Publications
Scientific reports, journal articles, and information products produced by USGS Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center scientists.
Filter Total Items: 1334
Use of mussel casts from archaeological sites as paleoecological indicators: An example from CA-MRN-254, Marin County, Alta California
Archaeological investigations at prehistoric site CA-MRN-254 at the Dominican University of California in Marin County, California, revealed evidence of Native American occupation spanning the past 1,800 years. A dominant source of food for the inhabitants in the San Francisco Bay area was the intertidal, quiet-water dwelling blue mussel (Mytilus trossulus), although rare occurrences of the open c
Authors
Mary McGann, Scott W. Starratt, Charles L. Powell, David G Bieling
Reconstruction of far-field tsunami amplitude distributions from earthquake sources
The probability distribution of far-field tsunami amplitudes is explained in relation to the distribution of seismic moment at subduction zones. Tsunami amplitude distributions at tide gauge stations follow a similar functional form, well described by a tapered Pareto distribution that is parameterized by a power-law exponent and a corner amplitude. Distribution parameters are first established fo
Authors
Eric L. Geist, Thomas E. Parsons
Wave attenuation in the shallows of San Francisco Bay
Waves propagating over broad, gently-sloped shallows decrease in height due to frictional dissipation at the bed. We quantified wave-height evolution across 7 km of mudflat in San Pablo Bay (northern San Francisco Bay), an environment where tidal mixing prevents the formation of fluid mud. Wave height was measured along a cross shore transect (elevation range−2mto+0.45mMLLW) in winter 2011 and sum
Authors
Jessica R. Lacy, Lissa J. MacVean
Tracking millennial-scale Holocene glacial advance and retreat using osmium isotopes: Insights from the Greenland ice sheet
High-resolution Os isotope stratigraphy can aid in reconstructing Pleistocene ice sheet fluctuation and elucidating the role of local and regional weathering fluxes on the marine Os residence time. This paper presents new Os isotope data from ocean cores adjacent to the West Greenland ice sheet that have excellent chronological controls. Cores MSM-520 and DA00-06 represent distal to proximal sites
Authors
Alan D. Rooney, David Selby, Jeremy M. Llyod, David H. Roberts, Andreas Luckge, Bradley B. Sageman, Nancy G. Prouty
California State Waters Map Series — Offshore of Santa Cruz, 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 limit of California’s State Waters. The CSMP approach is to create highly detailed seafloor maps through collection, integration, interpretation, and visu
Authors
Guy R. Cochrane, Peter Dartnell, Samuel Y. Johnson, Mercedes D. Erdey, Nadine E. Golden, H. Gary Greene, Bryan E. Dieter, Stephen R. Hartwell, Andrew C. Ritchie, David P. Finlayson, Charles A. Endris, Janet Watt, Clifton W. Davenport, Ray W. Sliter, Katherine L. Maier, Lisa M. Krigsman
California State Waters map series — Offshore of Aptos, California
Introduction
In 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 California’s State Waters. The CSMP approach is to create highly detailed seafloor maps through collection, integration, interpretation, and visualization of
Authors
Guy R. Cochrane, Samuel Y. Johnson, Peter Dartnell, H. Gary Greene, Mercedes D. Erdey, Bryan E. Dieter, Nadine E. Golden, Stephen R. Hartwell, Andrew C. Ritchie, Rikk G. Kvitek, Katherine L. Maier, Charles A. Endris, Clifton W. Davenport, Janet Watt, Ray W. Sliter, David P. Finlayson, Lisa M. Krigsman
Variability of the internal tide on the southern Monterey Bay continental shelf and associated bottom boundary layer sediment transport
A 6-month deployment of instrumentation from April to October 2012 in 90 m water depth near the outer edge of the mid-shelf mud belt in southern Monterey Bay, California, reveals the importance regional upwelling on water column density structure, potentially accounting for the majority of the variability in internal tidal energy flux across the shelf. Observations consisted of time-series measure
Authors
Kurt J. Rosenberger, Curt D. Storlazzi, Olivia Cheriton
What a drag: Quantifying the global impact of chronic bottom trawling on continental shelf sediment
Continental shelves worldwide are subject to intense bottom trawling that causes sediment to be resuspended. The widely used traditional concepts of modern sedimentary transport systems on the shelf rely only on estimates for naturally driven sediment resuspension such as through storm waves, bottom currents, and gravity-driven flows but they overlook a critical anthropogenic factor. The strong in
Authors
Ferdinand K. J. Oberle, Curt D. Storlazzi, Till J.J. Hanebuth
Vertical deformation associated with normal fault systems evolved over coseismic, postseismic, and multiseismic periods
Vertical deformation of extensional provinces varies significantly and in seemingly contradictory ways. Sparse but robust geodetic, seismic, and geologic observations in the Basin and Range province of the western United States indicate that immediately after an earthquake, vertical change primarily occurs as subsidence of the normal fault hanging wall. A few decades later, a ±100 km wide zone is
Authors
George A. Thompson, Thomas E. Parsons
Controls on ferromanganese crust composition and reconnaissance resource potential, Ninetyeast Ridge, Indian Ocean
A reconnaissance survey of Fe-Mn crusts from the 5000 km long (~31°S to 10°N) Ninetyeast Ridge (NER) in the Indian Ocean shows their widespread occurrence along the ridge as well as with water depth on the ridge flanks. The crusts are hydrogenetic based in growth rates and discrimination plots. Twenty samples from 12 crusts from 9 locations along the ridge were analyzed for chemical and mineralogi
Authors
James R. Hein, Tracey A. Conrad, Kira Mizell, Virupaxa K. Banakar, Frederick A. Frey, William W. Sager
Seismic attribute detection of faults and fluid pathways within an active strike-slip shear zone: New insights from high-resolution 3D P-Cable™ seismic data along the Hosgri Fault, offshore California
Poststack data conditioning and neural-network seismic attribute workflows are used to detect and visualize faulting and fluid migration pathways within a 13.7 km2 13.7 km2 3D P-Cable™ seismic volume located along the Hosgri Fault Zone offshore central California. The high-resolution 3D volume used in this study was collected in 2012 as part of Pacific Gas and Electric’s Central California Seismic
Authors
Jared W. Kluesner, Daniel S. Brothers
Continental Shelf Morphology and Stratigraphy Offshore San Onofre, CA: The Interplay Between Rates of Eustatic Change and Sediment Supply
New high-resolution CHIRP seismic data acquired offshore San Onofre, southern California reveal that shelf sediment distribution and thickness are primarily controlled by eustatic sea level rise and sediment supply. Throughout the majority of the study region, a prominent abrasion platform and associated shoreline cutoff are observed in the subsurface from ~ 72 to 53 m below present sea level. The
Authors
Shannon Klotsko, Neal W. Driscoll, Graham Kent, Daniel S. Brothers