scholarly journals Tsunamigenic Splay Faults Imply a Long‐Term Asperity in Southern Prince William Sound, Alaska

2019 ◽  
Vol 46 (7) ◽  
pp. 3764-3772 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. M. Liberty ◽  
D. S. Brothers ◽  
P. J. Haeussler
Keyword(s):  
Prince William Sound ◽  
Splay Faults

scholarly journals Megathrust splay faults at the focus of the Prince William Sound asperity, Alaska

2013 ◽  
Vol 118 (10) ◽  
pp. 5428-5441 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lee M. Liberty ◽  
Shaun P. Finn ◽  
Peter J. Haeussler ◽  
Thomas L. Pratt ◽  
Andrew Peterson
Keyword(s):  
Prince William Sound ◽  
Splay Faults

EFFECTS OF SHORELINE TREATMENT METHODS ON INTERTIDAL BIOTA IN PRINCE WILLIAM SOUND

1993 ◽  
Vol 1993 (1) ◽  
pp. 345-354 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dennis C. Lees ◽  
Jonathan P. Houghton ◽  
William B. Driskell
Keyword(s):  
High Pressure ◽  
Biological Effects ◽  
Hot Water ◽  
Percent Cover ◽  
Prince William Sound ◽  
Treatment Methods ◽  
Physical Effects ◽  
Treatment Alternatives ◽  
Significant Mortality

ABSTRACT Several studies conducted in Prince William Sound during 1989 were directed at assessing short term biological effects of treatment methods considered or employed for treating oil contaminated beaches. The four treatment alternatives evaluated in this paper are: low pressure warm water wash (LP-WW); high pressure hot water wash (HP-HW); the dispersant Corexit 7664; and the beach cleaner Corexit 9580 M2. Effects on the biota were assessed primarily on the basis of changes in the abundance of dominant taxa and the magnitude of selected community attributes (such as percent cover by algae or animals, and number of taxa). Significant reductions in one or more community or population attributes, and increases in the percent of dead mussels were observed in response to all types of treatment but the strongest and most consistent effects were observed following high pressure hot water treatment, which was also accompanied by heavy mortality in rockweed. Generally, the programs were not designed to discriminate among the potential causes of damage. However, available data suggest that neither chemical nor LP-WW treatments caused significant thermal impacts in the intertidal biota. In contrast, temperature appeared to cause significant mortality in the dominant plants and grazing and filter-feeding animals in HP-HW treatment sites. Observations of displacement and mortality for clams and mussels suggest that physical effects may be substantial in some cases. Of the types of treatment examined, dispersant and beach cleaner treatments appeared to be accompanied with the smallest number of significant changes in abundance; however, this conclusion is weak because the LP-WW wash accompanying chemical applications during the tests was sometimes less rigorous than when performed by itself. LP-WW treatment was accompanied by an intermediate level of changes whereas HP-HW treatment was accompanied with the highest percentage of changes, nearly all of which were decreases. Based upon long term surveys in the area, HP-HW treatment caused severe and persistent effects that remained conspicuous as late as July 1992. The long term consequences of dispersant and beach cleaner applications have not been evaluated.

Review of Studies on Oil Damage To Prince William Sound Pink Salmon

2001 ◽  
Vol 2001 (1) ◽  
pp. 569-575
Author(s):  
Ernest Brannon ◽  
Keya Collins ◽  
Lawrence Moulton ◽  
Keith R. Parker
Keyword(s):  
Oil Spill ◽  
Pink Salmon ◽  
Sampling Procedure ◽  
Prince William Sound ◽  
Measurable Effect ◽  
Exxon Valdez Oil Spill ◽  
Differences Of Opinion ◽  
History Of ◽  
Oil Exposure

ABSTRACT In the tenth year following the Exxon Valdez oil spill, differences of opinion still exist about injuries to pink salmon. It was alleged that exposure to oil reduced growth of fry and induced mortality in eggs. The authors reexamined the allegation that injury occurred and have concluded that insufficient consideration was given to other factors that affected results in the studies from which these allegations were drawn. The inability to track temperature differences and the unknown ages of fry precluded assessment of oil effects on growth during early marine residence. Reported higher egg mortality and long-term injury alleged to have resulted from oil exposure during incubation were confounded by the mortality of eggs that occurred as an artifact of the sampling procedure, unrelated to oil effects. The authors concluded that injury to incubating pink salmon embryos and reduced fry growth were based on an incomplete assessment of other factors that influenced these results. This evidence is supported by other research that has disclosed no oil effects on incubating eggs. Among these were studies that showed measured oil concentrations reaching the incubation substrate were 14 to 7,600 times below the lethal threshold. The seven largest runs in the history of Prince William Sound (PWS), Alaska have returned in the 10 years following the spill, which ultimately demonstrated the lack of measurable effect of the oil spill on pink salmon. The authors suggest that the allegation of oil-induced injury to PWS pink salmon needs to be reconsidered in light of these analyses.

A 10-Year Study of Shoreline Conditions in the Exxon Valdez Spill Zone, Prince William Sound, Alaska

2001 ◽  
Vol 2001 (1) ◽  
pp. 559-567 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edward S. Gilfillan ◽  
David S. Page ◽  
Keith R. Parker ◽  
Jerry M. Neff ◽  
Paul D. Boehm
Keyword(s):  
Oil Spill ◽  
Individual Species ◽  
Prince William Sound ◽  
Exxon Valdez ◽  
Worst Case ◽  
Intertidal Community ◽  
Infaunal Community ◽  
Long Term Study ◽  
Natural Factors

ABSTRACT A shoreline ecology program was performed in Prince William Sound (PWS), Alaska in 1990 and 1991 (1 and 2 years after the Exxon Valdez oil spill, EVOS) to assess the fate and effects of the oil in the intertidal zone. Major components of the study were repeated in 1998 and 1999. This update included a sediment-sampling program at formerly oiled “worst-case” boulder/cobble (B/C) sites and randomly chosen unoiled B/C reference sites. The samples were analyzed for petroleum hydrocarbons and benthic infaunal community characteristics. This paper focuses on the results of the benthic infaunal community analysis. Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) was used to analyze the 1990–1999 infaunal species composition data. Very little effect of oiling was detected in either the analysis of community structure parameters or in individual species abundances. Oiling effects were detected at some sites in 1990 and 1991, but not in 1998 and 1999. Nearly all the change in intertidal community parameters between 1990 and 1999 was attributed to natural interannual variation. The composition of the intertidal community of B/C shores changed over time because of natural factors not related to the spill. A core group of species was found in each of the 4 years. This group of species represented between 9 to 30% of all species identified. Two other groups of species did not co-occur. One group was present in 1990 and 1991, but not in 1998 and 1999; the other group was present in 1998 and 1999, but not in 1990 and 1991. The progressive change in the animal community observed between 1990 and 1999 is very likely related to long-term climatic changes occurring in the study area and not the oil spill. This long-term study demonstrates the importance of study designs that allow separation of oiling effects from natural factors that can affect biological communities.

scholarly journals EVOS and the Prince William Sound Long Term Environmental Monitoring Program

2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
James R. Payne ◽  
William B. Driskell ◽  
David Janka ◽  
Lisa Ka'aihue ◽  
Joe Banta ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Monitoring ◽  
Ballast Water ◽  
Monitoring Program ◽  
Gulf Of Alaska ◽  
Advisory Council ◽  
Prince William Sound ◽  
Mussel Tissue ◽  
Weathered Oil ◽  
Diesel Spill

ABSTRACT Following the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill (EVOS), the Prince William Sound Regional Citizens' Advisory Council began the Long-Term Environmental Monitoring Program (LTEMP) in 1993 to track oil hydrocarbon chemistry of recovering sediments and mussel tissues along the path of the spill in Prince William Sound (PWS) and across the Northern Gulf of Alaska (NGOA) region. The program also samples sites near the Alyeska Marine Terminal (AMT) within Port Valdez, primarily to monitor tanker operations and the resulting treatment and discharge of oil-contaminated tanker ballast water. Over the last 28 years, the program has documented EVOS oil's disappearance at the spill-impacted sites (albeit buried oil still exists at a few unique sheltered locations in PWS). Within the Port, a few tanker- and diesel-spill incidents have been documented over the years, but all were minor and with recovery times of < 1 yr. Of highest concern has been the permitted chronic release of weathered oil from tankers' ballast-water that is treated and discharged at the Alyeska Marine Terminal (AMT). In earlier years (1980s–90s), with discharge volumes reaching 17–18 MGD, up to a barrel of finely dispersed weathered oil would be released into the fjord daily. Over the last two decades, total petrogenic inputs (TPAH43) into the Port have declined as measured in the monitored mussels and sediments. This trend reflects a combination of decreased Alaska North Slope (ANS) oil production and thus, less tanker traffic, plus less ballast from the transition to double-hulled tankers with segregated ballast tanks, and improved treatment-facility efficiency in removing PAH. From the 2018 collections, mussel-tissue hydrocarbon concentrations from all eleven LTEMP stations (within Port Valdez as well as PWS and NGOA regions) were below method detection limits and similar to laboratory blanks (TPAH43 < 44 ng/g dry wt.). At these low background levels, elevated TPAH values from a minor 2020 spill incident at the Terminal were easily detected at all three Port Valdez stations.

scholarly journals Long-term associations and insights on social structure of the Humpback whales in Prince William Sound, Alaska

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olga von Ziegesar ◽  
Shelley Gill ◽  
Beth Goodwin
Keyword(s):  
Social Structure ◽  
Feeding Habits ◽  
North Pacific Ocean ◽  
Small Population ◽  
Population Characteristics ◽  
Humpback Whales ◽  
Prince William Sound ◽  
The North ◽  
South Central

AbstractHumpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) social structure is more complex than previously thought. Because of the fluid “fission-fusion” nature of their relationships: individuals foraging, traveling, and socializing with a number of animals, where associations form and are broken numerous times, little has been confirmed about their long-term associations. Humpback whales of the North Pacific Ocean migrate annually between tropical breeding areas to northern latitudes where they congregate and feed. The purpose of this study was to explore the social and feeding habits of the summer population of humpback whales returning to Prince William Sound (PWS) in the south central coast of Alaska. Fluke photographs of pigmentation patterns were used to document individual whales between the years 1983 and 2009 to determine, population characteristics, reproductive rates, long-term associations, feeding habits and spatial partitioning. During the 27 year study period there were 3,017 encounters with 405 unique whales. Forty of these whales (9.88%) had long sighting histories, showing strong site fidelity. Association indices for all pairs of whales were calculated. Long-lasting associations were found between thirty-two of the forty whales. Two distinct groups were determined by the highest association coefficients. Although the overall ranges of the two groups overlapped, they did not often mingle and offspring did not join their maternal group. All but two females had enduring bonds with at least one male. Associate males were sometimes found at a distance from others of their “clan” and would rejoin periodically. Two whales from one of these clans were found together in Hawaiian waters, a male escorting a female with a newborn calf, suggesting these long lasting associations endure through migration and into the southern breeding areas. Optimal observation conditions of a small population of humpback whales in sheltered waters allowed the discovery of two social groups enduring almost three decades.

Twenty-six Years After the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill: Volunteers Continue Monitor Long-term Variability of Intertidal Biology in Western Prince William Sound

2017 ◽  
Vol 2017 (1) ◽  
pp. 2017340
Author(s):  
Alan Mearns ◽  
David Janka ◽  
Rob Campbell ◽  
Scott Pegau ◽  
Kate McLaughlin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Senior Author ◽  
Natural Variability ◽  
Hot Water ◽  
Rocky Intertidal ◽  
Percent Cover ◽  
Prince William Sound ◽  
Bare Rock ◽  
Annual Variability ◽  
Intertidal Surface

Marine populations - including fisheries, plankton, seabirds, kelp beds and biota of exposed rocky shorelines - undergo dramatic long term and inter-annual variability due in part to climate variability. Less is known about long-term variability of inter-tidal marine populations on protected rocky shorelines impacted by oil spills. Following over a decade (1989 to 2000) of detailed monitoring of rocky intertidal marine life at previously oiled and unoiled sites in Prince William Sound, the senior author continued photo-monitoring at up to nine sites, with substantial and grateful assistance of other scientists and local citizens. These observations, between 2001 and 2016, added 15 years to the previous 11 years of detailed intertidal monitoring conducted by NOAA HazMat. Further, a landslide in 2000 produced a 300 m long bare rock intertidal surface, not unlike oiled rocky sites areas that were subjected to high-pressure hot-water washing in 1989. This provided an additional unique opportunity to document colonization of fresh substrate on a bare-rock shoreline for more than 12 years. Recovery of conspicuous rocky inter-tidal biota on nearly barren surfaces occurred rapidly and returned to within the range of natural variability in 3 to 4 years. The additional decades of monitoring helped confirm the nature of natural variability and further that there have been 4 - o 10-year fluctuations in the abundance (percent cover) of dominant seaweeds and mussels in Western Prince William Sound. Four periods of heavy rockweed cover were separated by many years of little or no cover both at previously-oiled and unoiled sites indicating this variability had little to do with the spill and subsequent clean up. This variability challenged a common definition of recovery (return to conditions prior to the spill), and added further support to the results of our first decade of detailed monitoring that recovery may be defined as “a return to within the natural range of variability”. This poster acknowledges the assistance of volunteers who went out of their way to visit and photograph the sites, describes the approach and methods used during the most recent 15 years provides graphics highlighting the long-term and inter-annual variability and, hopefully, stimulates others to use annual photography to document and visualize linter-annual biological variability and long-term changes in shoreline biology.

scholarly journals Focused exhumation along megathrust splay faults in Prince William Sound, Alaska

2015 ◽  
Vol 113 ◽  
pp. 8-22 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter J. Haeussler ◽  
Phillip A. Armstrong ◽  
Lee M. Liberty ◽  
Kelly M. Ferguson ◽  
Shaun P. Finn ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Prince William Sound ◽  
Splay Faults
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