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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

Character and distribution of exposed glaciodeltaic deposits off outer Cape Cod, Massachusetts, and their effects on hydrogeology and benthic habitats

Seabed outcrops of glaciodeltaic sediments were identified in four places east of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, during seismic-reflection, multibeam bathymetric and backscatter, bottom photographic, and sediment sampling surveys. These strata record coarser-grained ice-proximal glaciofluvial topset to finer-grained distal glaciolacustrine bottomset deposition within deltaic systems that prograded south
Authors
L. J. Poppe, D. S. Foster, W. W. Danforth
By
Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center

Reversing storm hotspots on sandy beaches: Spatial and temporal characteristics

Coastal erosion hotspots are defined as sections of coast that exhibit significantly higher rates of erosion than adjacent areas. This paper describes the spatial and temporal characteristics of a recently identified type of coastal erosion hotspot, which forms in response to storms on uninterrupted sandy coasts largely free from human intervention. These are referred to here as reversing storm ho
Authors
J. H. List, A.S. Farris, C. Sullivan
By
Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center

Seismic imaging of deep low-velocity zone beneath the Dead Sea basin and transform fault: Implications for strain localization and crustal rigidity

New seismic observations from the Dead Sea basin (DSB), a large pull-apart basin along the Dead Sea transform (DST) plate boundary, show a low velocity zone extending to a depth of 18 km under the basin. The lower crust and Moho are not perturbed. These observations are incompatible with the current view of mid-crustal strength at low temperatures and with support of the basin's negative load by a
Authors
Uri S. ten Brink, A. S. Al-Zoubi, C.H. Flores, Y. Rotstein, I. Qabbani, S.H. Harder, Gordon R. Keller
By
Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center

An effective medium inversion algorithm for gas hydrate quantification and its application to laboratory and borehole measurements of gas hydrate-bearing sediments

The presence of gas hydrate in marine sediments alters their physical properties. In some circumstances, gas hydrate may cement sediment grains together and dramatically increase the seismic P- and S-wave velocities of the composite medium. Hydrate may also form a load-bearing structure within the sediment microstructure, but with different seismic wave attenuation characteristics, changing the at
Authors
S. Chand, T.A. Minshull, J.A. Priest, A.I. Best, C.R.I. Clayton, W.F. Waite
By
Natural Hazards Mission Area, Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program, Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center

Age model for a continuous, ca 250-ka Quaternary lacustrine record from Bear Lake, Utah-Idaho

The Quaternary sediments sampled by continuous 120-m-long drill cores from Bear Lake (Utah-Idaho) comprise one of the longest lacustrine sequences recovered from an extant lake. The cores serve as a good case study for the construction of an age model for sequences that extend beyond the range of radiocarbon dating. From a variety of potential age indicators, we selected a combination of radiocarb
Authors
Steven M. Colman, D. S. Kaufman, Jordon Bright, C. Heil, J.W. King, W.E. Dean, J. G. Rosenbaum, R. M. Forester, J. L. Bischoff, Marie Perkins, J. P. McGeehin
By
Natural Hazards Mission Area, Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program, Geosciences and Environmental Change Science Center, Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center

Satellite-derived, melt-season surface temperature of the Greenland Ice Sheet (2000-2005) and its relationship to mass balance

Mean, clear-sky surface temperature of the Greenland Ice Sheet was measured for each melt season from 2000 to 2005 using Moderate-Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS)–derived land-surface temperature (LST) data-product maps. During the period of most-active melt, the mean, clear-sky surface temperature of the ice sheet was highest in 2002 (−8.29 ± 5.29°C) and 2005 (−8.29 ± 5.43°C), compare
Authors
D.K. Hall, R.S. Williams, K.A. Casey, N.E. DiGirolamo, Z. Wan
By
Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center

Current subsidence rates due to compaction of Holocene sediments in southern Louisiana

Relative contributions of geologic and anthropogenic processes to subsidence of southern Louisiana are vigorously debated. Of these, shallow sediment compaction is often considered dominant, although this has never been directly observed or effectively demonstrated. Quantitative understanding of subsidence is important for predicting relative sea level rise, storm surge flooding due to hurricanes,
Authors
T.A. Meckel, Uri S. ten Brink, S.J. Williams
By
Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center

Size distribution of submarine landslides and its implication to tsunami hazard in Puerto Rico

We have established for the first time a size frequency distribution for carbonate submarine slope failures. Using detailed bathymetry along the northern edge of the carbonate platform north of Puerto Rico, we show that the cumulative distribution of slope failure volumes follows a power-law distribution. The power-law exponent of this distribution is similar to those for rock falls on land, comme

Authors
Uri S. ten Brink, E.L. Geist, B.D. Andrews
By
Natural Hazards Mission Area, Landslide Hazards Program, Geologic Hazards Science Center, Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center, Subduction Zone Science

Gas hydrate potential of the mid Atlantic outer continental shelf

For the last two years, the Minerals Management Service (MMS) has been studying the resource potential of gas hydrates in federal offshore lands of the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) off the Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico, Pacific, and Alaska in collaboration with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the Department of Energy (DOE), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the Naval Resea
Authors
William W. Shedd, Deborah R. Hutchinson
By
Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center

Flow convergence caused by a salinity minimum in a tidal channel

Residence times of dissolved substances and sedimentation rates in tidal channels are affected by residual (tidally averaged) circulation patterns. One influence on these circulation patterns is the longitudinal density gradient. In most estuaries the longitudinal density gradient typically maintains a constant direction. However, a junction of tidal channels can create a local reversal (change in
Authors
John C. Warner, David H. Schoellhamer, Jon R. Burau, S. Geoffrey Schladow
By
Water Resources Mission Area, Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center, California Water Science Center, San Francisco Bay and Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Estuary

Acoustic stratigraphy of Bear Lake, Utah-Idaho: late Quaternary sedimentation patterns in a simple half-graben

A 277-km network of high-resolution seismic-reflection profiles, supplemented with a sidescan-sonar mosaic of the lake floor, was collected in Bear Lake, Utah–Idaho, in order to explore the sedimentary framework of the lake's paleoclimate record. The acoustic stratigraphy is tied to a 120 m deep, continuously cored drill hole in the lake. Based on the age model for the drill core, the oldest conti
Authors
Steven M. Colman
By
Natural Hazards Mission Area, Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program, Geosciences and Environmental Change Science Center, Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center

Estimating thermal diffusivity and specific heat from needle probe thermal conductivity data

Thermal diffusivity and specific heat can be estimated from thermal conductivity measurements made using a standard needle probe and a suitably high data acquisition rate. Thermal properties are calculated from the measured temperature change in a sample subjected to heating by a needle probe. Accurate thermal conductivity measurements are obtained from a linear fit to many tens or hundreds of tem
Authors
W.F. Waite, L.Y. Gilbert, W.J. Winters, D.H. Mason
By
Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center