Publications
Scientific reports, journal articles, and information products produced by USGS Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center scientists.
Filter Total Items: 1334
Inland fields of dispersed cobbles and boulders as evidence for a tsunami on Anegada, British Virgin Islands
Marine overwash from the north a few centuries ago transported hundreds of angular cobbles and boulders tens to hundreds of meters southward from limestone outcrops in the interior of Anegada, 140 km east–northeast of Puerto Rico. We examined two of several cobble and boulder fields as part of an effort to interpret whether the overwash resulted from a tsunami or a storm in a location where both e
Authors
Bruce E. Jaffe, Steve Watt, Mark Buckley
Bathymetry and acoustic backscatter-outer mainland shelf, eastern Santa Barbara Channel, California
In 2010 and 2011, scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center (PCMSC), acquired bathymetry and acoustic-backscatter data from the outer shelf region of the eastern Santa Barbara Channel, California. These surveys were conducted in cooperation with the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM). BOEM is interested in maps of hard-bottom substrates, par
Authors
Peter Dartnell, David P. Finlayson, Andrew C. Ritchie, Guy R. Cochrane, Mercedes D. Erdey
Modeling of depth to base of Last Glacial Maximum and seafloor sediment thickness for the California State Waters Map Series, eastern Santa Barbara Channel, California
Models of the depth to the base of Last Glacial Maximum and sediment thickness over the base of Last Glacial Maximum for the eastern Santa Barbara Channel are a key part of the maps of shallow subsurface geology and structure for offshore Refugio to Hueneme Canyon, California, in the California State Waters Map Series. A satisfactory interpolation of the two datasets that accounted for regional ge
Authors
Florence L. Wong, Eleyne L. Phillips, Samuel Y. Johnson, Ray W. Sliter
Carbon sequestration via reaction with basaltic rocks: geochemical modeling and experimental results
Basaltic rocks are potential repositories for sequestering carbon dioxide (CO2) because of their capacity for trapping CO2 in carbonate minerals. We carried out a series of thermodynamic equilibrium models and high pressure experiments, reacting basalt with CO2-charged fluids over a range of conditions from 50 to 200 °C at 300 bar. Results indicate basalt has a high reactivity to CO2 acidified bri
Authors
Robert J. Rosenbauer, Burt Thomas, James L. Bischoff, James Palandri
Dissolved and colloidal trace elements in the Mississippi River Delta outflow after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita
The Mississippi River delta outflow region is periodically disturbed by tropical weather systems including major hurricanes, which can terminate seasonal bottom water hypoxia and cause the resuspension of shelf bottom sediments which could result in the injection of trace elements into the water column. In the summer of 2005, Hurricanes Katrina and Rita passed over the Louisiana Shelf within a mon
Authors
Moo-Joon Shim, Peter W. Swarzenski, Alan M. Shiller
The fluorescent tracer experiment on Holiday Beach near Mugu Canyon, Southern California
After revisiting sand tracer techniques originally developed in the 1960s, a range of fluorescent coating formulations were tested in the laboratory. Explicit steps are presented for the preparation of the formulation evaluated to have superior attributes, a thermoplastic pigment/dye in a colloidal mixture with a vinyl chloride/vinyl acetate copolymer. In September 2010, 0.59 cubic meters of fluor
Authors
Nicole Kinsman, J. P. Xu
Turbidite event history—Methods and implications for Holocene paleoseismicity of the Cascadia subduction zone
Turbidite systems along the continental margin of Cascadia Basin from Vancouver Island, Canada, to Cape Mendocino, California, United States, have been investigated with swath bathymetry; newly collected and archive piston, gravity, kasten, and box cores; and accelerator mass spectrometry radiocarbon dates. The purpose of this study is to test the applicability of the Holocene turbidite record as
Authors
Chris Goldfinger, C. Hans Nelson, Ann E. Morey, Joel E. Johnson, Jason R. Patton, Eugene B. Karabanov, Julia Gutierrez-Pastor, Andrew T. Eriksson, Eulalia Gracia, Gita Dunhill, Randolph J. Enkin, Audrey Dallimore, Tracy Vallier
A unifying model for planform straightness of ripples and dunes in air and water
Geologists, physicists, and mathematicians have studied ripples and dunes for more than a century, but despite considerable effort, no general model has been proposed to explain perhaps the most fundamental property of their morphology: why are some bedforms straight, continuous, parallel, and uniform in planform geometry (i.e. two-dimensional) whereas others are irregular (three-dimensional)? Her
Authors
David M. Rubin
Progress report for project modeling Arctic barrier island-lagoon system response to projected Arctic warming
Changes in Arctic coastal ecosystems in response to global warming may be some of the most severe on the planet. A better understanding and analysis of the rates at which these changes are expected to occur over the coming decades is crucial in order to delineate high-priority areas that are likely to be affected by climate changes. In this study we investigate the likelihood of changes to habitat
Authors
Li H. Erikson, Ann E. Gibbs, Bruce M. Richmond, Curt D. Storlazzi, Benjamin M. Jones
A seamless, high-resolution digital elevation model (DEM) of the north-central California coast
A seamless, 2-meter resolution digital elevation model (DEM) of the north-central California coast has been created from the most recent high-resolution bathymetric and topographic datasets available. The DEM extends approximately 150 kilometers along the California coastline, from Half Moon Bay north to Bodega Head. Coverage extends inland to an elevation of +20 meters and offshore to at least th
Authors
Amy C. Foxgrover, Patrick L. Barnard
Reformatted data sets used in the Cooperative LACSD/USGS Palos Verdes Flow Study, 2000--2008
Beginning in 1997, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) defined a contaminated section of the Palos Verdes shelf in southern California as a Superfund site, initiating a continuing investigation of this area. A number of agencies, including the EPA, U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), and Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC), conducted two oceanographic measurement programs in 200
Authors
Todd Anderson, Kurt J. Rosenberger, Anne L. Gartner
Magnetic map of the Irish Hills and surrounding areas, San Luis Obispo County, central California
A magnetic map of the Irish Hills and surrounding areas was created as part of a cooperative research and development agreement with the Pacific Gas and Electric Company and is intended to promote further understanding of the areal geology and structure by serving as a basis for geophysical interpretations and by supporting geological mapping, mineral and water resource investigations, and other t
Authors
V. E. Langenheim, J. T. Watt, K.M. Denton