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Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center

2022 Annual Report

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Mapping methane reduction potential of tidal wetland restoration in the United States

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Opportunities to improve alignment with the FAIR Principles for U.S. Geological Survey data

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Scientific literature and information products produced by Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center staff

Featured Journal Article

Herring River, Wellfleet, MA

Calibrating optical turbidity measurements with suspended-sediment concentrations from the Herring River in Wellfleet, Massachusetts, from November 2018 to November 2019

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Featured USGS Series

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Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center—2022 Annual Report.  The 2022 annual report highlights accomplishments, includes a list of publications, and summarizes the work of the center and each of the science groups.

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Sound Waves

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Coastal and Marine Research News from Across the USGS

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Filter Total Items: 1691

Massachusetts shoreline change project: a GIS compilation of vector shorelines and associated shoreline change data for the 2013 update

Identifying the rates and trends associated with the position of the shoreline through time presents vital information on potential impacts these changes may have on coastal populations and infrastructure, and supports informed coastal management decisions. This report publishes the historical shoreline data used to assess the scale and timing of erosion and accretion along the Massachusetts coast
Authors
Theresa L. Smith, Emily A. Himmelstoss, E. Robert Thieler
By
Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center

Sea-floor geology in northeastern Block Island Sound, Rhode Island

Multibeam-echosounder and sidescan-sonar data collected by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in northeastern Block Island Sound, combined with sediment samples and bottom photography collected by the U.S. Geological Survey, are used to interpret sea-floor features and sedimentary environments in this 52-square-kilometer-area offshore Rhode Island. Boulders, which are often overgr
Authors
Kate Y. McMullen, Lawrence J. Poppe, Seth D. Ackerman, Dann S. Blackwood, P.G. Lewit, Castle E. Parker
By
Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center

Carolinas Coastal Change Processes Project data report for nearshore observations at Cape Hatteras, North Carolina

An oceanographic field study conducted in February 2010 investigated processes that control nearshore flow and sediment transport dynamics at Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. This report describes the project background, field program, instrumentation setup, and locations of the sensor deployments. The data collected, and supporting meteorological and streamflow observations, are presented as time-s
Authors
Brandy N. Armstrong, John C. Warner, George Voulgaris, Jeffrey H. List, Robert Thieler, Marinna A. Martini, Ellyn T. Montgomery, Jesse E. McNinch, Jeffrey W. Book, Kevin Haas
By
Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center

Shallow geology, seafloor texture, and physiographic zones of the Inner Continental Shelf from Nahant to northern Cape Cod Bay, Massachusetts

The Massachusetts inner continental shelf between Nahant and northern Cape Cod Bay has been profoundly affected by the occupation and retreat of glacial ice sheets and relative sea-level change during the Quaternary. Marine geologic mapping of this area is a component of a statewide cooperative effort involving the U.S. Geological Survey and the Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management. Int
Authors
Elizabeth A. Pendleton, Wayne E. Baldwin, Walter A. Barnhardt, Seth D. Ackerman, David S. Foster, Brian D. Andrews, William C. Schwab
By
Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center

Continuous resistivity profiling data from Great South Bay, Long Island, New York

An investigation of submarine aquifers adjacent to the Fire Island National Seashore and Long Island, New York was conducted to assess the importance of submarine groundwater discharge as a potential nonpoint source of nitrogen delivery to Great South Bay. Over 200 kilometers of continuous resistivity profiling data were collected to image the fresh-saline groundwater interface in sediments beneat
Authors
V.A. Cross, J.F. Bratton, K.D. Kroeger, John Crusius, C.R. Worley
By
Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center

Bridging groundwater models and decision support with a Bayesian network

Resource managers need to make decisions to plan for future environmental conditions, particularly sea level rise, in the face of substantial uncertainty. Many interacting processes factor in to the decisions they face. Advances in process models and the quantification of uncertainty have made models a valuable tool for this purpose. Long-simulation runtimes and, often, numerical instability make
Authors
Michael N. Fienen, John P. Masterson, Nathaniel G. Plant, Benjamin T. Gutierrez, E. Robert Thieler
By
Water Resources Mission Area, New England Water Science Center, Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center, St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center, Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center, Upper Midwest Water Science Center

A wetting and drying scheme for ROMS

The processes of wetting and drying have many important physical and biological impacts on shallow water systems. Inundation and dewatering effects on coastal mud flats and beaches occur on various time scales ranging from storm surge, periodic rise and fall of the tide, to infragravity wave motions. To correctly simulate these physical processes with a numerical model requires the capability of t
Authors
John C. Warner, Zafer Defne, Kevin Haas, Hernan G. Arango
By
Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center

Slab tears and intermediate-depth seismicity

Active tectonic regions where plate boundaries transition from subduction to strike slip can take several forms, such as triple junctions, acute, and obtuse corners. Well-documented slab tears that are associated with high rates of intermediate-depth seismicity are considered here: Gibraltar arc, the southern and northern ends of the Lesser Antilles arc, and the northern end of Tonga trench. Seism

Authors
Hallie E. Meighan, Uri S. ten Brink, Jay Pulliam
By
Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center

Sea-level-induced seismicity and submarine landslide occurrence

The temporal coincidence between rapid late Pleistocene sea-level rise and large-scale slope failures is widely documented. Nevertheless, the physical mechanisms that link these phenomena are poorly understood, particularly along nonglaciated margins. Here we investigate the causal relationships between rapid sea-level rise, flexural stress loading, and increased seismicity rates along passive mar
Authors
Daniel S. Brothers, Karen M. Luttrell, Jason D. Chaytor
By
Natural Hazards Mission Area, Landslide Hazards Program, Geologic Hazards Science Center, Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center

Geologic controls on regional and local erosion rates of three northern Gulf of Mexico barrier-island systems

The stratigraphy of sections of three barrier island systems in the northeastern Gulf of Mexico (Apalachicola, Mississippi, and Chandeleur) have been mapped using geophysical and coring techniques to assess the influence of geologic variations in barrier lithosomes and adjoining inner shelf deposits on long-term rates of shoreline change at regional and local scales. Regional scale was addressed b
Authors
David C. Twitchell, James G. Flocks, Elizabeth A. Pendleton, Wayne E. Baldwin
By
Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center

Quaternary geophysical framework of the northeastern North Carolina coastal system

The northeastern North Carolina coastal system, from False Cape, Virginia, to Cape Lookout, North Carolina, has been studied by a cooperative research program that mapped the Quaternary geologic framework of the estuaries, barrier islands, and inner continental shelf. This information provides a basis to understand the linkage between geologic framework, physical processes, and coastal evolution a
Authors
E. R. Thieler, D. S. Foster, D. J. Mallinson, E. A. Himmelstoss, J. E. McNinch, J. H. List, E. S. Hammar-Klose
By
Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center

Field calibration and validation of remote-sensing surveys

The Optical Collection Suite (OCS) is a ground-truth sampling system designed to perform in situ measurements that help calibrate and validate optical remote-sensing and swath-sonar surveys for mapping and monitoring coastal ecosystems and ocean planning. The OCS system enables researchers to collect underwater imagery with real-time feedback, measure the spectral response, and quantify the water
Authors
Shachak Pe'eri, Andy McLeod, Paul Lavoie, Seth D. Ackerman, James Gardner, Christopher Parrish
By
Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center