Volcanic ash, or tephra, blankets the local and regional landscape following a volcanic eruption. If this ash layer is preserved and identified, it can act as a time synchronous marker bed (isochron) for correlation between marine, terrestrial, glacial and lacustrine deposits. This can be a powerful tool when attempting to determine the true age of a marine sample (e.g. clam or mollusk), affected by the marine reservoir effect (MRE). The MRE causes dated radiocarbon to appear the age that carbon was last in equilibrium with the atmosphere rather than the time that a dated material was deposited. The offset (in years) caused by the MRE is referred to as ΔR. Presented in this study is new data on the lowermost part of SWERUS-L2-2-PC1 (2PC), a marine sedimentary core retrieved from the Chukchi shelf north of Siberia. By using quantification of rhyolitic tephra to locate tephra-rich layers for further study, results show a thick layer that is interpreted to have originated from the caldera-forming eruption of Aniakchak (Aniakchak II). The geochemical identification of the tephra was done using electron probe micro-analysis. A grain size analysis was also conducted to learn more about the sedimentology of 2PC and the possible proxies that can be used when trying to determine where to place the isochron. The isochron was finally placed with the help of relevant literature and the results from this study. That position shifted the previous age model of 2PC at a position to yield a ΔR of 482 years for the Chukchi Sea during this time period.

The origin of the Amerasia Basin, in the Arctic region, is nowadays a highly controversial topic due to the paucity of geophysical data available and the difficulties in interpreting possible seafloor spreading magnetic anomalies. The Chukchi Borderland, that extends into the Amerasia Basin north of the Chukchi Sea, has proven to be one of the more difficult features of the arctic to understand in any model for the tectonic evolution of the Amerasian Basin. In the summer of 2005, USCG Icebreaker Healy crossed the Arctic Ocean from Dutch Harbor, Alaska, to Troms�, Norway, to collect geophysical data and take shallow cores in an effort to gain greater insight into the paleo-oceanographic, depositional and tectonic history of the Arctic basins. 780 km of new seismic lines from the Chukchi Borderland are presented along with a preliminary interpretation of the tectonic evolution of the Amerasia Basin in light of the new observations. The data provide high quality images of the region down to the basement and, in areas, images below the basement. The pelagic sediment cover varies along the profiles with thicknesses ranging from less than 0.1 s to a maximum of 1.5 s TWT. Significant extensional normal faults, striking approximately north-south, are observed throughout the dataset with strong evidence of growth faults below a major unconformity. Along the reflection images oriented E-W, young sediments and possibly the seafloor show small offsets. While this may be due to differential compaction or fluid expulsion, the presence of low amplitude folds above the footwalls suggests a recent fault-propagation folding process. This may indicate recent reactivation and rotation of the crustal blocks, although the total amount of displacement and strain are very small. We do not observe compressional or inversion structures anywhere in the dataset. The orientation of the structures imaged is similar to those observed along the Mendeleev Ridge to the west, which may support recent models that propose the Chukchi Borderlands and Mendeleev Ridge comprise a single extensional province that rifted from the Siberian margin.

No description available.

Eskimo peoples residing along the Bering Strait region of western Alaska and Soviet Chukotka were forcibly separated by the closing of the US-USSR border in 1948. As a result, all communications between these peoples ceased for a period of 40 years. Eskimos on each side were divided into separate streams of Soviet and American jurisdiction, and with the further development of both regions following the second world War, these people became the recipients of new broadcast services. These services, conceptualized and developed from completely differing philosophies concerning the nature, function, and operation of the press, brought Eskimos into the information and societal orbit of the respective nations, though with little opportunity to control the systems implemented on their behalf. / Broadcasting in Chukotka developed in blue print fashion according to central planning directives of the Communist Party, based on an authoritarian, Marxist/Leninist-based model which held a complete monopoly on the means of mass information, in effect, stifling the free exchange of ideas in its attempt to convince Eskimos to accomplish objectives formulated by the Party. Broadcasting in Alaska developed in an opposite fashion, from a combination of state-supported and private initiative based on libertarian/social responsibility models of the press. Alaskan broadcasting was formulated more from the perspective of providing information and entertainment, while radio in Chukotka was more serious in nature, concentrating primarily on political and socio-economic issues facing the region and nation. / As the Cold War between the US and USSR intensified from the 1950s through the early 1980s, communication across the Bering Strait was forceably restricted, yet Eskimos could receive radio services from the other side. While Alaskan stations sought accurate information about the conditions of Eskimos in the USSR, Soviet broadcasting sought to issue a slanted, propagandistic account of the lives of Alaskan Eskimos, despite their lack of accurate reporting resources, in order to convince Soviet Eskimos of the superiority of their lives in contrast to the Alaskans. / This investigation will provide an overview of the development of broadcast media in both regions, as well as a comparative analysis on the role and operation of broadcasting along the Bering Strait, and the participation by Eskimos with such media. / With the development of Soviet glasnost and perestroika in 1985, new opportunities arose for the reunification of the Eskimo people, and broadcasting from both sides played a role in the overall decision-making process between the Soviet and American governments to reopen the border. This study provides a historical synopsis of the border closing and reopening, and the role of broadcast media in these events. Further, developments in the changing nature of mass communications and the reorganization of broadcast media in the Russian Republic will be explored. / The study concludes with an assessment on the possibilities for Eskimo control of broadcasting in the overall effort to strengthen the process of societal reintegration and national development of these people living along the Bering Strait.

Loss of sea ice due to global warming may affect the phenology and distribution of polar bear (Ursus maritimus) denning by altering access to denning habitats. We examined trends in the selection of maternal denning substrate (land versus sea-ice denning) in the southern Beaufort Sea (SB), addressing the potential influence of summer land-use and fall sea-ice conditions on substrate selection. We developed an algorithm based on statistical process control methods to remotely identify denning bears and estimate denning phenology from temperature sensor data collected on collars deployed 1985–2013 in the SB and Chukchi Sea (CS). We evaluated cub survival relative to den entrance, emergence, and duration, and examined differences in the phenology of land and sea-ice dens. Land denning in the SB was more common during years when ice retreated farther from the coast and off of the continental shelf in September. All SB bears that occupied land prior to denning subsequently denned on land; however, only 29% of denning bears that summered on sea ice denned on land. Den entrance and duration in the SB and CS were similar, although CS bears emerged later. Land dens were occupied longer than those on ice. Bears later observed with cubs remained in dens 23 days longer and emerged from denning 17 days later on average than bears that denned but were subsequently observed without cubs, suggesting that den exit dates are related to cub survival. The increase in land-based denning in the SB when sea ice retreated farther from shore, along with the positive correlation between fall land-use and land denning, suggest that further sea-ice declines may result in continued increases of onshore denning. Growing numbers of denning females along the coast may increase the potential for human-bear interactions.

Environmental data hold important information regarding humanity’s past, present, and future, and are managed in various ways. The database structure most commonly used in contemporary applications is the relational database. Its usage in the scientific world for managing environmental data is not as popular as in businesses enterprises. Attention is caught by the diverse nature and rapidly growing volume of environmental data that has been increasing substantially in recent. Environmental data for the Chukchi Sea, with its embedded potential oil resources, have become important for characterizing the physical, chemical, and biological environment. Substantive data have been collected recently by researchers from the Chukchi Sea Offshore Monitoring in the Drilling Area: Chemical and Benthos (COMIDA CAB) project. A modified Observations Data Model was employed for storing, retrieving, visualizing and sharing data. Throughout the project-based study, the processes of environmental data heterogeneity reconciliation and relational database model modification and implementation were carried out. Data were transformed into shareable information, which improves data interoperability between different software applications (e.g. ArcGIS and SQL server). The results confirm the feasibility and extendibility of employing relational databases for environmental data management. / text

The Chukchi and Beaufort Sea shelves host diverse and productive seafloor ecosystems important for carbon and nitrogen cycling for the Arctic Ocean. The benthic food web transfers energy from primary producers to high trophic level organisms (e.g., birds, fish, and mammals), which are important for cultural practices and subsistence hunting by Native Alaskans. This work focuses on the trophic ecology of arctic food webs through use of several different approaches. First, variation in the natural abundance of stable carbon and nitrogen isotopes facilitated the identification of trophic pathways and, subsequently, allowed the comparison of trophic guilds and food webs from the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas. Compared to water column and sedimentary organic matter end-members, second trophic level grazers and suspension feeders were conspicuously ¹³C-enriched throughout the Chukchi Sea, which supports the hypothesis that microbial degradation of organic matter occurred prior to metazoan assimilation. Second, food web recovery from disturbances caused by exploratory oil drilling at the seafloor that had occurred approximately 20 years prior were assessed in both the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas. Based on isotopic trophic niche overlap between organisms common to drilled and reference sites in the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas, the oil drilling sites had similar food web structure, indicating recovery from the activity associated with the drilling process. Third, photosynthetic pigment biomarkers were used to better understand the diagenetic process, specifically focusing on how both microbial and metazoan grazing pathways degrade organic matter in relation to seasonal sea ice retreat in the Chukchi Sea. The benthic macrofaunal and microbial food web caused rapid degradation of organic matter upon the initial pulse of microalgal food sources to the seafloor. These diagenetic pathways are linked to the ¹³C-enrichment of residual organic matter, which corresponds to the stable isotope values measured in the benthic macrofauna. Lastly, high-precision liquid chromatography and spectrophotometry were compared for estimating sedimentary pigments in the marine environment. Substantial differences in pheopigment (chlorophyll degradation products) concentrations were observed between the two techniques, suggesting the need for revisions to the monochromatic spectrophotometric equation that relates absorbance to pigment concentrations. One pheopigment, pheophorbide, was found to interfere with the accuracy of the spectrophotometric equation and caused the overestimation of pheopigments. / text

This thesis develops and demonstrates an approach for estimating the three-dimensional (3D) location of a vocalizing underwater marine mammal using acoustic arrival time measurements at three spatially separated receivers while providing rigorous location uncertainties. To properly account for uncertainty in the measurements of receiver parameters (e.g., 3D receiver locations and synchronization times) and environmental parameters (water depth and sound speed correction), these quantities are treated as unknowns constrained with prior estimates and prior uncertainties. While previous localization algorithms have solved for an unknown scaling factor on the prior uncertainties as part of the inversion, in this work unknown scaling factors on both the prior and arrival time uncertainties are estimated. Maximum a posteriori estimates for sound source locations and times, receiver parameters, and environmental parameters are calculated simultaneously. Posterior uncertainties for all unknowns are calculated and incorporate both arrival time and prior uncertainties. Simulation results demonstrated that, for the case considered here, linearization errors are generally small and that the lack of an accurate sound speed profile does not necessarily cause large uncertainties or biases in the estimated positions. The primary motivation for this work was to develop an algorithm for locating underwater Pacific walruses in the coastal waters around Alaska. In 2009, an array of approximately 40 underwater acoustic receivers was deployed in the northeastern Chukchi Sea (northwest of Alaska) from August to October to record the vocalizations of marine mammals including Pacific walruses and bowhead whales. Three of these receivers were placed in a triangular arrangement approximately 400 m apart near the Hanna Shoal (northwest of Wainwright, Alaska). A sequence of walrus knock vocalizations from this data set was processed using the localization algorithm developed in this thesis, yielding a track whose estimated swim speed is consistent with current knowledge of normal walrus swim speed. An examination of absolute and relative walrus location uncertainties demonstrated the usefulness of considering relative uncertainties for applications where the precise location of the mammal is not important (e.g., estimating swim speed). / Graduate

Sea level regression during the Last Glacial Maximum exposed the Bering Land Bridge, and cut off the connection between the North Pacific and Arctic Ocean, ending the exchange of North Pacific Water through the Bering Strait. Exchange of North Pacific Water comprises a major portion of fresh water input to the Arctic Ocean, and is of vital importance to North Atlantic Deep Water formation, a vital component of Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation. Bering Strait throughflow thus plays an integral role in global climate stability. A suite of four cores was selected, three in the Bering Sea and one in the Chukchi Sea, to bracket the Bering Strait in order to elucidate changes in sediment delivery, productivity and regional oceanography as the Bering Land Bridge flooded and modern ocean circulation was established during the last deglaciation. The arrival of nutrient rich North Pacific Water in the Chukchi Sea is recorded around 8 ka by organic carbon isotope depletion and an increase in total organic carbon and organic nitrogen, reflecting an increasingly marine isotopic signal and increased productivity. In the Bering Sea, the early deglaciation is marked by depleted organic carbon isotopes that indicate increasing terrestrial input, and increased total organic carbon. Principal component analysis of sedimentologic, geochemical and isotopic data clearly captures discrete sediment populations that correspond to key climatic intervals, representing changes in sediment delivery, productivity and circulation during the last deglaciation. In the Bering Sea we observe that deglaciation began in earnest around 18–17 ka, but lack of confidence in our age control does not allow for a precise date. Our results suggest that modern circulation through the Bering Strait, and thus for the Bering and Chukchi Seas, was established ~8 ka. Prior to 8 ka there is an interval of sediment that appears record a possible reversal of flow through the Bering Strait corresponding to the 8.2 ka event.

Tephrochronology is a powerful tool to correlate and improve the chronology of sedimentaryarchives in the Arctic Ocean. The Aniakchak Caldera Forming Eruption (CFE) in Alaska at3.6 cal kyr BP ejected ash that were found in a widespread layer in Alaska, and as cryptotephrain the Chukchi Sea, Newfoundland, and Greenland. This study presents data from the coreSWERUS-L2-4-PC1 (4PC) taken at a water depth of 120 m in the Chukchi Sea. The sharp peakin tephra shards concentration permitted to clearly place the isochron. Unfortunately, the microprobeanalyses were unsuccessful, however measurements of trace elements were performedwith Laser Ablated-Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS). The geochemicalsignature of the Aniakchak 3.6 eruption was ensured with significant trace elementratios. The isochron of the eruption combined with the radiocarbon dates from 4PC permittedto calculate the local marine radiocarbon reservoir age offset DR=36446 years. This value isrelatively low compared to recent estimates in the Chukchi Sea, especially to the neighbouringcore SWERUS-L2-2-PC1 were DR=47760. The DR value of this study is explained by theinfluence of the "young" Atlantic water mixing with the "old" Pacific water at the depth wherethe core was taken.