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Publications

Scientific reports, journal articles, and information products produced by USGS Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center scientists.

Filter Total Items: 1331

A global ensemble of ocean wave climate statistics from contemporary wave reanalysis and hindcasts

There are numerous global ocean wave reanalysis and hindcast products currently being distributed and used across different scientific fields. However, there is not a consistent dataset that can sample across all existing products based on a standardized framework. Here, we present and describe the first coordinated multi-product ensemble of present-day global wave fields available to date. This d
Authors
Joao Morim, Li H. Erikson, Mark Hemer, Ian Young, Xiaochun Wang, Nobuhito Mori, T. Shimura, Justin Stopa, Claire Trenham, Lorenzo Mentaschi, S. Gulev, V.D. Sharmar, L. Bricheno, Judy Wolf, Ole Aarnes, Paula Camus, J Bidlot, A. Semedo, B. Reguero, T. Wahl

Seismostratigraphic analysis of Lake Cahuilla sedimentation cycles and fault displacement history beneath the Salton Sea, California, USA

The Salton Trough (southeastern California, USA) is the northernmost transtensional stepover of the Gulf of California oblique-divergent plate boundary and is also where the southern terminus of the San Andreas fault occurs. Until recently, the distribution of active faults in and around the Salton Sea and their displacement histories were largely unknown. Subbottom CHIRP (compressed high-intensit
Authors
Daniel Brothers, Neal W. Driscoll, Graham Kent, Robert L. Baskin, Alistair J. Harding, Annie Kell

Vadose zone thickness limits pore-fluid pressures and acceleration in a large, slow-moving landslide

The rate and timing of hydrologically forced landslides is a complex function of precipitation patterns, material properties, topography, and groundwater hydrology. In the simplest form, however, slopes fail when subsurface pore pressure grows large enough to exceed the Mohr-Coulomb failure criterion. The capacity for pore pressure rise in a landslide is determined in part by the thickness of the
Authors
C.R. Murphy, N.J. Finnegan, Ferdinand Oberle

The role of pH up-regulation in response to nutrient-enriched, low-pH groundwater discharge

Coral reefs and their ecosystems are threatened by both global stressors, including increasing sea-surface temperatures and ocean acidification (OA), and local stressors such as land-based sources of pollution that can magnify the effects of OA. Corals can physiologically control the chemistry of their internal calcifying fluids (CF) and can thereby regulate their calcification process. Specifical
Authors
Nancy G. Prouty, Marlene Wall, J. Fietzke, Olivia Cheriton, Eleni Anagnostou, Brian Phillip, Adina Paytan

Can coastal habitats rise to the challenge? Resilience of estuarine habitats, carbon accumulation, and economic value to sea-level rise in a Puget Sound estuary

Sea-level rise (SLR) and obstructions to sediment delivery pose challenges to the persistence of estuarine habitats and the ecosystem services they provide. Restoration actions and sediment management strategies may help mitigate such challenges by encouraging the vertical accretion of sediment in and horizontal migration of tidal forests and marshes. We used a process-based soil accretion model (
Authors
Monica Mei Jeen Moritsch, Kristin B. Byrd, Melanie J. Davis, Anthony J. Good, Judith Z. Drexler, James T. Morris, Isa Woo, Lisamarie Windham-Myers, Eric E. Grossman, Glynnis Nakai, Katrina L. Poppe, John M. Rybczyk

Nearshore bathymetric changes along the Alaska Beaufort Sea coast and possible physical drivers

Erosion rates along Alaska's Beaufort Sea coast, among the highest in the world, are negatively impacting communities, industrial and military infrastructure, and wildlife habitat. Decreasing maximal winter ice extent and increasing summer open water duration and extent in the Beaufort Sea may be making the coast more vulnerable to destructive storm waves than during recent, colder, icier decades.
Authors
Mark Zimmermann, Li H. Erikson, Ann E. Gibbs, Megan M. Prescott, Stephen M. Escarzaga, Craig E. Tweedie, Jeremy L. Kasper, Paul X. Duvoy

Crystal chemistry of thallium in marine ferromanganese deposits

Our understanding of the up to 7 orders of magnitude partitioning of thallium (Tl) between seawater and ferromanganese (FeMn) deposits rests upon two foundations: (1) being able to quantify the Tl(I)/Tl(III) ratio that reflects the extent of the oxidative scavenging of Tl by vernadite (δ-MnO2), the principle manganate mineral in oxic and suboxic environments, and (2) being able to determine the so
Authors
Alain Manceau, Alexandre Simionovici, Nathaniel Findling, Pieter Glatzel, Blanka Detlefs, Anna V Wegorzewski, Kira Mizell, James R. Hein, Andrea Koschinsky

Deep-ocean polymetallic nodules and cobalt-rich ferromanganese crusts in the global ocean: New sources for critical metals

The transition from a global hydrocarbon economy to a green energy economy and the rapidly growing middle class in developing countries are driving the need for considerable new sources of critical materials. Deep-ocean minerals, namely cobalt-rich ferromanganese crusts and polymetallic nodules, are two such new resources generating interest.Polymetallic nodules are essentially two-dimensional min
Authors
James R. Hein, Kira Mizell

High-resolution observations of submarine groundwater discharge reveal the fine spatial and temporal scales of nutrient exposure on a coral reef: Faga'alu, AS

Submarine groundwater discharge (SGD) can deliver substantial nutrient and contaminant loads to nearshore coral reefs. Correctly scaling SGD rates from a point source to a reef is generally a linear process involving simplified assumptions on the hydrogeology, bathymetry, and nearshore hydrodynamics that are essential to properly assess SGD scale and impact to individual coral heads. Here, we appl
Authors
Ferdinand Oberle, Nancy G. Prouty, Segun B. Adebayo, Curt Storlazzi

California Deepwater Investigations and Groundtruthing (Cal DIG) I, volume 3 — Benthic habitat characterization offshore Morro Bay, California

Coastal and Marine Ecological Classification Standard (CMECS) geoform, substrate, and biotic component geographic information system (GIS) products were developed for the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone (U.S. EEZ) of south-central California in the region of Santa Lucia Bank motivated by interest in development of offshore wind-energy capacity and infrastructure. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management
Authors
Guy R. Cochrane, Linda A. Kuhnz, Lisa Gilbane, Peter Dartnell, Maureen A. L. Walton, Charles K. Paull

Ancient winds, waves, and atmosphere in Gale Crater, Mars, inferred from sedimentary structures and wave modeling

Wave modeling and analysis of sedimentary structures were used to evaluate whether four examples of symmetrical, reversing, or straight-crested bedforms in Gale crater sandstones are preserved wave ripples; deposition by waves would demonstrate that the lake was not covered by ice at that time. Wave modeling indicates that regardless of atmospheric density, winds that exceeded the threshold of aeo
Authors
DM Rubin, MAG Lapotre, Andrew W. Stevens, MP Lamb, CM Fedo, JP Grotzinger, S. Gupta, KM Stack, AR Vasavada, SG Banham, AB Bryk, G. Caravaca, JP Christian, Lauren A. Edgar, M. C. Malin

Fire (plus) flood (equals) beach: Coastal response to an exceptional river sediment discharge event

Wildfire and post-fire rainfall have resounding effects on hillslope processes and sediment yields of mountainous landscapes. Yet, it remains unclear how fire–flood sequences influence downstream coastal littoral systems. It is timely to examine terrestrial–coastal connections because climate change is increasing the frequency, size, and intensity of wildfires, altering precipitation rates, and ac
Authors
Jonathan Warrick, Kilian Vos, Amy E. East, Sean Vitousek