With increased resource development on the western Arctic coastal plain of Alaska (especially within the oil extraction industry) it is important to understand the basic life history attributes of whitefish stocks in the region in order to ensure appropriate management. These fish are a crucial part of subsistence harvests for native Alaskans. Multiple forms of the whitefish least cisco (Coregonus sardinella) have been described based on both appearance and life history traits. Two major forms of least cisco have been mentioned in the literature: a larger normal amphidromous form with fork lengths of approximately 420 mm and a dwarf lake resident form with lengths up to 230 mm. However, there is considerable evidence for additional forms and life history strategies of least cisco. I investigated the relationship between migratory behavior and selected physical traits of least cisco in six lakes and one brackish lagoon in the western Arctic coastal plain of Alaska. I used electron microprobe technology to determine the levels of Sr and Ca in the otoliths of 258 least cisco in order to resolve their marine migratory life history. I also investigated the relationship between migratory behavior and the numbers of gill rakers, lateral line scales, anal rays and dorsal rays as well as condition factor. The vast majority of least cisco captured in these sites were normal in form, yet only ~12% of all samples yielded any sign of sea-run behavior. Evidence for migratory behavior was low even for sites within close proximity to brackish waters. Fish exhibiting marine migratory behavior tended to make their first migrations to sea before age three (mean=2.6 years), although fish in one coastal site (Joeb's) averaged over 5 years of age at first marine visit. There was some evidence of higher condition factors for fish with sea-run migratory experience. There were significant differences in lateral line and dorsal ray numbers among sites but none for anal rays or gill rakers. Variability in all of these characters was high, and fish from coastal sites tended to have greater variability than those from inland sites. Only dorsal rays showed significant differences in meristic traits between sea-run and resident least cisco. These results suggest that least cisco exhibit high variability in physical traits. Also, least cisco appear to be flexible in their use of the marine environment, even within similar forms in the same lake. Some of the most basic life history characteristics of least cisco remain uncertain. With increased resource extraction occurring on the western Arctic coastal plain of Alaska, it is important to continue to investigate these and other life history strategies so as to ensure a sustainable fishery for native inhabitants of the region. / Graduation date: 2004

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This paper presents two applications of empirical microeconomics based on choice theoretic optimization principles. The first topic explores the determinants of subsistence time allocation in a utility theoretic model of household production. The second topic examines firm pricing behavior in a deregulated, but concentrated industry setting. The first part of this applied microeconomic analysis estimates the subsistence time versus wage labor time allocations of Alaska's North Slope inhabitants using ordered probit based on a household production model. The explanatory variables measure labor supply, demographic, and cultural influences. The major findings are as follows. First parameter estimates differ statistically and substantially between Inupiat versus non-Inupiat residents, implying that optimal natural resource management decisions may vary with the ethnicity of the resource owners. Second, marital status, age, gender, and participation in generalized gift giving and receiving are important determinants of subsistence time allocations. Third, time spent in wage labor appears to be exogenous to the subsistence time allocation decision, indicating that the time allocation process is recursive. Fourth, we find an inverse relationship between wage labor time and subsistence participation. This means that reductions in wage employment opportunities lead to increased subsistence activity. For the North Slope, this implies that Prudhoe oil depletion will result in an increase in the use of subsistence natural resources. The second part of this study turns from the individual behavior to firm behavior. During the 1980's, researchers have noted a trend towards increased concentration in the general freight, less-than-truckload (LTL) portion of the U.S. motor carrier industry. The purpose of this study is to employ new empirical industrial organization (NEIO) techniques to determine whether the more concentrated post-1980, LTL motor carrier industry is exerting anti-competitive monopoly pricing behavior. The NEIO approach is used to formulate the relationship between market price and marginal cost in what is referred to as the representative firm's 'supply relation.' The firm's supply relation is estimated jointly with the cost function and the factor share equations under the assumption that cross equation disturbance terms are correlated (SUR). An instrumental variables procedure is used to test and control for correlation between output (on the right hand side) and the disturbance terms in the cost and supply equations. The results indicate that the trend toward increased industry concentration does not imply anti-competitive performance in the sense of rising price-cost margins. / Graduation date: 1994

In February 2007, the U.S. Department of Energy, BP Exploration (Alaska), Inc., and the U.S. Geological Survey conducted an extensive data collection effort at the "Mount Elbert #1" gas hydrates stratigraphic test well on the Alaska North Slope (ANS). The 22-day field program acquired significant gas hydrate-bearing reservoir data, including a full suite of open-hole well logs, over 500 feet of continuous core, and open-hole formation pressure response tests. Hole conditions, and therefore log data quality, were excellent due largely to the use of chilled oilbased drilling fluids. The logging program confirmed the existence of approximately 30 m of gashydrate saturated, fine-grained sand reservoir. Gas hydrate saturations were observed to range from 60% to 75% largely as a function of reservoir quality. Continuous wire-line coring operations (the first conducted on the ANS) achieved 85% recovery through 153 meters of section, providing more than 250 subsamples for analysis. The "Mount Elbert" data collection program culminated with open-hole tests of reservoir flow and pressure responses, as well as gas and water sample collection, using Schlumberger's Modular Formation Dynamics Tester (MDT) wireline tool. Four such tests, ranging from six to twelve hours duration, were conducted. This field program demonstrated the ability to safely and efficiently conduct a research-level openhole data acquisition program in shallow, sub-permafrost sediments. The program also demonstrated the soundness of the program's pre-drill gas hydrate characterization methods and increased confidence in gas hydrate resource assessment methodologies for the ANS.

Many Arctic gas hydrate reservoirs such as those of the Prudhoe Bay and Kuparuk River area on the Alaska North Slope (ANS) are believed originally to be natural gas accumulations converted to hydrate after being placed in the gas hydrate stability zone (GHSZ) in response to ancient climate cooling. A mechanistic model is proposed to predict/explain hydrate saturation distribution in “converted free gas” hydrate reservoirs in sub-permafrost formations in the Arctic. This 1-D model assumes that a gas column accumulates and subsequently is converted to hydrate. The processes considered are the volume change during hydrate formation and consequent fluid phase transport within the column, the descent of the base of gas hydrate stability zone through the column, and sedimentological variations with depth. Crucially, the latter enable disconnection of the gas column during hydrate formation, which leads to substantial variation in hydrate saturation distribution. One form of variation observed in Arctic hydrate reservoirs is that zones of very low hydrate saturations are interspersed abruptly between zones of large hydrate saturations. The model was applied on data from Mount Elbert well, a gas hydrate stratigraphic test well drilled in the Milne Point area of the ANS. The model is consistent with observations from the well log and interpretations of seismic anomalies in the area. The model also predicts that a considerable amount of fluid (of order one pore volume of gaseous and/or aqueous phases) must migrate within or into the gas column during hydrate formation. This work offers the first explanatory model of its kind that addresses "converted free gas reservoirs" from a new angle: the effect of volume change during hydrate formation combined with capillary entry pressure variation versus depth. Mechanisms by which the fluid movement, associated with the hydrate formation, could have occurred are also analyzed. As the base of the GHSZ descends through the sediment, hydrate forms within the GHSZ. The net volume reduction associated with hydrate formation creates a “sink” which drives flow of gaseous and aqueous phases to the hydrate formation zone. Flow driven by saturation gradients plays a key role in creating reservoirs of large hydrate saturations, as observed in Mount Elbert. Viscous-dominated pressure-driven flow of gaseous and aqueous phases cannot explain large hydrate saturations originated from large-saturation gas accumulations. The mode of hydrate formation for a wide range of rate of hydrate formation, rate of descent of the BGHSZ and host sediments characteristics are analyzed and characterized based on dimensionless groups. The proposed transport model is also consistent with field data from hydrate-bearing sand units in Mount Elbert well. Results show that not only the petrophysical properties of the host sediment but also the rate of hydrate formation and the rate of temperature cooling at the surface contribute greatly to the final hydrate saturation profiles. / text