Alaska's Augustine Volcano By Ned Rozell [fusion_dropcap]A[/fusion_dropcap]laska's Augustine Volcano sits alone, a 4,000-foot pyramid on its own island in Cook Inlet. Like many volcanoes, it has a tendency to become top heavy. When gravity acts on Augustine's oversteepened dome, rockslides spill into the ocean. A scientist recently found new evidence for an Augustine-generated tsunami from [...]
Alaska Scientists Launch 4 Rockets Into Aurora Borealis Filled Sky [fusion_dropcap]R[/fusion_dropcap]esearchers at the Poker Flat Research Range sent four rockets into an aurora filled sky early this morning. The four launches were successful and appear to have produced data that will help researchers understand turbulent air currents in the upper atmosphere, said Sue Mitchell a [...]
Tidal stresses and giant earthquakes By Ned Rozell [fusion_dropcap]A[/fusion_dropcap] scientist once noticed a connection between the stress that tides inflict on the planet and the number of small earthquakes that happen in some areas when that pressure is greatest. She saw a pattern to these earthquakes leading up to great tsunamis. A graduate student is [...]
The demise of Scotch Cap lighthouse By Ned Rozell [fusion_dropcap]I[/fusion_dropcap]n spring of 1946, five men stationed at the Scotch Cap lighthouse had reasons to be happy. World War II was over. They had survived. Their lonely Coast Guard assignment on Unimak Island would be over in a few months. But the lighthouse tenders would never [...]
Mystery wolf didn't survive in Alaska By Ned Rozell [fusion_dropcap]A[/fusion_dropcap]n Alaska wolf that disappeared about 12,000 years ago just made another appearance. No one will ever see this wolf, but scientists have found that it was different from Alaska’s wolves of today, and it was not like its Ice-Age contemporaries that lived in, among other [...]
How many glaciers are there in Alaska? There's no easy answer By Ned Rozell [fusion_dropcap]N[/fusion_dropcap]ot long ago, a glaciologist wrote that the number of glaciers in Alaska "is estimated at (greater than) 100,000." That fuzzy number, perhaps written in passive voice for a reason, might be correct. But it depends upon how you count. Another [...]
The Number of Alaska Glaciers is Everchanging By Ned Rozell [fusion_dropcap]A[/fusion_dropcap] glaciologist once wrote that the number of glaciers in Alaska "is estimated at (greater than) 100,000." That fuzzy number, perhaps written in passive voice for a reason, might be correct. But it depends upon how you count. Another glaciologist saw an example of the [...]
Moose flies a high-summer Alaska pest By Ned Rozell [fusion_dropcap]W[/fusion_dropcap]hile boating down the Yukon River during the hottest summer recorded in Alaska (1915, when Fort Yukon reached 100 degrees Fahrenheit), missionary Hudson Stuck wrote about the wildlife that most bothered his party. "With the failure of a little breeze and the overcasting of the sky, [...]
Fire on the mountain near the Yukon River By Ned Rozell [fusion_dropcap]A[/fusion_dropcap] smoking mountain near the Yukon River not far from Eagle is, after further study, still a puzzle. People first noticed acrid smoke in September 2012. The mountain has been steaming ever since, even through the coldest days of winter. Scientists thought a likely [...]
Two tales of dynamic Alaska tundra By Ned Rozell [fusion_dropcap]A[/fusion_dropcap]s pungent eucalyptus trees soaked up inches of California rain, a few researchers inside San Francisco’s Moscone Center spoke of the treeless third of Alaska at the 2014 fall meeting of the American Geophysical Union. The annual gathering of Earth and space scientists attracted more than [...]
