Publications

Three hurricanes hit Lousiana (LA), Mississippi (MS), Alabama (AL), and the Florida (FL) panhandle in 1985, producing dramatic geomorphic changes in a wide variety of coastal environments. The impact zone for hurricanes Danny, Elena, and Juan stretched 1000 km between the Sabine River in LA to the Apalachicola River in FL. Barrier shorelines experienced repeated intense overwash events, producing

Long-range side scan (GLORIA) sonographs and seismic reflection data acquired during a survey of the western U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone in 1984, coupled with information from Deep Sea Drilling Project sites, provide new insights into the growth and evolution of the Delgada Fan. Construction of the fan commenced in the latest Miocene (∼6 Ma) following the filling of the Neogene Point Arena Basin.

No abstract available.

GLORIA (Geologic Long-Range Inclined Asdic) sidescan sonar images were collected over the entire Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) west of the conterminous United States. The continuous, overlapping, swath-mapping technique provides, for the first time, a reconnaissance plan view off the entire sea floor from the edge of the continental shelf to 370 km from shore. The mid-ocean ridges, transform fault

Complete alteration of fresh mid-ocean ridge basalt to albite + actinolite + smectite took place in the presence of quartz and 3.4m NaCl at 350°C and 400 bars. Significant Na-metasomatism occurred in exchange for Ca + Fe + Mn. In contrast, alteration of the basalt/quartz mixture with a synthetically prepared "natural brine," and basalt with 3.4m NaCl or "natural brine" did not produce significant

The diagenesis of amino acids in sediments from Clear Lake core CL-80-1 is indicated by changes in amino acid concentrations, compositions, and stereochemistry. Concentrations of total amino acids decrease with depth, but the decrease is not systematic, possibly reflecting a nonuniformity in sedimentary and postdepositional processes affecting the amino acids. Ratios of neutral/acidic amino acids

Methane hydrates are globally widespread in permafrost regions and beneath the sea in sediment of outer continental margins. The amount of methane sequestered in gas hydrates is probably enormous, but estimates of the amounts are speculative and range over three orders of magnitude (about 103 to 106 GT (gigatons = 1015 g)). A question of current interest concerns the possible consequences of an ad

High molecular weight aliphatic hydrocarbons were extracted from sediments at two sites (741 and 742) drilled during ODP Leg 119 in Prydz Bay. The distributions of n-alkanes and triterpenoid and steroid hydrocarbons suggest that the n- alkanes and steranes are mainly of terrestrial origin and that the hydrocarbons are immature to slightly mature in the Lower Cretaceous sediments and immature to ma

A 4000‐km2 area of submarine slump and slide deposits along the west flank of Mauna Loa volcano has been mapped with GLORIA side‐scan sonar images, seismic reflection profiles, and new bathymetry. The youngest deposits are two debris avalanche lobes that travelled from their breakaway area near the present shoreline as much as 100 km into the Hawaiian Deep at water depths of 4800 m. The two lobes

No abstract available.

The morphometric characteristics of the axial regions of oceanic spreading centers are determined by (1) the type of volcanic flows, (2) the relation between primary volcanic relief (on a scale of a few meters to tens of meters) and degree of sediment cover, and (3) the extent of surficial expression and timing of tectonic disruption of the young oceanic crust. Even within a single, continuous, li

Fluids from three vent fields on the southern Juan de Fuca Ridge were sampled in September 1984 using the DSRV Alvin. The fluids are uniquely high in both chloride, which ranges up to twice the seawater value, and in metal content. Simple vapor-liquid phase separation could not have produced both the high chlorinity and gas concentrations observed in these fluids. The cause of the elevated chlorin