Publications
Scientific reports, journal articles, and information products produced by USGS Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center scientists.
Filter Total Items: 1336
Earthquake rupture process recreated from a natural fault surface
What exactly happens on the rupture surface as an earthquake nucleates, spreads, and stops? We cannot observe this directly, and models depend on assumptions about physical conditions and geometry at depth. We thus measure a natural fault surface and use its 3D coordinates to construct a replica at 0.1 m resolution to obviate geometry uncertainty. We can recreate stick-slip behavior on the resulti
Authors
Thomas E. Parsons, Diane L. Minasian
Hindcast storm events in the Bering Sea for the St. Lawrence Island and Unalakleet Regions, Alaska
This study provides viable estimates of historical storm-induced water levels in the coastal communities of Gambell and Savoonga situated on St. Lawrence Island in the Bering Sea, as well as Unalakleet located at the head of Norton Sound on the western coast of Alaska. Gambell, Savoonga, and Unalakleet are small Native Villages that are regularly impacted by coastal storms but where little quantit
Authors
Li H. Erikson, Robert T. McCall, Arnold van Rooijen, Benjamin Norris
Environmental controls on spatial patterns in the long-term persistence of giant kelp in central California
As marine management is moving towards the practice of protecting static areas, it is 44 important to make sure protected areas capture and protect persistent populations. Rocky reefs in 45 many temperate areas worldwide serve as habitat for canopy forming macroalgae and these 46 structure forming species of kelps (order Laminariales) often serve as important habitat for a great 47 diversity of sp
Authors
Mary Alida Young, Kyle C. Cavanaugh, Tom W. Bell, Peter T. Raimondi, Christopher A. Edwards, Patrick T. Drake, Li H. Erikson, Curt D. Storlazzi
Many atolls may be uninhabitable within decades due to climate change
Observations show global sea level is rising due to climate change, with the highest rates in the tropical Pacific Ocean where many of the world’s low-lying atolls are located. Sea-level rise is particularly critical for low-lying carbonate reef-lined atoll islands; these islands have limited land and water available for human habitation, water and food sources, and ecosystems that are vulnerable
Authors
Curt D. Storlazzi, Edwin P.L. Elias, Paul Berkowitz
Classification of rocky headlands in California with relevance to littoral cell boundary delineation
Despite extensive studies of hydrodynamics and sediment flux along beaches, there is little information on the processes, pathways and timing of water and sediment transport around rocky headlands. In this study, headlands along the California coast are classified to advance understanding of headland dynamics and littoral cell boundaries in support of improved coastal management decisions. Geomorp
Authors
Douglas A. George, John L. Largier, Curt D. Storlazzi, Patrick L. Barnard
Projected wave conditions in the Eastern North Pacific under the influence of two CMIP5 climate scenarios
Hindcast and 21st century winds, simulated by General Circulation Models (GCMs), were used to drive global- and regional-scale spectral wind-wave generation models in the Pacific Ocean Basin to assess future wave conditions along the margins of the North American west coast and Hawaiian Islands. Three-hourly winds simulated by four separate GCMs were used to generate an ensemble of wave conditions
Authors
Li H. Erikson, Christie Hegermiller, Patrick L. Barnard, Peter Ruggiero, Martin van Ormondt
The influence of coral reefs and climate change on wave-driven flooding of tropical coastlines
A numerical model, XBeach, calibrated and validated on field data collected at Roi-Namur Island on Kwajalein Atoll in the Republic of Marshall Islands, was used to examine the effects of different coral reef characteristics on potential coastal hazards caused by wave-driven flooding and how these effects may be altered by projected climate change. The results presented herein suggest that coasts f
Authors
Ellen Quataert, Curt D. Storlazzi, Arnold van Rooijen, Ap van Dongeren, Olivia Cheriton
Aleutian basin oceanic crust
We present two-dimensional P-wave velocity structure along two wide-angle ocean bottom seismometer profiles from the Aleutian basin in the Bering Sea. The basement here is commonly considered to be trapped oceanic crust, yet there is a change in orientation of magnetic lineations and gravity features within the basin that might reflect later processes. Line 1 extends ∼225 km from southwest to nort
Authors
Gail L. Christeson, Ginger A. Barth
Coastal vulnerability across the Pacific dominated by El Niño-Southern Oscillation
To predict future coastal hazards, it is important to quantify any links between climate drivers and spatial patterns of coastal change. However, most studies of future coastal vulnerability do not account for the dynamic components of coastal water levels during storms, notably wave-driven processes, storm surges and seasonal water level anomalies, although these components can add metres to wate
Authors
Patrick L. Barnard, Andrew D. Short, Mitchell D. Harley, Kristen D. Splinter, Sean Vitousek, Ian L. Turner, Jonathan Allan, Masayuki Banno, Karin R. Bryan, André Doria, Jeff E. Hansen, Shigeru Kato, Yoshiaki Kuriyama, Evan Randall-Goodwin, Peter Ruggiero, Ian J. Walker, Derek K. Heathfield
Strongly-sheared wind-forced currents in the nearshore regions of the central Southern California Bight
Contrary to many previous reports, winds do drive currents along the shelf in the central portion of the Southern California Bight (SCB). Winds off Huntington Beach CA are the dominant forcing for currents over the nearshore region of the shelf (water depths less than 20 m). Winds control about 50–70% of the energy in nearshore alongshelf surface currents. The wind-driven current amplitudes are al
Authors
Marlene A. Noble, Kurt J. Rosenberger, George L. Robertson
The Palos Verdes Fault offshore southern California: late Pleistocene to present tectonic geomorphology, seascape evolution and slip rate estimate based on AUV and ROV surveys
The Palos Verdes Fault (PVF) is one of few active faults in Southern California that crosses the shoreline and can be studied using both terrestrial and subaqueous methodologies. To characterize the near-seafloor fault morphology, tectonic influences on continental slope sedimentary processes and late Pleistocene to present slip rate, a grid of high-resolution multibeam bathymetric data, and chirp
Authors
Daniel S. Brothers, James E. Conrad, Katherine L. Maier, Charles K. Paull, Mary L. McGann, David W. Caress
Trimming the FAT for seafloor research in China—Constructing a tripod to monitor deep-sea sediment movement
Summarizes technical aspects of the Free Ascending Tripod for very deep water, designed by George Tate for joint US-China research lead by Jingping Xu in South China Sea.
Authors
Amy West