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Weekly Highlights for 01-15-2009

I. Departmental/Bureau News

A. Upcoming Events

No Upcoming Events highlights for this week

B. Current

New Publication on Coastal Erosion in Arctic Alaska
A new publication on coastline erosion in Arctic Alaska, appearing in an upcoming issue of Geophysical Research Letters, was authored by USGS Alaska Science Center scientists Benjamin Jones, Christopher Arp, Joel Schmutz, and Paul Flint in coordination with Alaska Biological Research and the University of Cincinnati. This study, titled "Increase in the rate and uniformity of coastline erosion in Arctic Alaska," documents a recent increase in the rate of coastal erosion along a segment of the Beaufort Sea coast in northern Alaska as well as interesting shifts in the pattern of land loss. The publication can be viewed online at: http://www.agu.org/contents/journals/ViewPapersInPress.do?journalCode=GL#id2008GL036205.
Contact: Benjamin Jones Anchorage, AK, (907) 786-7033

New Monograph - Active Tectonic and Seismic Potential of Alaska
The American Geophysical Union Monograph 179 "Active tectonics and seismic potential of Alaska" was recently published. This multi-disciplinary monograph provides the first modern integrative summary of the most spectacular active tectonic systems in North America. Encompassing seismology, tectonics, geology, and geodesy, it includes papers that summarize the state of knowledge, including background material for those unfamiliar with the region, and addresses global hypotheses using data from Alaska. It is organized around four major themes: subduction and great earthquakes at the Aleutian Arc, the transition from strike-slip to collision tectonics in the Yakutat Block accretion, the Denali fault and related structures and their role in accommodating permanent deformation of the overriding plate, and regional integration and large-scale models and the use of data from Alaska to address important global questions and hypotheses. Two of the four volume editors were USGS scientists, and fourteen USGS scientists authored eight of the papers. A preface and table of contents can be viewed at: http://www.agu.org/cgi-bin/agubooks?book=SEGM1794443.
Contact: Peter Haeussler Anchorage, AK, (907) 786-7447

II. Press Inquiries/Media

USGS Alaska Science Center scientists Benjamin Jones was contacted on January 12 by Ned Rozell, science writer for the University of Alaska's Geophysical Institute, about the recent work that he and colleagues have conducted on coastal erosion along the Beaufort Sea coast. The column will appear in the Fairbanks News Miner on January 18 and the Anchorage Daily News the following week.
Contact: Benjamin Jones Anchorage, AK, (907) 786-7033

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