Publications
Scientific reports, journal articles, and information products produced by USGS Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center scientists.
USGS Pubs Warehouse
USGS Pubs Warehouse
Browse the USGS Publications Warehouse to broaden your search with enhanced filtering.
Sound Waves Newsletter
Sound Waves Newsletter
Browse issues of the Sound Waves newsletter, featuring coastal and marine research news from across the USGS.
Filter Total Items: 1331
Mineralization at oceanic transform faults and fracture zones
Mineral formation in the modern oceans can take place over millions of years as a result precipitation from ambient ocean water, or orders of magnitude more rapidly from hydrothermal activity related to magmatic and tectonic processes. Here, we review associations between transform faults and related fracture zones and marine minerals. We define marine transform faults as strike-slip or oblique fa
Authors
Amy Gartman, James R. Hein
Hydrodynamics of a tidally‐forced coral reef atoll
The hydrodynamics of a tidally forced semi‐enclosed coral reef atoll (North Scott) at the edge of the continental shelf of northwestern Australia were investigated by combining field observations and numerical modeling. The observations revealed that the spring tidal range outside the atoll reaches 4 m, and as the water level drops below mean sea level, the reef rim surrounding the shallow (~10–15
Authors
Rebecca H. Green, Ryan J. Lowe, Mark L. Buckley
Powerful turbidity currents driven by dense basal layers
Seafloor sediment flows (turbidity currents) are among the volumetrically most important yet least documented sediment transport processes on Earth. A scarcity of direct observations means that basic characteristics, such as whether flows are entirely dilute or driven by a dense basal layer, remain equivocal. Here we present the most detailed direct observations yet from oceanic turbidity currents
Authors
C. K. Paull, P. J. Talling, Katherine L. Maier, Daniel Parsons, Jingping Xu, D. W. Caress, R. Gwiazda, E. Lundsten, K. Anderson, James P. Barry, M. Chaffey, T. O'Reilly, Kurt J. Rosenberger, Jenny Gales, Brian Kieft, Mary McGann, Samantha E. Simmons, M. McCann, Esther J. Sumner, M. A. Clare, M. J. Cartigny
2018 hurricane and wildfire supplemental funding: USGS recovery activities
The Additional Supplemental Appropriations for Disaster Relief Requirements Act, 2018 (P.L. 115-123), was signed by the President on February 9, 2018. This funding provided $42.2 million to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) for equipment repair and replacement, high-resolution elevation data collection in both hurricane- and wildfire-impacted areas, and scientific studies and assessments that will
Authors
Jo Ellen Hinck, Joseph Stachyra
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Natural Hazards Mission Area, Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program, Columbia Environmental Research Center, Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center, Supplemental Appropriations for Disaster Recovery Activities, Hurricane Harvey, Hurricane Irma, Hurricane Maria, Wildland Fire Science
Examination of differences between three SPT-based seismic soil liquefaction triggering relationships
The preceding companion paper presented the updating of the seismic soil liquefactiontriggering relationship of Cetin et al. [1], and compared the resulting updated relationship with the earlier version. In this second paper, a detailed cross-comparison is made between three triggering relationships: (1) Seed et al. [2], as slightly updated by the NCEER Working Group (Youd et al. [3]), (2) Boulang
Authors
K. Onder Cetin, Raymond B. Seed, Robert E. Kayen, Robb E. S. Moss, H. Tolga Bilge, Makbule Ilgac, Khaled Chowdhury
Geology of San Francisco
No abstract available.
Authors
Russell W. Graymer, Robert Givler, John Baldwin, William Lettis, Samuel Johnson, H. Gary Greene, Peter Dartnell
A regime shift in sediment export from a coastal watershed during a record wet winter, California: Implications for landscape response to hydroclimatic extremes
Small, steep watersheds are prolific sediment sources from which sediment flux is highly sensitive to climatic changes. Storm intensity and frequency are widely expected to increase during the 21st century, and so assessing the response of small, steep watersheds to extreme rainfall is essential to understanding landscape response to climate change. During record winter rainfall in 2016–2017, the
Authors
Amy E. East, Andrew W. Stevens, Andrew C. Ritchie, Patrick L. Barnard, Pamela L. Campbell‐Swarzenski, Brian D. Collins, Christopher H. Conaway
Practical approaches to maximizing the resolution of sparker seismic reflection data
Sparkers are a type of sound source widely used by the marine seismic community to provide high-resolution imagery of the shallow sub-bottom (i.e., < 1000 m). Although sparkers are relatively simple, inexpensive, and high-frequency (100–2500 Hz) sources, they have several potential pitfalls due to their complicated and unpredictable signature. In this study we quantify the source characteristics o
Authors
Jared W. Kluesner, Daniel S. Brothers, Patrick E. Hart, Nathaniel C. Miller, Gerry Hatcher
Geochemical sourcing of runoff from a young volcanic watershed to an impacted coral reef in Pelekane Bay, Hawaii
Runoff of sediment and other contaminants from developed watersheds threatens coastal ecosystems and services. A sediment geochemical sourcing study was undertaken on a sediment-impacted coral reef flat to identify terrestrial sediment sources and how these changed over time. Geochemical signatures were identified for watershed soils that formed on Hawaiian basaltic and alkalic lavas using relativ
Authors
Renee K. Takesue, Curt D. Storlazzi
Juvenile Chinook salmon and forage fish use of eelgrass habitats in a diked and channelized Puget Sound River Delta
Eelgrass Zostera marina can form extensive meadows on Puget Sound river deltas. The extent to which these meadows provide critical rearing habitat for local estuarine fishes, especially out‐migrating juvenile salmon, is not well understood. Further, delta eelgrass has been impacted by diking and river channelization with unknown consequences for fish. We sampled fish in the Skagit River delta, Was
Authors
Stephen P. Rubin, Michael C. Hayes, Eric E. Grossman
Assessing and communicating the impacts of climate change on the Southern California coast
Over the course of this and the next century, the combination of rising sea levels, severe storms, and coastal erosion will threaten the sustainability of coastal communities, development, and ecosystems as we currently know them. To clearly identify coastal vulnerabilities and develop appropriate adaptation strategies for projected increased levels of coastal flooding and erosion, coastal manager
Authors
Li H. Erikson, Patrick L. Barnard, Andrea C. O'Neill, Patrick Limber, Sean Vitousek, Juliette Finzi Hart, Maya Hayden, Jeanne M. Jones, Nathan J. Wood, Michael Fitzgibbon, Amy C. Foxgrover, Jessica Lovering
Controls on submarine canyon head evolution: Monterey Canyon, offshore central California
The Monterey submarine canyon, incised across the continental shelf in Monterey Bay, California, provides a record of the link between onshore tectonism, fluvial transport, and deep-marine deposition. High-resolution seismic-reflection imaging in Monterey Bay reveals an extensive paleocanyon unit buried below the seafloor of the continental shelf around Monterey and Soquel canyon heads. Paleocanyo
Authors
Katherine L. Maier, Samuel Y. Johnson, Patrick E. Hart