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Publications

These publications showcase the significant science conducted in our Science Centers.

Filter Total Items: 16783

Midcontinent microcosm: Geology of the Atkins lake - Marengo falls area (Field trip 2)

Archean and Proterozoic rocks exposed over about 16km2 between Atkins Lake and Coffee Lake in southeastern Bayfield County (Fig. 1) chronicle almost all of the major Precambrian geologic events in the history of the southern Superior Craton. The oldest rocks are part of a locally gneissic quartz monzonite complex, the Puritan Batholith, with an igneous Rb-Sr age of 2710+140 Ma (Sims et al., 1977).
Authors
Marcia Bjørnerud, William F. Cannon

Character of shell beds flanking Herod Point Shoal, southeastern Long Island Sound, New York

High biogenic productivity, strong tidal currents, shoal topography, and short transport distances combine to favor shell-bed formation along the lower flanks of a cape-associated shoal off Herod Point on Long Island, New York. This shell bed has a densely packed, clast-supported fabric composed largely of undegraded surf clam (Spisula solidissima) valves. It is widest along the central part of th
Authors
Lawrence J. Poppe, S. Jeffress Williams, Ivar G. Babb

Elevated gas hydrate saturation within silt and silty clay sediments in the Shenhu area, South China Sea

Gas hydrate saturations were estimated using five different methods in silt and silty clay foraminiferous sediments from drill hole SH2 in the South China Sea. Gas hydrate saturations derived from observed pore water chloride values in core samples range from 10 to 45% of the pore space at 190–221 m below seafloor (mbsf). Gas hydrate saturations estimated from resistivity (Rt) using wireline loggi
Authors
Xiujuan Wang, Deborah R. Hutchinson, Shiguo Wu, Shengxiong Yang, Yiqun Guo

Wave-current interaction in Willapa Bay

This paper describes the importance of wave-current interaction in an inlet-estuary system. The three-dimensional, fully coupled, Coupled Ocean-Atmosphere-Wave-Sediment Transport (COAWST) modeling system was applied in Willapa Bay (Washington State) from 22 to 29 October 1998 that included a large storm event. To represent the interaction between waves and currents, the vortex-force method was use
Authors
Maitane Olabarrieta, John C. Warner, Nirnimesh Kumar

Cold-water coral distributions in the Drake Passage area from towed camera observations - Initial interpretations

Seamounts are unique deep-sea features that create habitats thought to have high levels of endemic fauna, productive fisheries and benthic communities vulnerable to anthropogenic impacts. Many seamounts are isolated features, occurring in the high seas, where access is limited and thus biological data scarce. There are numerous seamounts within the Drake Passage (Southern Ocean), yet high winds, f
Authors
Rhian G. Waller, Kathryn Scanlon Catanach, Laura F. Robinson

Methodology for prediction of rip currents using a three-dimensional numerical, coupled, wave current model

Rip current currents constitute one of the most common hazards in the nearshore that threaten the lives of the unaware public that makes recreational use of the coastal zone. Society responds to this danger through a number of measures that include: (a) the deployment of trained lifeguards; (b) public education related to the hidden hazards of the nearshore; and (c) establishment of warning system
Authors
George Voulgaris, Nirnimesh Kumar, John C. Warner

The development of a probabilistic approach to forecast coastal change

This study demonstrates the applicability of a Bayesian probabilistic model as an effective tool in predicting post-storm beach changes along sandy coastlines. Volume change and net shoreline movement are modeled for two study sites at Fire Island, New York in response to two extratropical storms in 2007 and 2009. Both study areas include modified areas adjacent to unmodified areas in morphologica
Authors
Erika E. Lentz, Cheryl J. Hapke

A nearshore processes field experiment at Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, U.S.A.

A month-long field experiment focused on the nearshore hydrodynamics of Diamond Shoals adjacent to Cape Hatteras Point, North Carolina, was conducted in February 2010. The objectives of this multi-institutional experiment were to test hypotheses related to Diamond Shoals as a sink in the regional sediment budget and to provide data for evaluating numerical models. The experiment included in-situ i
Authors
Jeffrey H. List, John C. Warner, E. Robert Thieler, Kevin Haas, George Voulgaris, Jesse E. McNinch, Katherine L. Brodie

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

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

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