Conference Papers

A series of migrating shore-normal sandbars with wavelengths of 50-200 m and heights of 0.5-2 m have been identified off the northern tip of Anna Maria Island, a barrier island on the west-central Florida coast. Similar features have been described elsewhere since the 1930's and termed `transverse bars.' The transverse bars identified off Anna Maria Island are found for about 3 km along the coast

A low stress gravel bed river is a river where the cross-sectional average dimensionless shear stress (??*) rarely exceeds 0.047. That is the case for the Gunnison River below Delta in Western Colorado. The cross-sectional average ??* in the Gunnison River has not exceeded 0.047, except at one cross section during one year, in the 87 years of record. A ??* of 0.047 is the critical ??* in the bed-l

No abstract available.

The geologic radon potential of the United States was recently assessed by the U.S. Geological Survey. Results indicate that approximately 33% of the U.S. population lives within geologic provinces where the average indoor radon levels have the potential to be greater than 4 pCi/L (147 Bq/m3). Rock types most commonly associated with high indoor radon include: 1) Uraniferous metamorphosed sediment

Abstract not available

Abstract not available 

Ability to accurately measure long-term time-series of turbulent mean velocity distribution within the bottom boundary layer (BBL) in addition to suspended solids concentration (SSC) is critical to understanding complex processes controlling transport, resuspension, and deposition of suspended sediments in bays and estuaries. A suite of instruments, including broad band acoustic Doppler current pr

Broad-scale variations in long-term precipitation climate may influence rainfall/debris-flow threshold values along the U.S. Pacific coast, where both the mean annual precipitation (MAP) and the number of rainfall days (#RDs) are controlled by topography, distance from the coastline, and geographic latitude. Previous authors have proposed that rainfall thresholds are directly proportional to MAP,

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) installed the Physical Oceanographic Real-time System (PORTS) in San Francisco Bay, California, to provide real-time observations of tides, tidal currents, and meteorological conditions to, among other purposes, guide hazardous material spill prevention and response. Integrated with nowcast modeling techniques and dissemination of real-tim

For more than a century the USGS, as its name implies, has been the leading federal earth science research organization for the Nation. With the recent addition to the USGS of the National Biological Service in October 1996, as the Biological Resources Division, the mission of the USGS has broadened and the Survey's research capabilities are strengthened considerably. The USGS is now in a position

A modeling study was undertaken to simulate the bottom tidal-, wave-, and wind-driven currents in Long Island Sound in order to provide a general physical oceanographic framework for understanding the characteristics and distribution of seafloor sedimentary environments. Tidal currents are important in the funnel-shaped eastern part of the Sound, where a strong gradient of tidal-current speed was

Current information about the utility of genetic markers for estimating population structuring in sea otters (Enhydra lutris) is reviewed. Analyses of spatial population structuring with biochemical and molecular genetic markers are discussed in the context of the species' ecology and history of exploitation. Studies that have used a diversity of genetic markers including allozymes, mitochondrial