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: 1331
The value of US coral reefs for flood risk reduction
Habitats, such as coral reefs, can mitigate increasing flood damages through coastal protection services. We provide a fine-scale, national valuation of the flood risk reduction benefits of coral habitats to people, property, economies and infrastructure. Across 3,100 km of US coastline, the top-most 1 m of coral reefs prevents the 100-yr flood from growing by 23% (113 km2), avoiding flooding to 5
Authors
Borja G. Reguero, Curt Storlazzi, Ann E. Gibbs, James B. Shope, Aaron Cole, Kristen A. Cumming, Mike Beck
Unsaturated flow processes and the onset of seasonal deformation in slow-moving landslides
Predicting rainfall-induced landslide motion is challenging because shallow groundwater flow is extremely sensitive to the preexisting moisture content in the ground. Here, we use groundwater hydrology theory and numerical modeling combined with five years of field monitoring to illustrate how unsaturated groundwater flow processes modulate the seasonal pore water pressure rise and therefore the o
Authors
Noah J. Finnegan, Jonathan P. Perkins, Alexander Lewis Nereson, Alexander L. Handwerger
Landscape evolution in eastern Chuckwalla Valley, Riverside County, California
This study investigates sedimentary and geomorphic processes in eastern Chuckwalla Valley, Riverside County, California, a region of arid, basin-and-range terrain where extensive solar-energy development is planned. The objectives of this study were to (1) measure local weather parameters and use them to model aeolian sediment-transport potential; (2) identify surface sedimentary characteristics i
Authors
Amy E. East, Harrison J. Gray, Margaret Hiza Redsteer, Matthew Ballmer
A numerical study of wave-driven mean flows and setup dynamics at a coral reef-lagoon system
Two-dimensional mean wave-driven flow and setup dynamics were investigated at a reef-lagoon system at Ningaloo Reef, Western Australia, using the numerical wave-flow model, SWASH. Phase-resolved numerical simulations of the wave and flow fields, validated with highly detailed field observations (including >10 sensors through the energetic surf zone), were used to quantify the main mechanisms that
Authors
Dirk P. Rijnsdorp, Mark L. Buckley, Renan da Silva, Mike Cuttler, Jeff Hansen, Ryan Lowe, Rebecca H. Green, Curt Storlazzi
Expanding the repertoire of electron acceptors for the anaerobic oxidation of methane in carbonates in the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean
Authigenic carbonates represent a significant microbial sink for methane, yet little is known about the microbiome responsible for the methane removal. We identify carbonate microbiomes distributed over 21 locations hosted by seven different cold seeps in the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans by carrying out a gene-based survey using 16S rRNA- and mcrA gene sequencing coupled with metagenomic analyses.
Authors
Sabrina Beckmann, Ibrahim F. Farag, Rui Zhao, Glenn Christman, Nancy G. Prouty, Jennifer F. Biddle
Potential use of the benthic foraminifers Bulimina denudata and Eggerelloides advenus in marine sediment toxicity testing
The benthic foraminifers Bulimina denudata and Eggerelloides advenus are commonly abundant in offshore regions in the Pacific Ocean, especially in waste-discharge sites. The relationship between their abundance and standard macrofaunal sediment toxicity tests (amphipod survival and sea urchin fertilization) as well as sediment chemistry analyte measurements were determined for sediments collected
Authors
Mary McGann
The making of the NEAM Tsunami Hazard Model 2018 (NEAMTHM18)
The NEAM Tsunami Hazard Model 2018 (NEAMTHM18) is a probabilistic hazard model for tsunamis generated by earthquakes. It covers the coastlines of the North-eastern Atlantic, the Mediterranean, and connected seas (NEAM). NEAMTHM18 was designed as a three-phase project. The first two phases were dedicated to the model development and hazard calculations, following a formalized decision-making proces
Authors
Roberto Basili, Beatriz Brizuela, Andre Herrero, Sarfraz Iqbal, Stefano Lorito, Francesco Emanuele Maesano, Shane Murphy, Paolo Perfetti, Fabrizio Romano, Antonio Scala, Jacopo Selva, Matteo Taroni, Mara Monica Tiberti, Hong Kie Thio, R. Tonini, Manuela Volpe, Sylfest Glimsdal, Carl B. Harbitz, Finn Lovholt, Maria Ana Baptista, Fernando Carrilho, Luis M. A. Matias, Rachid Omira, Andrey Babeyko, Andreas Hoechner, Mucahit Gurbuz, Onur Pekcan, A. Yalciner, Miquel Canals, Galderic Lastras, Apostolos Agalos, Gerassimo Papadapoulos, Ioanna Triantafyllou, Sabah Benchekroun, Hedi Agrebi Jaouadi, Samir Ben Abdallah, Atef Bouallegue, Hassene Hamdi, Foued Oueslati, A. Amato, Alberto Armigliato, Jörn Behrens, Gareth Davies, Daniela Di Bucci, Mauro Dolce, Eric L. Geist, Jose Manuel Gonzalez Vida, Mauricio Gonzalez, Jorges Macias Sanchez, C. Meletti, Ceren Ozer Sozdinler, Marco Pagani, Tom Parsons, Jascha Polet, William Power, Mathilde B. Sorensen, Andrey Zaytsev
The role of surges during periods of very shallow water on sediment transport over tidal flats
Periods of very shallow water (water depth in the order of 10 cm) occur daily on tidal flats because of the propagation of tides over very gently sloping beds, leading to distinct morphodynamical phenomena. To improve the understanding of the characteristics of velocity and suspended sediment concentration (SSC) surges and their contribution to sediment transport and local bed changes during perio
Authors
Qian Zhang, Zheng Gong, Changkuan Zhang, Jessica R. Lacy, Bruce E. Jaffe, Beibei Xu, Xindi Chen
Deepwater debrites and linked megaturbidites in confined basins: An example from the Onnuri Basin, East Sea of Korea
We analyzed data from seven piston cores, multi-channel seismic-reflection (MCS) and chirp profiles, and multibeam echosounder (MBES) data to study the distribution, emplacement time, sedimentary facies, and depositional processes of sediment-gravity-flow deposits in the Onnuri Basin, a confined basin in the East Sea. These data reveal that debris flows have traveled ca. 30 km downslope, forming a
Authors
Deniz Cukur, In-Kwon Um, Jong-Hwa Chun, Gwang-Soo Lee, Gee-Too Kong, Samuel Y. Johnson, Senay Horozal
Preconditioning by sediment accumulation can produce powerful turbidity currents without major external triggers
Turbidity currents dominate sediment transfer into the deep ocean, and can damage critical seabed infrastructure. It is commonly inferred that powerful turbidity currents are triggered by major external events, such as storms, river floods, or earthquakes. However, basic models for turbidity current triggering remain poorly tested, with few studies accurately recording precise flow timing. Here, w
Authors
Lewis Bailey, Michael Clare, Kurt J. Rosenberger, Matthieu J.B. Cartigny, Peter J. Talling, Charles K. Paull, Roberto Gwiazda, Daniel Parsons, Stephen Simmons, Jingping Xu, Ivan Haigh, Katherine L. Maier, Mary McGann, Eve M. Lundsten
Characterization of deep-sea coral and sponge communities in Greater Farallones National Marine Sanctuary: Point Arena South Essential Fish Habitat Conservation Area and New Amendment 28 Areas
This report summarizes samples collected during a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) cruise conducted in October 2019 on board E/V Nautilus. Areas sampled in Greater Farallones National Marine Sanctuary included areas proposed for fisheries management zoning in the Point Arena South (PAS) Essential Fish Habitat Conservation Area (EFH). Dive planning targeted habitats and biological communities of cor
Authors
Kaitlin Graiff, Jan Roletto, Sage Tezak, Gary E. Williams, Guy R. Cochrane
A 100-km wide slump along the upper slope of the Canadian Arctic was likely preconditioned for failure by brackish pore water flushing
Exploration of the continental slope of the Canadian Beaufort Sea has revealed a remarkable coalescence of slide scars with headwalls between 130 and 1100 m water depth (mwd). With increased depth, the scars widen and merge into one gigantic regional slide scar that is more than 100 km wide below ~1100 mwd. To understand the development of these features, five sites were investigated with an Auton
Authors
C. K. Paull, S.R. Dallimore, D.W. Caress, R. Gwiazda, E. Lundsten, K. Anderson, H. Melling, Y.K. Jin, M.J. Duchesne, Kang S-G., S. Kim, M. Riedel, E.L. King, Thomas Lorenson