Publications
Explore scientific publications from the USGS St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center.
Filter Total Items: 920
Geologic control on the evolution of the inner shelf morphology offshore of the Mississippi barrier islands, northern Gulf of Mexico, USA
Between 2008 and 2013, high-resolution geophysical surveys were conducted around the Mississippi barrier islands and offshore. The sonar surveys included swath and single-beam bathymetry, sidescan, and chirp subbottom data collection. The geophysical data were groundtruthed using vibracore sediment collection. The results provide insight into the evolution of the inner shelf and the relationship b
Authors
James G. Flocks, Jack L. Kindinger, Kyle W. Kelso
Stratigraphy and morphology of the barrier platform of Breton Island, Louisiana: deltaic, marine and human influences
Breton Island, located at the southern end of the Chandeleur Islands, Louisiana, is part of the Breton National Wildlife Refuge (NWR). Breton NWR is recognized as an important bird habitat and is host to one of Louisiana's largest historical brown pelican nesting colonies. Loss of island area through relative sea-level rise, storm impact, and impeded and diminishing sediment supply is reducing the
Authors
James G. Flocks, Jack L. Kindinger, Jennifer L. Miselis, Stanley D. Locker
A comparison between boat-based and diver-based methods for quantifying coral bleaching
Recent increases in both the frequency and severity of coral bleaching events have spurred numerous surveys to quantify the immediate impacts and monitor the subsequent community response. Most of these efforts utilize conventional diver-based methods, which are inherently time-consuming, expensive, and limited in spatial scope unless they deploy large teams of scientifically-trained divers. In th
Authors
David G. Zawada, Rob Ruzicka, Michael A. Colella
Archive of sediment data from vibracores collected in 2010 offshore of the Mississippi barrier islands
In 2010, scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center collected sediment cores from coastal waters offshore of the Mississippi barrier islands. With funding support from the Northern Gulf of Mexico (NGOM) Ecosystem Change and Hazard Susceptibility project, 65 subaqueous sediment cores were collected over an area of 480 square kilometers (km2), from Sh
Authors
Kyle W. Kelso, James G. Flocks
Archive of digital chirp subbottom profile data collected during USGS Cruise 13CCT04 offshore of Petit Bois Island, Mississippi, August 2013
From August 13-23, 2013, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) conducted geophysical surveys to investigate the geologic controls on barrier island framework and long-term sediment transport offshore of Petit Bois Island, Mississippi. This investigation is part of a broader USGS study on Coastal Change and Transport (CCT). These surveys wer
Authors
Arnell S. Forde, James G. Flocks, Jack L. Kindinger, Julie Bernier, Kyle W. Kelso, Dana S. Wiese
Back-island and open-ocean shorelines, and sand areas of Assateague Island, Maryland and Virginia, April 12, 1989, to September 5, 2013
Assessing the physical change to shorelines and wetlands is critical in determining the resiliency of wetland systems that protect adjacent habitat and communities. The wetland and back-barrier shorelines of Assateague Island, located in Maryland and Virginia, changed as a result of wave action and storm surge that occurred during Hurricane Sandy in 2012. As part of the U.S. Geological Survey Coas
Authors
Kristy K. Guy
Presence of amphibian chytrid fungus (Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis) in rainwater suggests aerial dispersal is possible
Abstract Global spread of the pathogenic amphibian chytrid fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd) may involve dispersal mechanisms not previously explored. Weather systems accompanied by strong wind and rainfall have been known to assist the dispersal of microbes pathogenic to plants and animals, and we considered a similar phenomenon might occur with Bd. We investigated this concept by sampli
Authors
Jonathan E. Kolby, Sara D. Ramirez, Lee Berger, Dale W. Griffin, Merlijn Jocque, Lee F. Skerratt
Ground-based lidar beach topography of Fire Island, New York, April 2013
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center in Florida and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Field Research Facility in Duck, North Carolina, collaborated to gather alongshore ground-based lidar beach elevation data at Fire Island, New York. This high-resolution elevation dataset was collected on April 10, 2013, to characterize beach topography following subst
Authors
Owen T. Brenner, Cheryl J. Hapke, Nicholas J. Spore, Katherine L. Brodie, Jesse E. McNinch
Wetland paleoecological study of southwest coastal Louisiana: sediment cores and diatom calibration dataset
Wetland sediment data were collected in 2009 and 2010 throughout the southwest Louisiana Chenier Plain as part of a pilot study to develop a diatom-based proxy for past wetland water chemistry and the identification of sediment deposits from tropical storms. The complete dataset includes forty-six surface sediment samples and nine sediment cores. The surface sediment samples were collected in fres
Authors
Kathryn E. L. Smith, James G. Flocks, Gregory D. Steyer, Sarai C. Piazza
Bathymetry of the Wilderness breach at Fire Island, New York, June 2013
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center in St. Petersburg, Florida, collaborated with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Field Research Facility in Duck, North Carolina, to collect shallow water bathymetric data of the Wilderness breach on Fire Island, New York, in June 2013. The breach formed in October 2012 during Hurricane Sandy, and the USGS is involved
Authors
Andrew T. Brownell, Cheryl J. Hapke, Nicholas J. Spore, Jesse E. McNinch
Response of the Miliolid Archaias angulatus to simulated ocean acidification
A common, but not universal, effect of ocean acidification on benthic foraminifera is a reduction in the growth rate. The miliolid Archaias angulatus is a high-Mg (>4 mole% MgCO3), symbiont-bearing, soritid benthic foraminifer that contributes to Caribbean reef carbonate sediments. A laboratory culture study assessed the effects of reduced pH on the growth of A. angulatus. We observed a statistica
Authors
Paul O. Knorr, Lisa L. Robbins, Peter J. Harries, Pamela Hallock, Jonathan Wynn
Understanding ocean acidification impacts on organismal to ecological scales
Ocean acidification (OA) research seeks to understand how marine ecosystems and global elemental cycles will respond to changes in seawater carbonate chemistry in combination with other environmental perturbations such as warming, eutrophication, and deoxygenation. Here, we discuss the effectiveness and limitations of current research approaches used to address this goal. A diverse combination of
Authors
Andreas J Andersson, David I Kline, Peter J Edmunds, Stephen D Archer, Nina Bednaršek, Robert C Carpenter, Meg Chadsey, Philip Goldstein, Andrea G. Grottoli, Thomas P Hurst, Andrew L. King, Janet E. Kübler, Ilsa B. Kuffner, Katherine R M Mackey, Bruce A. Menge, Adina Paytan, Ulf Riebesell, Astrid Schnetzer, Mark E Warner, Richard C Zimmerman