Publications
Scientific reports, journal articles, and information products produced by USGS Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center scientists.
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Local tsunamis and earthquake source parameters
This chapter establishes the relationship among earthquake source parameters and the generation, propagation, and run-up of local tsunamis. In general terms, displacement of the seafloor during the earthquake rupture is modeled using the elastic dislocation theory for which the displacement field is dependent on the slip distribution, fault geometry, and the elastic response and properties of the
Authors
Eric L. Geist
Ice sheet history from Antarctic Continental Margin sediments: The ANTOSTRAT approach
The Antarctic Ice Sheet is today an important part of the global climate engine, and probably has been so for most of its long existence. However, the details of its history are poorly known, despite the measurement and use, over two decades, of low-latitude proxies of ice sheet volume. An additional way of determining ice sheet history is now available, based on understanding terrigenous sediment
Authors
P.F. Barker, P. J. Barrett, Angelo Camerlenghi, Alan K. Cooper, F.J. Davey, E.W. Domack, C. Escutia, Y. Kristoffersen, P. E. O'Brien
The influence of the San Gregorio fault on the morphology of Monterey Canyon
A side-scan sonar survey was conducted of Monterey Canyon and the San Gregorio fault zone, off shore of Monterey Bay. The acoustic character and morphology of the sonar images, enhanced by SeaBeam bathymetry, show the path of the San Gregorio fault zone across the shelf, upper slope, and Monterey Canyon. High backscatter linear features a few kilometers long and 100 to 200 m wide delineate the sea
Authors
C.M.G. McHugh, William B. F. Ryan, S. Eittreim, Reed Donald
Climate and ocean dynamics and the lead isotopic records in Pacific ferromanganese crusts
As hydrogenous iron-manganese crusts grow, at rates of millimeters per million years, they record changes in the lead isotopic composition of ambient seawater. Time-resolved lead isotopic data for cut slabs of two central Pacific iron-manganese crusts that have been growing since about 50 million years ago were measured in situ by laser ablation, multiple-collector, inductively coupled plasma mass
Authors
John N. Christensen, Alex N. Halliday, Linda V. Godfrey, James R. Hein, David K. Rea
Slope basins, headless canyons, and submarine palaeoseismology of the Cascadia accretionary complex
A combination of geomorphological, seismic reflection and geotechnical data constrains this study of sediment erosion and deposition at the toe of the Cascadia accretionary prism. We conducted a series of ALVIN dives in a region south of Astoria Canyon to examine the interrelationship of fluid flow and slope failure in a series of headless submarine canyons. Elevated head gradients at the inflecti
Authors
B. G. McAdoo, Daniel L. Orange, Elizabeth Screaton, H. Lee, Robert Kayen
Precambrian to modern manganese mineralization: Changes in ore type and depositional environment
No abstract available.
Authors
Keith Nicholson, James R. Hein, Bernhard Bühn, Somnath Dasgupta
Continental-margin seismic stratigraphy: Assessing the preservation potential of heterogeneous geological processes operating on continental shelves and slopes
No abstract available.
Authors
James A. Austin, Craig S. Fulthorpe, Gregory S. Mountain, Daniel L. Orange, Michael E. Field
Linking sediment transport and stratigraphy on the continental shelf
The goal of the shelf sediment dynamics component of STRATAFORM is to link sediment transport processes active on the continental shelf to the formation and preservation of event beds in shelf sediment deposits. An approach combining shelf sediment-transport models with high-resolution measurements of water-column and bed properties over periods from several months to several years allows us to ma
Authors
P.L. Wiberg, D. A. Cacchione, Richard W. Sternberg, L. Donelson Wright
Organic geochemistry applied to environmental assessments of Prince William Sound, Alaska, after the Exxon Valdez oil spill—a review
Organic geochemistry played a major role in the environmental assessments conducted following the Exxon Valdez oil spill, which occurred on March 24, 1989, and released about 258,000 bbls (41 million liters) of Alaska North Slope crude oil into Prince William Sound. Geochemical analyses of more than 15,000 sediment, tar, and biological samples and about 5000 water samples provide the largest datab
Authors
A.E. Bence, Keith A. Kvenvolden, M.C. Kennicutt
Comparison of the partitioning behaviours of yttrium, rare earth elements, and titanium between hydrogenetic marine ferromanganese crusts and seawater
In order to evaluate details of the partitioning behaviours of Y, rare earth elements (REEs), and Ti between inorganic metal oxide surfaces and seawater, we studied the distribution of these elements in hydrogenetic marine ferromanganese (Fe-Mn) crusts from the Central Pacific Ocean. Nonphosphatized Fe-Mn crusts display shale-normalized rare earths and yttrium (REYSN) patterns (Y inserted between
Authors
Michael Bau, Andrea Koschinsky, Peter Dulski, James R. Hein
Recent introduction of the foraminifer Trochammina hadai Uchio into San Francisco Bay, California, USA
[No abstract available]
Authors
M. McGann, D. Sloan
Source parameters controlling the generation and propagation of potential local tsunamis along the cascadia margin
The largest uncertainty in assessing hazards from local tsunamis along the Cascadia margin is estimating the possible earthquake source parameters. We investigate which source parameters exert the largest influence on tsunami generation and determine how each parameter affects the amplitude of the local tsunami. The following source parameters were analyzed: (1) type of faulting characteristic of
Authors
Eric L. Geist, Shoichi Yoshioka