Publications
Scientific reports, journal articles, and information products produced by USGS Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center scientists.
Filter Total Items: 1334
Climate warming reduces fish production and benthic habitat in Lake Tanganyika, one of the most biodiverse freshwater ecosystems
Warming climates are rapidly transforming lake ecosystems worldwide, but the breadth of changes in tropical lakes is poorly documented. Sustainable management of freshwater fisheries and biodiversity requires accounting for historical and ongoing stressors such as climate change and harvest intensity. This is problematic in tropical Africa, where records of ecosystem change are limited and local p
Authors
Andrew S. Cohen, Elizabeth L. Gergurich, Benjamin M. Kraemer, Michael M. McGlue, Peter B. McIntyre, James M. Russell, Jack D. Simmons, Peter W. Swarzenski
California State Waters Map Series — Offshore of Monterey, California
IntroductionIn 2007, the California Ocean Protection Council initiated the California Seafloor Mapping Program (CSMP), designed to create a comprehensive seafloor map of high-resolution bathymetry, marine benthic habitats, and geology within the 3-nautical-mile limit of California’s State Waters. The CSMP approach is to create highly detailed seafloor maps through collection, integration, interpre
Authors
Samuel Y. Johnson, Peter Dartnell, Stephen R. Hartwell, Guy R. Cochrane, Nadine E. Golden, Janet Watt, Clifton W. Davenport, Rikk G. Kvitek, Mercedes D. Erdey, Lisa M. Krigsman, Ray W. Sliter, Katherine L. Maier
Highstand shelf fans: The role of buoyancy reversal in the deposition of a new type of shelf sand body
Although sea-level highstands are typically associated with sediment-starved continental shelves, high sea level does not hinder major river floods. Turbidity currents generated by plunging of sediment-laden rivers at the fluvial-marine interface, known as hyperpycnal flows, allow for cross-shelf transport of suspended sand beyond the coastline. Hyperpycnal flows in southern California have deposi
Authors
Elisabeth Steel, Alexander R. Simms, Jonathan Warrick, Yusuke Yokoyama
Comment on “Geochemistry of buried river sediments from Ghaggar Plains, NW India: Multi-proxy records of variations in provenance, paleoclimate, and paleovegetation patterns in the late quaternary” by Ajit Singh, Debajyoti Paul, Rajiv Sinha, Kristina J. T
Singh et al. (2016) published a geochemical record of sediment compositions from the flood plain of the Ghaggar River in western India and use the changing provenance, particularly as traced by Nd isotope composition, to reconstruct how erosion patterns have changed over the past 100 k.y. In doing so they propose a link between climate change and erosion, and they argue for more erosion from the H
Authors
Peter D. Clift, Liviu Giosan, Amy E. East
M≥7 Earthquake rupture forecast and time-dependent probability for the Sea of Marmara region, Turkey
We forecast time-independent and time-dependent earthquake ruptures in the Marmara region of Turkey for the next 30 years using a new fault-segmentation model. We also augment time-dependent Brownian Passage Time (BPT) probability with static Coulomb stress changes (ΔCFF) from interacting faults. We calculate Mw > 6.5 probability from 26 individual fault sources in the Marmara region. We also cons
Authors
Maura Murru, Aybige Akinci, Guiseppe Falcone, Stefano Pucci, Rodolfo Console, Thomas E. Parsons
Seasonal sediment dynamics shape temperate bedrock reef communities
Mobilized seafloor sediment can impact benthic reef communities through burial, scour, and turbidity. These processes are ubiquitous in coastal oceans and, through their influence on the survival, fitness, and interactions of species, can alter the structure and function of benthic communities. In northern Monterey Bay, California, USA, as much as 30% of the seafloor is buried or exposed seasonall
Authors
Jared D. Figurski, Jan Freiwald, Steve I. Lonhart, Curt D. Storlazzi
Groundwater-derived nutrient and trace element transport to a nearshore Kona coral ecosystem: Experimental mixing model results
Study regionThe groundwater influenced coastal waters along the arid Kona coast of the Big Island, Hawai’i.Study focusA salinity-and phase partitioning-based mixing experiment was constructed using contrasting groundwater endmembers along the arid Konacoast of the Big Island, Hawai’i and local open seawater to better understand biogeochemical and physicochemical processes that influence the fate o
Authors
Nancy G. Prouty, Peter W. Swarzenski, Joseph Fackrell, Karen H. Johannesson, C. Diane Palmore
Prospective earthquake forecasts at the Himalayan Front after the 25 April 2015 M 7.8 Gorkha Mainshock
When a major earthquake strikes, the resulting devastation can be compounded or even exceeded by the subsequent cascade of triggered seismicity. As the Nepalese recover from the 25 April 2015 shock, knowledge of what comes next is essential. We calculate the redistribution of crustal stresses and implied earthquake probabilities for different periods, from daily to 30 years into the future. An ini
Authors
Margaret Segou, Thomas E. Parsons
Growth rates and ages of deep-sea corals impacted by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill
The impact of the April 2010 Deepwater Horizon (DWH) spill on deep-sea coral communities in the Gulf of Mexico (GoM) is still under investigation, as is the potential for these communities to recover. Impacts from the spill include observation of corals covered with flocculent material, with bare skeleton, excessive mucous production, sloughing tissue, and subsequent colonization of damaged areas
Authors
Nancy G. Prouty, Charles R. Fisher, Amanda W.J. Demopoulos, Ellen R. M. Druffel
Assessing tidal marsh vulnerability to sea-level rise in the Skagit Delta
Historical aerial photographs, from 1937 to the present, show Skagit Delta tidal marshes prograding into Skagit Bay for most of the record, but the progradation rates have been steadily declining and the marshes have begun to erode in recent decades despite the large suspended sediment load provided by the Skagit River. In an area of the delta isolated from direct riverine sediment supply by anthr
Authors
W. Gregory Hood, Eric E. Grossman, Curt Veldhuisen
Refined depositional history and dating of the Tongaporutuan reference section, north Taranaki, New Zealand: new volcanic ash U-Pb zircon ages, biostratigraphy and sedimentation rates
This study presents new radiometric ages from volcanic ash beds within a c. 1900 m thick, progradational, deep-water clastic slope succession of late Miocene age exposed along the north Taranaki coast of the North Island, New Zealand. The ash beds yield U–Pb zircon ages ranging from 10.63 ± 0.65 Ma to 8.97 ± 0.22 Ma. The new ages are compatible with and provide corroboration of New Zealand Tongapo
Authors
K.L. Maier, Martin P. Crundwell, Matthew A. Coble, Peter R. Kingsley-Smith, Stephan A. Graham
California State Waters Map Series — Monterey Canyon and vicinity, California
IntroductionIn 2007, the California Ocean Protection Council initiated the California Seafloor Mapping Program (CSMP), designed to create a comprehensive seafloor map of high-resolution bathymetry, marine benthic habitats, and geology within the 3-nautical-mile limit of California’s State Waters. The CSMP approach is to create highly detailed seafloor maps through collection, integration, interpre
Authors
Peter Dartnell, Katherine L. Maier, Mercedes D. Erdey, Bryan E. Dieter, Nadine E. Golden, Samuel Y. Johnson, Stephen R. Hartwell, Guy R. Cochrane, Andrew C. Ritchie, David P. Finlayson, Rikk G. Kvitek, Ray W. Sliter, H. Gary Greene, Clifton W. Davenport, Charles A. Endris, Lisa M. Krigsman