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Publications

Scientific reports, journal articles, and information products produced by USGS Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center scientists.

Filter Total Items: 1331

Carbonate control of H2 and CH4 production in serpentinization systems at elevated P-Ts

Serpentinization of forsteritic olivine results in the inorganic synthesis of molecular hydrogen (H2) in ultramafic hydrothermal systems (e.g., mid-ocean ridge and forearc environments). Inorganic carbon in those hydrothermal systems may react with H2 to produce methane (CH4) and other hydrocarbons or react with dissolved metal ions to form carbonate minerals. Here, we report serpentinization expe
Authors
L. Camille Jones, Robert Rosenbauer, Jonas I. Goldsmith, Christopher Oze

An approach for modeling sediment budgets in supply-limited rivers

Reliable predictions of sediment transport and river morphology in response to variations in natural and human-induced drivers are necessary for river engineering and management. Because engineering and management applications may span a wide range of space and time scales, a broad spectrum of modeling approaches has been developed, ranging from suspended-sediment "rating curves" to complex three-
Authors
Scott A. Wright, David J. Topping, David M. Rubin, Theodore S. Melis

Biogeochemical processes in an urban, restored wetland of San Francisco Bay, California, 2007-2009: Methods and data for plant, sediment and water parameters

The restoration of 18 acres of historic tidal marsh at Crissy Field has had great success in terms of public outreach and visibility, but less success in terms of revegetated marsh sustainability. Native cordgrass (Spartina foliosa) has experienced dieback and has failed to recolonize following extended flooding events during unintended periodic closures of its inlet channel, which inhibits daily
Authors
Lisamarie Windham-Myers, Mark C. Marvin-DiPasquale, Jennifer L. Agee, Le H. Kieu, Evangelos Kakouros, Li H. Erikson, Kristen Ward

Seasonal and decadal-scale channel evolution on the dammed Elwha River, Washington

To complement ongoing field studies of channel morphology, we evaluate decadal-scale evolution of the dammed lower Elwha River by using historical aerial photographs. Here, we revise an analysis published by Draut et al. (2008), which covered the interval 1939–2006, to include data collected after a major flood on December 3, 2007. That flood, which resulted from substantial rainfall on snow in th
Authors
Amy E. Draut, Joshua B. Logan, Mark C. Mastin, Randall E. McCoy

Climate change in the federated states of Micronesia: Food and water security, climate risk management, and adaptive strategies

This is a report of findings following research and a three-week field assessment (April 2009) of the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) in response to nation-wide marine inundation by extreme tides (December 2007, September 2008, December 2008).3 The study was conducted at the request of the US Department of Agriculture Forest Service and the state and federal governments of FSM.
Authors
Charles H. Fletcher, Bruce M. Richmond

Seasonal and decadal-scale channel evolution on the dammed Elwha River, Washington

More than 75,000 dams exist in the continental United States to provide water storage, flood control, and hydropower generation (Graf, 1999). Many of these were built during the early twentieth century and are due for relicensing consideration now and in the near future. The cost of repairing aging dams, together with growing understanding of the ecologic effects of river regulation (Williams and
Authors
Amy E. Draut, Joshua B. Logan, Mark C. Mastin, Randall E. McCoy

Estimating the empirical probability of submarine landslide occurrence

The empirical probability for the occurrence of submarine landslides at a given location can be estimated from age dates of past landslides. In this study, tools developed to estimate earthquake probability from paleoseismic horizons are adapted to estimate submarine landslide probability. In both types of estimates, one has to account for the uncertainty associated with age-dating individual even
Authors
Eric L. Geist, Thomas E. Parsons

Normalized velocity profiles of field-measured turbidity currents

Multiple turbidity currents were recorded in two submarine canyons with maximum speed as high as 280 cm/s. For each individual turbidity current measured at a fixed station, its depth-averaged velocity typically decreased over time while its thickness increased. Some turbidity currents gained in speed as they traveled downcanyon, suggesting a possible self-accelerating process. The measured veloci
Authors
Jingping Xu

Anthropogenic influence on recent bathymetric change in west-central San Francisco Bay

Two multibeam sonar surveys of west-central San Francisco Bay, California, were conducted in 1997 and 2008. Bathymetric change analysis between the two surveys indicates a loss of 14.1 million cubic meters (-3.1 cm/yr) of sediment during this time period, representing an approximately three-fold acceleration of the rate that was observed from prior depth change analysis from 1947 to 1979 for all o
Authors
Patrick L. Barnard, Rikk G. Kvitek

Wind-enhanced resuspension in the shallow waters of South San Francisco Bay: Mechanisms and potential implications for cohesive sediment transport

We investigated the driving forces of sediment dynamics at the shoals in South San Francisco Bay. Two stations were deployed along a line perpendicular to a 14 m deep channel, 1000 and 2000 m from the middle of the channel. Station depths were 2.59 and 2.19 m below mean lower low water, respectively. We used acoustic Doppler velocimeters for the simultaneous determination of current velocities, tu
Authors
Andreas Brand, Jessica R. Lacy, Kevin Hsu, Daniel Hoover, Steve Gladding, Mark T. Stacey

Editorial: Exploring new frontiers with JGR–Solid Earth

No abstract available. 
Authors
Robert L. Nowack, Tom Parsons, André Revil