Studies on Little Diomede Island

INVESTIGATION OF THE AGE AND ORIGIN OF THE UPLAND SURFACE OF LITTLE DIOMEDE ISLAND

Little Diomede Island (Big Diomede, which is part of Russia, is in the background)

Village of Diomede, Alaska. The village is located on the western shore of the island, 2.5 miles from the Russian island Big Diomede, and 1.25 miles from the International Dateline. The island is home to about 200 native Alaskans, 2 Arctic fox and thousands of sea birds. Seals, whales, walrus and polar bears frequent the surrounding water and sea ice. There is a school, ice cream machine, washeteria and bingo three times a week for fun! For more information on this and other Alaskan native villages check out the following websites:

http://www.comregaf.state.ak.us/DIOMEDE.htm http://alaskan.com

In the background two prominent outcrops on the top of the island. Marine or Glacial?

Perched boulder on the top of the island. This and similar outcrops were sampled for cosmogenic isotope analysis, a surface exposure dating technique. For more information regarding cosmogenic isotope analysis click here:

http://primelab.physics.purdue.edu/

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