Publications
Scientific reports, journal articles, and information products produced by USGS Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center scientists.
USGS Pubs Warehouse
USGS Pubs Warehouse
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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
The SAFRR tsunami scenario: improving resilience for California
On March 11, 2011, the Tohoku earthquake and the resulting tsunami devastated Japan with a disaster of unfathomable proportions. Five thousand miles away, the waves from Tohoku caused $50 to 100 million in damages in California. Although this pales in comparison to the loss of lives and property in Japan, the U.S. Government must ask whether California, and the national economy, will someday face
Authors
Stephanie L. Ross, Lucile M. Jones, Kevin H. Miller, Keith A. Porter, Anne Wein, Rick I. Wilson, Bohyun Bahng, Aggeliki Barberopoulou, José C. Borrero, Deborah M. Brosnan, John T. Bwarie, Eric L. Geist, Laurie A. Johnson, Stephen H. Kirby, William R. Knight, Kate Long, Patrick Lynett, Carl E. Mortensen, Dmitry J. Nicolsky, Suzanne C. Perry, Geoffrey S. Plumlee, Charles R. Real, Kenneth Ryan, Elena Suleimani, Hong Kie Thio, Vasily V. Titov, Paul M. Whitmore, Nathan J. Wood
The SAFRR Tsunami Scenario
The U.S. Geological Survey and several partners operate a program called Science Application for Risk Reduction (SAFRR) that produces (among other things) emergency planning scenarios for natural disasters. The scenarios show how science can be used to enhance community resiliency. The SAFRR Tsunami Scenario describes potential impacts of a hypothetical, but realistic, tsunami affecting California
Authors
K. Porter, Lucile M. Jones, Stephanie L. Ross, J. Borrero, J. Bwarie, D. Dykstra, Eric L. Geist, L. Johnson, Stephen H. Kirby, K. Long, P. Lynett, K. Miller, Carl E. Mortensen, S. Perry, G. Plumlee, C. Real, L. Ritchie, C. Scawthorn, H.K. Thio, Anne Wein, P. Whitmore, R. Wilson, Nathan J. Wood
Environmental assessment of metal exposure to corals living in Castle Harbour, Bermuda
Environmental contamination in Castle Harbour, Bermuda, has been linked to the dissolution and leaching of contaminants from the adjacent marine landfill. This study expands the evidence for environmental impact of leachate from the landfill by quantitatively demonstrating elevated metal uptake over the last 30 years in corals growing in Castle Harbour. Coral Pb/Ca, Zn/Ca and Mn/Ca ratios and tota
Authors
N.G. Prouty, N.F. Goodkin, R. Jones, C.H. Lamborg, C. D. Storlazzi, K.A. Hughen
Near-field tsunami edge waves and complex earthquake rupture
The effect of distributed coseismic slip on progressive, near-field edge waves is examined for continental shelf tsunamis. Detailed observations of edge waves are difficult to separate from the other tsunami phases that are observed on tide gauge records. In this study, analytic methods are used to compute tsunami edge waves distributed over a finite number of modes and for uniformly sloping bathy
Authors
Eric L. Geist
Origin and lateral migration of linear dunes in the Qaidam Basin of NW China revealed by dune sediments, internal structures, and optically stimulated luminescence ages, with implications for linear dunes on Titan: discussion
Zhou et al. (2012) proposed that longitudinal dunes in the Qaidam Basin, China, formed like yardangs: by erosion into sediment that was not deposited by those dunes. Because erosion occurs on the upwind flanks of most migrating dunes (Rubin and Hunter, 1982, 1985), the key to demonstrating a yardang-like origin is to show that the dunes did not deposit the strata that they contain. Zhou et al. mad
Authors
David M. Rubin, Alan M. Rubin
Settlement of the USS Arizona, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii
The U.S. Geological Survey, in collaboration with the National Park Service Submerged Resources Center, undertook investigations at the USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, in 2002, 2003, and 2005 to characterize geological factors affecting the deterioration and movement of the hull of the USS Arizona. Since sinking on the morning of December 7, 1941, the hull of the USS Arizona has been
Authors
Brad A. Carkin, Robert E. Kayen
California State Waters Map Series Data Catalog
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 the 3-nautical-mile limit of California's State Waters. The CSMP approach is to create highly detailed seafloor maps and associated data layers through the collection, in
Authors
Nadine E. Golden
Sediment geochemistry of Corte Madera Marsh, San Francisco Bay, California: have local inputs changed, 1830-2010?
Large perturbations since the mid-1800s to the supply and source of sediment entering San Francisco Bay have disturbed natural processes for more than 150 years. Only recently have sediment inputs through the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta (the Delta) decreased to what might be considered pre-disturbance levels. Declining sediment inputs to San Francisco Bay raise concern about continued tidal marsh
Authors
Renee K. Takesue, Bruce E. Jaffe
Rapid fluctuations in flow and water-column properties in Asan Bay, Guam: implications for selective resilience of coral reefs in warming seas
Hydrodynamics and water-column properties were investigated off west-central Guam from July 2007 through January 2008. Rapid fluctuations, on time scales of 10s of min, in currents, temperature, salinity, and acoustic backscatter were observed to occur on sub-diurnal frequencies along more than 2 km of the fore reef but not at the reef crest. During periods characterized by higher sea-surface temp
Authors
Curt D. Storlazzi, Michael E. Field, Olivia M. Cheriton, M.K. Presto, J.B. Logan
Anatomy of La Jolla submarine canyon system; offshore southern California
An autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) carrying a multibeam sonar and a chirp profiler was used to map sections of the seafloor within the La Jolla Canyon, offshore southern California, at sub-meter scales. Close-up observations and sampling were conducted during remotely operated vehicle (ROV) dives. Minisparker seismic-reflection profiles from a surface ship help to define the overall geometry o
Authors
C. K. Paull, D.W. Caress, E. Lundsten, R. Gwiazda, K. Anderson, M. McGann, J. Conrad, B. Edwards, E.J. Sumner
2010 Joint United States-Canadian Program to explore the limits of the Extended Continental Shelf aboard U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Healy--Cruise HLY1002
In August and September 2010, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with Natural Resources Canada, Geological Survey of Canada, conducted bathymetric and geophysical surveys in the Beaufort Sea and eastern Arctic Ocean aboard the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Healy. The principal objective of this mission to the high Arctic was to acquire data in support of a delineation of the outer limits of the
Authors
Brian D. Edwards, Jonathan R. Childs, Peter J. Triezenberg, William W. Danforth, Helen Gibbons
Hydrodynamics of spur and groove formations on a coral reef
Spur and groove (SAG) formations are found on the fore reefs of many coral reefs worldwide. Although these formations are primarily present in wave‐dominated environments, their effect on wave‐driven hydrodynamics is not well understood. A two‐dimensional, depth‐averaged, phase‐resolving nonlinear Boussinesq model (funwaveC) was used to model hydrodynamics on a simplified SAG system. The modeling
Authors
Justin S. Rogers, Stephen G. Monismith, Falk Feddersen, Curt D. Storlazzi