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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

Directional bottom roughness associated with waves, currents, and ripples

Roughness lengths are used in wave-current bottom boundary layer models to parameterize drag associated with grain roughness, the effect of saltating grains during sediment transport, and small-scale bottom topography (ripples and biogenic features). We made field measurements of flow parameters and recorded sonar images of ripples at the boundary of a sorted-bedform at ~12-m depth on the inner sh
Authors
Christopher R. Sherwood
By
Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center

Barriers on the brink? The complex intertwined roles of geologic framework, sediment availability and sea-level rise in island evolution

Sensitivity experiments in the North Carolina Outer Banks (OBX) have previously revealed that substrate sand proportion, followed by substrate slope, sea-level rise rate and sediment-loss rate are the most important factors in determining how barrier islands respond to sea-level rise. High sediment-loss rates and low substrate sand proportions cause barriers to be smaller and more deeply incised.
Authors
Laura Moore, Jeffrey H. List, S. Jeffress Williams, Kiki Patsch
By
Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center

Short-term nitrogen additions can shift a coastal wetland from a sink to a source of N2O

Coastal salt marshes sequester carbon at high rates relative to other ecosystems and emit relatively little methane particularly compared to freshwater wetlands. However, fluxes of all major greenhouse gases (N2O, CH4, and CO2) need to be quantified for accurate assessment of the climatic roles of these ecosystems. Anthropogenic nitrogen inputs (via run-off, atmospheric deposition, and wastewater)
Authors
Serena Moseman-Valtierra, Rosalinda Gonzalez, Kevin D. Kroeger, Jianwu Tang, Wei Chun Chao, John Crusius, John F. Bratton, Adrian G. Mann, James Shelton
By
Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center

High-resolution geophysical data from the sea floor surrounding the Western Elizabeth Islands, Massachusetts

Geophysical and geospatial data were collected in the nearshore area surrounding the western Elizabeth Islands, Massachusetts on the U.S. Geological Survey research vessel Rafael during September 2010 in a collaborative effort between the U.S. Geological Survey and the Massachusetts, Office of Coastal Zone Management. This report describes the results of the short-term goals of this collaborative
Authors
Elizabeth A. Pendleton, David C. Twichell, David S. Foster, Charles R. Worley, Barry J. Irwin, William W. Danforth
By
Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center

Carolinas Coastal Change Processes Project data report for observations near Diamond Shoals, North Carolina, January-May 2009

This Open-File Report provides information collected for an oceanographic field study that occurred during January - May 2009 to investigate processes that control the sediment transport dynamics at Diamond Shoals, North Carolina. The objective of this report is to make the data available in digital form and to provide information to facilitate further analysis of the data. The report describes th
Authors
Brandy N. Armstrong, John C. Warner, George Voulgaris, Jeffrey H. List, E. Robert Thieler, Marinna A. Martini, Ellyn T. Montgomery
By
Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center

Methane hydrates and contemporary climate change

As the evidence for warming climate became better established in the latter part of the 20th century (IPCC 2001), some scientists raised the alarm that large quantities of methane (CH4) might be liberated by widespread destabilization of climate-sensitive gas hydrate deposits trapped in marine and permafrost-associated sediments (Bohannon 2008, Krey et al. 2009, Mascarelli 2009). Even if only a fr
Authors
Carolyn D. Ruppel
By
Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center

Methane hydrates and the future of natural gas

For decades, gas hydrates have been discussed as a potential resource, particularly for countries with limited access to conventional hydrocarbons or a strategic interest in establishing alternative, unconventional gas reserves. Methane has never been produced from gas hydrates at a commercial scale and, barring major changes in the economics of natural gas supply and demand, commercial producti
Authors
Carolyn Ruppel
By
Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center

Implementation and modification of a three-dimensional radiation stress formulation for surf zone and rip-current applications

Regional Ocean Modeling System (ROMS v 3.0), a three-dimensional numerical ocean model, was previously enhanced for shallow water applications by including wave-induced radiation stress forcing provided through coupling to wave propagation models (SWAN, REF/DIF). This enhancement made it suitable for surf zone applications as demonstrated using examples of obliquely incident waves on a planar beac
Authors
N. Kumar, G. Voulgaris, John C. Warner
By
Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center

Groupers on the edge: Shelf edge spawning habitat in and around marine reserves of the northeastern Gulf of Mexico

The northeastern Gulf of Mexico contains some of the most diverse and productive marine habitat in the United States. Much of this habitat, located on the shelf edge in depths of 50 to 120 m, supports spawning for many economically important species, including groupers. Here, we couple acoustic surveys with georeferenced videography to describe the primary spatial and geologic features of spawning
Authors
Felicia C. Coleman, Kathryn M. Scanlon, Christopher C. Koenig
By
Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center

Use of pharmaceuticals and pesticides to constrain nutrient sources in coastal groundwater of northwestern Long Island, New York, USA

In developed, non-agricultural, unsewered areas, septic systems and fertilizer application to lawns and gardens represent two major sources of nitrogen to coastal groundwater, in addition to atmospheric input. This study was designed to distinguish between these two possible nitrogen sources by analyzing groundwater samples for pharmaceutical residuals, because fertilizers do not contain any of th
Authors
S. Zhao, P. Zhang, John Crusius, K.D. Kroeger, J.F. Bratton
By
Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center

Historical perspective on seismic hazard to Hispaniola and the northeast Caribbean region

We evaluate the long-term seismic activity of the North-American/Caribbean plate boundary from 500 years of historical earthquake damage reports. The 2010 Haiti earthquakes and other earthquakes were used to derive regional attenuation relationships between earthquake intensity, magnitude, and distance from the reported damage to the epicenter, for Hispaniola and for Puerto Rico and the Virgin Isl

Authors
Uri S. ten Brink, W. H. Bakun, C.H. Flores
By
Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center, 2020 Puerto Rico Earthquakes

Duration and severity of Medieval drought in the Lake Tahoe Basin

Droughts in the western U.S. in the past 200 years are small compared to several megadroughts that occurred during Medieval times. We reconstruct duration and magnitude of extreme droughts in the northern Sierra Nevada from hydroclimatic conditions in Fallen Leaf Lake, California. Stands of submerged trees rooted in situ below the lake surface were imaged with sidescan sonar and radiocarbon analys
Authors
J.A. Kleppe, D.S. Brothers, G.M. Kent, F. Biondi, S. Jensen, N. W. Driscoll
By
Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center