sedimentary fan in the Gulf of Alaska. We find that Baranof Fan channels have avulsed consistently southward, affected by the changing position of channel heads relative to sediment sources along the shelf edge due to strike-slip motion along the Queen Charlotte Fault (QCF). Baranof Fan sediments sit atop a flexural depression in the Pacific crust near the QCF, which developed between ~6 Ma and ~2 Ma. We interpret the flexure to be an artifact of oblique convergence along the southern QCF, preserved by sedimentary loading in part from the Baranof Fan. ~150 km of the QCF near the Pacific flexural depression ruptured in January 2013, producing a M [subscript]w 7.5 earthquake near Craig, Alaska. A tomographic inversion of Craig aftershock data reveals a low velocity zone on the Pacific side of the plate boundary at seismogenic depths, which may indicate the contrast of a warm, young Pacific crust along the older, colder North American crust. These results have relevance for rupture directionality and future seismic hazard along the QCF. Finally, we revisit seismic hazard associated with the 10 September 1899 Mw 8.2 earthquake at the northern termination of the transform system near Yakutat Bay, Alaska. We quantify uncertainty on coseismic uplift measurements and integrate various geophysical data, including a 2012 MCS survey, to provide an updated fault map and tectonic model of the Yakutat Bay region. Our results support a subduction-related rupture of the 10 September event with limited slip along the transpressive termination of the Fairweather Fault.Item The effect of regional geology, regulatory environments, and project value propositions on emerging discoveries and impending developments in the North Slope of Alaska(2021-08-12) Scieszka, Evan Jeffrey; Kerans, C. (Charles), 1954-The Willow and Pikka petroleum play discoveries on the North Slope of Alaska have the potential to be the largest plays in the region since Prudhoe Bay, although environmental concerns, high cost of development, and Native community impact has slowed and even threatened to derail the development of new Alaskan drilling projects. The aim of this thesis is to understand these plays from a geological, production potential, value, and impact perspective to better understand impending developments in the North Slope region and formulate proposals to mitigate impact and project delay. Using publicly available data, we outline the broad geologic settings characterizing new play chances. We also show that both the Pikka and Willow plays possess high production estimates with high value propositions using local field data and predictive modeling techniques. Lastly, legitimate concerns over subsistence rights of Native Alaskans and environmental impact caused by the further development of these fields were addressed with the conclusion that significant policy change will likely be required into the future. The significance of this study is that it showcases the potential inherent in frontier oil plays through multiple lenses of geology, production estimates, and impact. It therefore informs our current understanding of these individual plays as well as the understanding of Alaskan oil and gas policy going forwardItem Welcome to the Boulder Patch (2014)(2014-10-20) Bonsell, Christina