The Limnology of Two Dissimilar Subarctic Streams and Implications of Resource Development

Because of the relatively undeveloped condition of arctic and subarctic Alaska, an opportunity is presented to draw up water quality management plans before extensive perturbation. These plans cannot, unfortunately , be based upon those drawn up for more temperate regions where much is known about natural stream conditions, for in these Alaskan areas, little is known about the natural physical, chemical, and biological cycles of streams or about their ability to handle the stresses that will be exerted on them should development take place. The Chena River, in subarctic, interior Alaska, near the city of Fairbanks, has been studied to evaluate the impact of pending construction and operation of flood control structures (Frey, Mueller and Berry, 1970). This river however has already been developed, especially along its lower reaches where the city of Fairbanks is situated. The watersheds of the two streams chosen for this study roughly parallel each other, although the Chatanika River watershed is about twice as long as that of Goldstream Creek. In addition to the dissimilarity in size, these two streams also differ in regard to terrain, at least along the respective stretches that were studied. The Goldstream Creek study area runs through a bog and extensive muskeg. The Chatanika River, however, was for the most part sampled in the area of mountainous terrain. The intent of this study was to obtain comprehensive physical and chemical data, to survey the resident invertebrates, and to evaluate the assimilative capabilities of both streams.This project was supported in part by funds (Proj. B-017-ALAS) provided by the United States Department of the Interior, Office of Water Resources Research, as authorized under the Water Resources Act of 1964, as amended. Equal support was provided by the State of Alaska as research funds (University of Alaska 234-2503)

Thermal Tolerances of Interior Alaskan Arctic Grayling (Thymallus arcticus)

The work upon which this report is based was supported in part by funds (Project A-041-ALAS) provided by the United States Department of the Interior, Office of Water Resources Research, as authorized under the Water Resources Act of 1964, as amended

Evaluation of the trophic types of several Alaskan lakes by assessment of the benthic fauna

Public Law 92-500 (1972) which amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act contains Section No. 314 entitled Clean Lakes which gives each state a mandate to "... prepare or establish ... an identification and classification according to eutrophic condition of all publicly owned fresh water lakes in such state . . . ." This mandate presents an awesome task to the State of Alaska which contains millions of lakes which must be evaluated according to the interpretation of this law. It was the intent of this project to examine the application of a biological index of eutrophy to several Alaskan lakes by comparing benthic macroinvertebrate faunal distribution to selected chemical and physical indices of trophic state. The investigator chose to consider "indicator organisms" as the focus of the study and found this concept to be interestingly difficult to apply.The work upon which this report is based was supported in part by funds (A-046-ALAS) provided by the United States Department of the Interior, Office of Water Research and Technology, as authorized under the Water Resources Act of 1964, as amended

Laboratory Rearing Experiments on Artificially Propagated Inconnu (Stenodus leucichthys)

The work upon which this report is based was supported by the State of Alaska through the University of Alaska in cooperation with a project supported in part by funds (Proj. A-041-ALAS) provided by the United States Department of the Interior, Office of Water Resources Research, as authorized under the Water Resources act of 1964, as amended

A Survey of Lentic Waters with Respect to Dissolved and Particulate Lead

Some of the strongest temperature inversions in the world occur at Fairbanks, Alaska. Benson (1970) has reported that a temperature gradient of 10 to 30C/1OO m is common in the winter inversions that form at Fairbanks. Air pollution is especially severe during these inversions when it is accompanied by the formation of ice crystals in the air, a condition known as ice fog. This phenomenon occurs when the temperature drops below -20F (-35C) (Benson, 1970), and it intensifies with time if the inversion is not broken. The ice crystals in this fog have been found to adsorb dust and gasses, including the lead halides which are present in the air as a result of the combustion of tetraethyl lead and/or other lead-hydrocarbon compounds used as anti-knock additives in automotive gasoline. Lazrus et al. (1970) have found lead concentrations in precipitation to be highly significantly correlated with the amount of gasoline used in the area sampled. There are two factors that bring the concentration of lead to high levels in ice fogs. Evaporation of the ice crystals tends to concentrate pollutants in the air mass, especially over the core area of the city where precipitation is retarded by the heating effect of the city. Also, during the extreme cold weather accompanying this phenomenon, many people allow their cars to idle when they are parked to increase performance and for reasons of personal comfort. Eventually, much of the pollutants suspended in the ice fog is precipitated and causes unnaturally high levels of lead in the snow. (Winchester et al., 1967). It is suspected that some of this particulate lead collected in the snow may be carried along with the associated surface runoff into 1entic (standing) surface waters during thawing. The objectives of this project were: 1. to measure the amount of dissolved and particulate lead in a number of selected 1entic waters in the Fairbanks area, and 2. to measure the amount of lead that has been incorporated into net plankton organisms located in the selected lentic waters.The work upon which this report is based was supported by funds (Project A-035-ALAS) provided by the United States Department of the Interior, Office of Water Resources Research, as authorized under the Water Resources Act of 1964, as amended

Development of an Operational Northern Aquatic Ecosystem Model: Completion Report

OWRR Contract No. 14-31-0001-5217 Grant No. C-6169The work upon which this completion report is based was supported by funds provided by the U. S. Department of the Interior, Office of Water Research and Technology as authorized under the Water Resources Research Act of 1964, Public Law 88-379, as amended

A Preliminary Survey Of The Zoo Plankton And Benthos Of An Arctic Lake Near Prudhoe Bay Alaska

Volume: 84Start Page: 227End Page: 23

Effects of Calcium Magnesium Acetate on Small Lentic Environments in Interior Alaska

List of Tables - v List of Figures - vii Introduction - 1 Literature Review - 3 Introduction - 3 Environmental Evaluation - 4 Current Studies - 8 Objectives of Study - 11 Materials and Methods - 13 Study Site - 13 CMA Application - 15 Sampling Schedule - 15 Analysis of CMA - 16 Physical Measurements - 16 Air and Water Temperatures - 16 Light Availability - 18 Chemical Measurements - 18 Alkalinity and pH - 18 Major Cations - 18 Dissolved Oxygen - 81 Nutrients - 19 Biological Measurements - 19 Planktonic Chlorophyll - 19 Plankotnic Bacteria - 20 Acetate Turnover Times - 20 Dominant Phytoplankton - 21 Relative Abundance of Zooplankton - 21 Statistical Analysis - 21 Results - 23 Analysis of CMA - 23 Physical Measurements - 26 Air and Water Temperatures - 27 Light Availability - 28 Chemical Measurements - 28 Alkalinity and pH - 28 Dissolved Oxygen - 28 Major Cations - 35 Nutrients - 37 Biological Measurements - 37 Planktonic Chlorophyll - 44 Planktonic Bacteria - 45 Acetate Turnover Times - 34 Dominant Phytoplankton - 45 Relative Abundance of Zoplankton - 45 Discussion - 53 Conclusions - 57 Recommendations - 59 Implementation - 61 Literature Cited - 6