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Publications

Explore scientific publications from the USGS St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center.

Filter Total Items: 914

NEWTS1.0: Numerical model of coastal Erosion by Waves and Transgressive Scarps

Models of rocky-coast erosion help us understand the physical phenomena that control coastal morphology and evolution, infer the processes shaping coasts in remote environments, and evaluate risk from natural hazards and future climate change. Existing models, however, are highly complex, are computationally expensive, and depend on many input parameters; this limits our ability to explore planfor
Authors
Rose Elizabeth Palermo, J. Taylor Perron, Jason M. Soderblom, Samuel P. D. Birch, Alexander G. Hayes, Andrew D. Ashton

Evaluation of in vitro treatments against the causative agent of Diadema antillarum scuticociliatosis (DaSc)

ABSTRACT: In the 1980s, a mass die-off of the long-spined sea urchin Diadema antillarum occurred on Florida and Caribbean coral reefs. D. antillarum populations largely did not recover, and in 2022, remaining populations experienced another mass mortality event. A ciliate most similar to Philaster apodigitiformis was identified as the causative agent of the 2022 event, which was named D. antillaru
Authors
James S. Evans, Julie Jenice Voelschow, Isabella T. Ritchie, Mya Breitbart, Ian Hewson, Christina A. Kellogg

Implications for the resilience of modern coastal systems derived from mesoscale barrier dynamics at Fire Island, New York

Understanding the response of coastal barriers to future changes in rates of sea level rise, sediment availability, and storm intensity/frequency is essential for coastal planning, including socioeconomic and ecological management. Identifying drivers of past changes in barrier morphology, as well as barrier sensitivity to these forces, is necessary to accomplish this. Using remote sensing, field,
Authors
Daniel J. Ciarletta, Jennifer L. Miselis, Julie Bernier, Arnell S. Forde

Modern coral range expansion off southeast Florida falls short of Late Holocene baseline

As thermal stress and disease outbreaks decimate coral reefs throughout the tropics, there is growing evidence that higher latitude marine environments may provide crucial refuges for many at-risk, temperature-sensitive coral species. However, our understanding of how coral populations expand into new areas and sustain themselves over time is constrained by the limited scope of modern observations
Authors
Peter Alexander Bacon Modys, Lauren Toth, William F. Precht, Anton E. Oleinik, Richard A. Mortlock

20th century warming in the lower Florida Keys was dominated by increasing winter temperatures

Long-lived Atlantic coral species like Orbicella faveolata are important archives of oceanographic change in shallow, marine environments like the Florida Keys. Not only can coral-based records extend for multiple centuries beyond the limits of the instrumental record, but they can also provide a more accurate representation of in situ conditions than gridded interpolated sea-surface temperature (
Authors
Jennifer A. Flannery, Julie N. Richey, Lauren Toth, Madelyn Jean Mette

Transglobal spread of an ecologically relevant sea urchin parasite

Mass mortality of the dominant coral reef herbivore Diadema antillarum in the Caribbean in the early 1980s contributed to a persistent phase shift from coral- to algal-dominated reefs. In 2022, a scuticociliate most closely related to Philaster apodigitiformis caused further mass mortality of D. antillarum across the Caribbean, leading to >95% mortality at affected sites. Mortality was also report
Authors
Isabella T. Ritchie, Brayan Vilanova-Cuevas, Ashley Altera, Kaileigh Cornfield, Ceri Evans, James S. Evans, Maria Hopson-Fernandes, Christina A. Kellogg, Elayne Looker, Oliver Taylor, Ian Hewson, Mya Breitbart

Unlearning Racism in Geoscience (URGE): Summary of U.S. Geological Survey URGE pod deliverables

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is in a unique position to be a leader in diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility in the Earth sciences. As one of the largest geoscience employers, the USGS wields significant community influence and has a responsibility to adopt and implement robust, unbiased policies so that the science it is charged to deliver is better connected to the diverse communi
Authors
Matthew C. Morriss, Eleanour Snow, Jennifer L. Miselis, William F. Waite, Katherine R. Barnhart, Andria P. Ellis, Liv M. Herdman, Seth C. Moran, Annie L. Putman, Nadine G. Reitman, Wendy K. Stovall, Meagan J. Eagle, Stephen C. Phillips

Nutrient and carbonate chemistry patterns associated with Karenia brevis blooms in three West Florida Shelf estuaries 2020-2023

Ocean acidification (OA) driven by eutrophication, riverine discharge, and other threats from local population growth that affect the inorganic carbonate system is already affecting the eastern Gulf of Mexico. Long-term declines in pH of ~ -0.001 pH units yr-1 have been observed in many southwest Florida estuaries over the past few decades. Coastal and estuarine waters of southwest Florida experie
Authors
Emily R. Hall, Kimberly Yates, Katherine A. Hubbard, Matt Garrett, Jessica Frankle

Identifying and constraining marsh-type transitions in response to increasing erosion over the past century

Marsh environments, characterized by their flora and fauna, change laterally in response to shoreline erosion, water levels and inundation, and anthropogenic activities. The Grand Bay coastal system (USA) has undergone multiple large-scale geomorphic and hydrologic changes resulting in altered sediment supply, depositional patterns, and degraded barrier islands, leaving wetland salt marshes vulner
Authors
Alisha M. Ellis, Christopher G. Smith, Kathryn Smith, Jessica A. Jacobs

An assessment of HgII to preserve carbonate system parameters in organic-rich estuarine waters

This work assesses the effectiveness of sample preservation techniques for measurements of pHT (total scale), total dissolved inorganic carbon (CT), and total alkalinity (AT) in organic-rich estuarine waters as well as the internal consistency of measurements and calculations (e.g., AT, pHT, and CT) in these waters. Using mercuric chloride (HgCl2)-treated and untreated water samples, measurements

Authors
Christopher Moore, Robert H. Byrne, Kimberly Yates

Two centuries of southwest Iceland annually-resolved marine temperature reconstructed from Arctica islandica shells

Iceland's exposure to major ocean current pathways of the central North Atlantic makes it a useful location for developing long-term proxy records of past marine climate. Such records provide more detailed understanding of the full range of past variability which is necessary to improve predictions of future changes. We constructed a 225-year (1791–2015 CE) master shell growth chronology from 29 s

Authors
Madelyn Jean Mette, Carin Andersson, Bernd Schöne, Fabian Bonitz, Vilde Melvik, Tamara Trofimova, Martin Miles

Exploring centennial barrier-inlet evolution: Insights from undeveloped and developed phases at Barnegat Inlet, New Jersey

This study aims to identify the natural processes and the subsequent responses to coastal engineering and development on the alongshore evolution of the IB-BI-LBI inlet-barrier system. The primary focus will be the quantification of barrier island and inlet sediment partitioning at decadal to centennial timescales, from 1839-1941. We analyze historical alongshore evolution and track coastal engine

Authors
Shane Nichols-O'Neill, Jorge Lorenzo-Trueba, Daniel J. Ciarletta, Jennifer L. Miselis