Publications
Scientific reports, journal articles, and information products produced by USGS Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center scientists.
USGS Pubs Warehouse
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Sound Waves Newsletter
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Filter Total Items: 1339
Macondo-1 well oil-derived polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in mesozooplankton from the northern Gulf of Mexico
Mesozooplankton (>200 μm) collected in August and September of 2010 from the northern Gulf of Mexico show evidence of exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Multivariate statistical analysis revealed that distributions of PAHs extracted from mesozooplankton were related to the oil released from the ruptured British Petroleum Macondo-1 (M-1) well associated with the R/VDeepwater Horiz
Authors
Siddhartha Mitra, David G. Kimmel, Jessica Snyder, Kimberly Scalise, Benjamin D. McGlaughon, Michael R. Roman, Ginger L. Jahn, James J. Pierson, Stephen B. Brandt, Joseph P. Montoya, Robert J. Rosenbauer, T.D. Lorenson, Florence L. Wong, Pamela L. Campbell
The influence of wave energy and sediment transport on seagrass distribution
A coupled hydrodynamic and sediment transport model (Delft3D) was used to simulate the water levels, waves, and currents associated with a seagrass (Zostera marina) landscape along a 4-km stretch of coast in Puget Sound, WA, USA. A hydroacoustic survey of seagrass percent cover and nearshore bathymetry was conducted, and sediment grain size was sampled at 53 locations. Wave energy is a primary fac
Authors
Andrew W. Stevens, Jessica R. Lacy
Slip rate on the San Diego trough fault zone, inner California Borderland, and the 1986 Oceanside earthquake swarm revisited
The San Diego trough fault zone (SDTFZ) is part of a 90-km-wide zone of faults within the inner California Borderland that accommodates motion between the Pacific and North American plates. Along with most faults offshore southern California, the slip rate and paleoseismic history of the SDTFZ are unknown. We present new seismic reflection data that show that the fault zone steps across a 5-km-wid
Authors
Holly F. Ryan, James E. Conrad, C. K. Paull, Mary McGann
Influence of fault trend, bends, and convergence on shallow structure and geomorphology of the Hosgri strike-slip fault, offshore central California
We mapped an ∼94-km-long portion of the right-lateral Hosgri fault zone in offshore central California using a dense network of high-resolution seismic reflection profiles, marine magnetic data, and multibeam bathymetry. These data document the location, length, and continuity of multiple fault strands, highlight fault-zone heterogeneity, and demonstrate the importance of fault trend, fault bends,
Authors
Samuel Y. Johnson, Janet Tilden Watt
Arrival and expansion of the invasive foraminifera Trochammina hadai Uchio in Padilla Bay, Washington
Trochammina hadai Uchio, a benthic foraminifera native to Japanese estuaries, was first identified as an invasive in 1995 in San Francisco Bay and later in 16 other west coast estuaries. To investigate the timing of the arrival and expansion of this invasive species in Padilla Bay, Washington, we analyzed the distribution of foraminifera in two surface samples collected in 1971, in nine surface sa
Authors
Mary McGann, Eric E. Grossman, Renee K. Takesue, Dan Penttila, John P. Walsh, Reide Corbett
Synthesis study of an erosion hot spot, Ocean Beach, California
A synthesis of multiple coastal morphodynamic research efforts is presented to identify the processes responsible for persistent erosion along a 1-km segment of 7-km-long Ocean Beach in San Francisco, California. The beach is situated adjacent to a major tidal inlet and in the shadow of the ebb-tidal delta at the mouth of San Francisco Bay. Ocean Beach is exposed to a high-energy wave climate and
Authors
Patrick L. Barnard, Jeff E. Hansen, Li H. Erikson
Time-dependent onshore tsunami response
While bulk measures of the onshore impact of a tsunami, including the maximum run-up elevation and inundation distance, are important for hazard planning, the temporal evolution of the onshore flow dynamics likely controls the extent of the onshore destruction and the erosion and deposition of sediment that occurs. However, the time-varying dynamics of actual tsunamis are even more difficult to me
Authors
Alex Apotsos, Guy R. Gelfenbaum, Bruce E. Jaffe
Validation of a coupled wave-flow model in a high-energy setting: the mouth of the Columbia River
A monthlong time series of wave, current, salinity, and suspended-sediment measurements was made at five sites on a transect across the Mouth of Columbia River (MCR). These data were used to calibrate and evaluate the performance of a coupled hydrodynamic and wave model for the MCR based on the Delft3D modeling system. The MCR is a dynamic estuary inlet in which tidal currents, river discharge, a
Authors
Edwin P.L. Elias, Guy R. Gelfenbaum, André J. van der Westhuysen
Beach response dynamics of a littoral cell using a 17-year single-point time series of sand thickness
A 17-year time series of near-daily sand thickness measurements at a single intertidal location was compared with 5 years of semi-annual 3-dimensional beach surveys at the same beach, and at two other beaches within the same littoral cell. The daily single point measurements correlated extremely well with the mean beach elevation and shoreline position of ten high-spatial resolution beach surveys.
Authors
Patrick L. Barnard, D.M. Hubbard, J.E. Dugan
The FOBIMO (FOraminiferal BIo-MOnitoring) initiative—Towards a standardised protocol for soft-bottom benthic foraminiferal monitoring studies
The European Community Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) was established to provide guidelines for monitoring the quality of marine ecosystems. Monitoring the status of marine environments is traditionally based on macrofauna surveys, for which standardised methods have been established. Benthic foraminifera are also good indicators of environmental status because of their fast turnover r
Authors
Joachim Schoenfeld, Elisabeth Alve, Emmanuelle Geslin, Frans Jorissen, Sergei Korsun, Silva Spezzaferri, Sigal Abramovich, Ahuva Almogi-Labin, Eric Armynot du Chatelet, Christine Barras, Luisa Bergamin, Erica Bicchi, Vincent Bouchet, Alejandro Cearreta, Letizia Di Bella, Noortje Dijkstra, Sibelle Trevisan Disaro, Luciana Ferraro, Fabrizio Frontalini, Giordana Gennari, Elena Golikova, Kristin Haynert, Silvia Hess, Katrine Husum, Virginia Martins, Mary McGann, Shai Oron, Elena Romano, Silvia Mello Sousa, Akira Tsujimoto
Recent paleorecords document rising mercury contamination in Lake Tanganyika
Recent Lake Tanganyika Hg deposition records were derived using 14C and excess 210Pb geochronometers in sediment cores collected from two contrasting depositional environments: the Kalya Platform, located mid-lake and more removed from watershed impacts, and the Nyasanga/Kahama River delta region, located close to the lake’s shoreline north of Kigoma. At the Kalya Platform area, pre-industrial Hg
Authors
Christopher H. Conaway, Peter W. Swarzenski, A.S. Cohen
Copper-nickel-rich, amalgamated ferromanganese crust-nodule deposits from Shatsky Rise, NW Pacific
A unique set of ferromanganese crusts and nodules collected from Shatsky Rise (SR), NW Pacific, were analyzed for mineralogical and chemical compositions, and dated using Be isotopes and cobalt chronometry. The composition of these midlatitude, deep-water deposits is markedly different from northwest-equatorial Pacific (PCZ) crusts, where most studies have been conducted. Crusts and nodules on SR
Authors
J. R. Hein, T.A. Conrad, M. Frank, M. Christl, W.W. Sager