Publications
Scientific reports, journal articles, and information products produced by USGS Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center scientists.
Filter Total Items: 1380
Toward an integrative geological and geophysical view of Cascadia subduction zone earthquakes
The Cascadia subduction zone (CSZ) is an exceptional geologic environment for recording evidence of land level changes, tsunamis, and ground motion that reveals at least 19 great megathrust earthquakes over the past 10 kyr. Such earthquakes are among the most impactful natural hazards on Earth, transcend national boundaries, and can have global impact. Reducing the societal impacts of...
Authors
Maureen A. L. Walton, Lydia M. Staisch, Tina Dura, Jessie K. Pearl, Brian Sherrod, Joan S. Gomberg, Simon E. Engelhart, Anne Trehu, Janet Watt, Jonathan P. Perkins, Robert Witter, Noel Bartlow, Chris Goldfinger, Harvey M. Kelsey, Ann Morey, Valerie Jean Sahakian, Harold Tobin, Kelin Wang, Ray E. Wells, Erin Wirth
By
Natural Hazards Mission Area, Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program, National Cooperative Geologic Mapping Program, Geosciences and Environmental Change Science Center, Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center, Core Preparation and Analysis Laboratory and Sample Repositories, Deep Sea Exploration, Mapping and Characterization, Subduction Zone Science
Process-based models and studies of coastal change to inform habitat restoration and climate change adaptation
Puget Sound salmon and estuary recovery strategies identify tens of thousands of acres of floodplain and estuary habitat restoration needed to re-establish ecosystem functions lost or degraded from western land use (Simenstad et al., 2011); the extent for nearshore habitat remains uncertain. Sediment is critical for shaping the structure and functions of these ecosystems and the success...
Authors
Eric Grossman
The effect of changing sea ice on wave climate trends along Alaska's central Beaufort Sea coast
Diminishing sea ice is impacting the wave field across the Arctic region. Recent observation- and model-based studies highlight the spatiotemporal influence of sea ice on offshore wave climatologies, but effects within the nearshore region are still poorly described. This study characterizes the wave climate in the central Beaufort Sea coast from 1979 to 2019 by utilizing a wave hindcast...
Authors
Cornelis M. Nederhoff, Li Erikson, Anita C Engelstad, Peter A. Bieniek, Joshua W. Kasper
Coastal permafrost erosion
Highlights• Since the early 2000s, erosion of permafrost coasts in the Arctic has increased at 13 of 14 sites with observational data that extend back to ca. 1960 and ca. 1980, coinciding with warming temperatures, sea ice reduction, and permafrost thaw.• Permafrost coasts along the US and Canadian Beaufort Sea experienced the largest increase in erosion rates in the Arctic, ranging from...
Authors
Benjamin M. Jones, Anna M. Irrgang, Louise M. Farquharson, Hugues Lantuit, Dustin Whalen, Stanislav A. Ogorodov, Mikhail N. Grigoriev, Craig E. Tweedie, Ann Gibbs, Matt C Strzelecki, Alisa V. Baranskaya, Nataliya Belova, Anatoly Sinitsyn, Art Kroon, Alexey Maslakov, Gonçalo Vieira, Guido Grosse, Paul Overduin, Ingemar Nitze, Christopher V. Maio, Jacquelyn R. Overbeck, Mette Bendixen, Piotr Zagórski, Vladimir E. Romanovsky
Changing storm conditions in response to projected 21st century climate change and the potential impact on an arctic barrier island–lagoon system—A pilot study for Arey Island and Lagoon, eastern Arctic Alaska
Executive SummaryArey Lagoon, located in eastern Arctic Alaska, supports a highly productive ecosystem, where soft substrate and coastal wet sedge fringing the shores are feeding grounds and nurseries for a variety of marine fish and waterfowl. The lagoon is partially protected from the direct onslaught of Arctic Ocean waves by a barrier island chain (Arey Island) which in itself...
Authors
Li Erikson, Ann Gibbs, Bruce M. Richmond, Curt D. Storlazzi, Benjamin M. Jones, Karen A. Ohman
The impacts of the 2015/2016 El Niño on California's sandy beaches
The El Niño Southern Oscillation is the most dominant mode of interannual climate variability in the Pacific. The 2015/2016 El Niño event was one of the strongest of the last 145 years, resulting in anomalously high wave energy across the U.S. West Coast, and record coastal erosion for many California beaches. To better manage coastal resources, it is critical to understand the impacts...
Authors
Schuyler A Smith, Patrick L. Barnard
On the use of statistical analysis to understand submarine landslide processes and assess their hazard
Because of their inaccessibility, submarine landslides are typically studied individually and at great effort and expense to provide knowledge of the specific site conditions where these landslides occur. Statistical analysis of submarine landslide scars can offer generalized perspectives on the processes that initiate submarine landslides and can help toward hazard assessment in areas...
Authors
Uri S. ten Brink, Eric L. Geist
In‐situ mass balance estimates offshore Costa Rica
The Costa Rican convergent margin has been considered a type erosive margin, with erosional models suggesting average losses up to −153 km3/km/m.y. However, three‐dimensional (3D) seismic reflection and Integrated Ocean Drilling Program data collected offshore the Osa Peninsula images accretionary structures and vertical motions that conflict with the forearc basal erosion model. Here we...
Authors
Joel H. Edwards, Jared W. Kluesner, Eli A. Silver, Rachel Lauer, Nathan L. Bangs, Brian Boston
Gas hydrate quantification in Walker Ridge block 313, Gulf of Mexico, from full-waveform inversion of ocean-bottom seismic data
The Gulf of Mexico (GOM) Joint Industry Project Leg 2 logging-while-drilling data in Walker Ridge lease block 313 (WR313) in the GOM detected gas hydrate in coarse- and fine-grained sediments at sites WR313-G and WR313-H. The coarse-grained units are thin (
Authors
Jiliang Wang, Priyank Jaiswal, Seth S. Haines, Yihong Yang, Patrick E. Hart
Probabilistic application of an integrated catchment-estuary-coastal system model to assess the evolution of inlet-interrupted coasts over the 21st century
Inlet-interrupted sandy coasts are dynamic and complex coastal systems with continuously evolving geomorphological behaviors under the influences of both climate change and human activities. These coastal systems are of great importance to society (e.g., providing habitats, navigation, and recreational activities) and are affected by both oceanic and terrestrial processes. Therefore, the...
Authors
Janaka Bamunawala, Ali Dastgheib, Roshanka Ranasinghe, Ad van der Spek, Shreedhar Maskey, A. Brad Murray, Patrick L. Barnard, Trang Minh Duong, T.A.J.G. Sirisena
Ocean floor manganese deposits
Much of the dissolved Mn delivered to the oceans is slowly oxidized and precipitated alongside varying amounts of Fe into Mn and ferromanganese (FeMn) mineral deposits that occur extensively in the deep ocean wherever sediment accumulation is low and substrate is available. FeMn crusts grow as pavements on rock outcrops throughout the global ocean whereas nodules form as individual FeMn...
Authors
Kira Mizell, James R. Hein