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Publications

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

Filter Total Items: 16785

Revisiting submarine mass movements along the U.S. Atlantic Continental Margin: Implications for tsunami hazards

Interest in the generation of tsunamis by submarine mass movements has warranted a reassessment of their distribution and the nature of submarine landslides offshore of the eastern U.S. The recent acquisition and analysis of multibeam bathymetric data over most of this continental slope and rise provides clearer view into the extent and style of mass movements on this margin. Debris flows appear t
Authors
J.D. Chaytor, D. C. Twichell, Uri S. ten Brink, B.J. Buczkowski, B.D. Andrews

Integrating hydrologic and geophysical data to constrain coastal surficial aquifer processes at multiple spatial and temporal scales

Since 1997, repeated, coincident geophysical surveys and extensive hydrologic studies in shallow monitoring wells have been used to study static and dynamic processes associated with surface water-groundwater interaction at a range of spatial scales at the estuarine and ocean boundaries of an undeveloped, permeable barrier island in the Georgia part of the U.S. South Atlantic Bight. Because geophy
Authors
Gregory M. Schultz, Carolyn Ruppel, Patrick Fulton

Integrated multi‐scale characterization of ground‐water flow and chemical transport in fractured crystalline rock at the Mirror Lake Site, New Hampshire

This chapter contains sections titled:IntroductionMirror Lake SiteFractures and Geologic MappingHydraulic Properties of Fractured Rock From Meters to KilometersChemical Migration in Fractured RockFracture Controls on Ground‐Water Flow and Chemical Transport at the Mirror Lake SiteSummary
Authors
Allen M. Shapiro, Paul A. Hsieh, William C. Burton, Gregory J. Walsh

USGS advances in integrated, high-resolution sea-floor mapping: inner continental shelf to estuaries

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has been involved in geological mapping of the sea floor for the past thirty years. Early geophysical and acoustic mapping efforts using GLORIA (Geologic LOng Range Inclined ASDIC) a long-range sidescan-sonar system, provided broad-scale imagery of deep waters within the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). In the early 1990's, research emphasis shifted from deep-
Authors
J. F. Denny, W. C. Schwab, D. C. Twichell, T. F. O'Brien, W. W. Danforth, D. S. Foster, E. Bergeron, C.W. Worley, B. J. Irwin, B. Butman, P. C. Valentine, W. E. Baldwin, R.A. Morton, E. R. Thieler, D. R. Nichols, B.D. Andrews

Persistent chlordane concentrations in long island sound sediment: Implications from chlordane, 210Pb, and 137Cs profiles

Concentrations of chlordane, a banned termiticide and pesticide, were examined in recently collected surficial sediment (10 sites) and sediment cores (4 sites) in Long Island Sound (LIS).The highest chlordane concentrations were observed in western LIS, near highly urbanized areas. Chlordane concentrations did not decrease significantly in the past decade when compared to the data collected in 199
Authors
L. Yang, X. Li, John Crusius, U. Jans, M.E. Melcer, P. Zhang

Modeling barrier island response to sea-level rise in the Outer Banks, North Carolina

An 8500-year Holocene simulation developed in GEOMBEST provides a possible scenario to explain the evolution of barrier coast between Rodanthe and Cape Hatteras, NC. Sensitivity analyses suggest that in the Outer Banks, the rate of sea-level rise is the most important factor in determining how barrier islands evolve. The Holocene simulation provides a basis for future simulations, which suggest th
Authors
Laura J. Moore, Jeffrey H. List, S. Jeffress Williams, David Stolper

Salt tectonics and shallow subseafloor fluid convection: Models of coupled fluid-heat-salt transport

Thermohaline convection associated with salt domes has the potential to drive significant fluid flow and mass and heat transport in continental margins, but previous studies of fluid flow associated with salt structures have focused on continental settings or deep flow systems of importance to petroleum exploration. Motivated by recent geophysical and geochemical observations that suggest a convec
Authors
A. Wilson, C. Ruppel

Head-bobbing behavior in walking whooping cranes (Grus americana) and sandhill cranes (Grus canadensis)

Head-bobbing is a common and characteristic behavior of walking birds. While the activity could have a relatively minor biomechanical function, for balance and stabilization of gait, head-bobbing is thought to be primarily a visual behavior in which fixation of gaze alternates with a forward movement that generates visual flow. We studied head-bobbing in locomoting whooping cranes (Grus americana)
Authors
Thomas W. Cronin, Matthew R. Kinloch, Glenn H. Olsen

Potential hazards of environmental contaminants to avifauna residing in the Chesapeake Bay estuary

A search of the Contaminant Exposure and Effects-Terrestrial Vertebrates (CEE-TV) database revealed that 70% of the 839 Chesapeake Bay records deal with avian species. Studies conducted on waterbirds in the past 15 years indicate that organochlorine contaminants have declined in eggs and tissues, although p,p'-DDE, total polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and coplanar PCB congeners may still exert s
Authors
Barnett A. Rattner, Peter C. McGowan

A circulation modeling approach for evaluating the conditions for shoreline instabilities

Analytical models predict the growth (instability) of shoreline salients when deep-water waves approach the coast from highly oblique angles, contrary to classical shoreline change models in which shoreline salients can only dissipate. Using the process-based wave, circulation, and sediment transport model Delft3D, we test this prediction for simulated bathymetric and wave characteristics approxim
Authors
Jeffrey H. List, Andrew D. Ashton

Amplitude loss of sonic waveform due to source coupling to the medium

In contrast to hydrate-free sediments, sonic waveforms acquired in gas hydrate-bearing sediments indicate strong amplitude attenuation associated with a sonic velocity increase. The amplitude attenuation increase has been used to quantify pore-space hydrate content by attributing observed attenuation to the hydrate-bearing sediment's intrinsic attenuation. A second attenuation mechanism must be co
Authors
Myung W. Lee, William F. Waite