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Publications

Explore scientific publications from the USGS St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center.

Filter Total Items: 919

Identifying and constraining marsh-type transitions in response to increasing erosion over the past century

Marsh environments, characterized by their flora and fauna, change laterally in response to shoreline erosion, water levels and inundation, and anthropogenic activities. The Grand Bay coastal system (USA) has undergone multiple large-scale geomorphic and hydrologic changes resulting in altered sediment supply, depositional patterns, and degraded barrier islands, leaving wetland salt marshes vulner
Authors
Alisha M. Ellis, Christopher G. Smith, Kathryn Smith, Jessica A. Jacobs

An assessment of HgII to preserve carbonate system parameters in organic-rich estuarine waters

This work assesses the effectiveness of sample preservation techniques for measurements of pHT (total scale), total dissolved inorganic carbon (CT), and total alkalinity (AT) in organic-rich estuarine waters as well as the internal consistency of measurements and calculations (e.g., AT, pHT, and CT) in these waters. Using mercuric chloride (HgCl2)-treated and untreated water samples, measurements

Authors
Christopher Moore, Robert H. Byrne, Kimberly Yates

Two centuries of southwest Iceland annually-resolved marine temperature reconstructed from Arctica islandica shells

Iceland's exposure to major ocean current pathways of the central North Atlantic makes it a useful location for developing long-term proxy records of past marine climate. Such records provide more detailed understanding of the full range of past variability which is necessary to improve predictions of future changes. We constructed a 225-year (1791–2015 CE) master shell growth chronology from 29 s

Authors
Madelyn Jean Mette, Carin Andersson, Bernd Schöne, Fabian Bonitz, Vilde Melvik, Tamara Trofimova, Martin Miles

Exploring centennial barrier-inlet evolution: Insights from undeveloped and developed phases at Barnegat Inlet, New Jersey

This study aims to identify the natural processes and the subsequent responses to coastal engineering and development on the alongshore evolution of the IB-BI-LBI inlet-barrier system. The primary focus will be the quantification of barrier island and inlet sediment partitioning at decadal to centennial timescales, from 1839-1941. We analyze historical alongshore evolution and track coastal engine

Authors
Shane Nichols-O'Neill, Jorge Lorenzo-Trueba, Daniel J. Ciarletta, Jennifer L. Miselis

Reconstructing the geomorphic evolution and sediment budget history of a dynamic barrier island: Anclote Key, Florida

Decadal to centennial variations in sediment availability are a primary driver of coastal change within barrier systems. Models help explore how barrier morphology relates to past changes in magnitude of sediment availability, but this requires insights and validation from field efforts. In this study, we investigate the progradation of Anclote Key via its morphostratigraphy, a presently dynamic b
Authors
Daniel J. Ciarletta, Jennifer L. Miselis, Julie Bernier, Arnell S. Forde, Shannon A. Mahan

Stony coral tissue loss disease accelerated shifts in coral composition and declines in reef accretion potential in the Florida Keys

Outbreaks of coral disease have been a dominant force shaping western Atlantic coral-reef assemblages since the late 1970s. Stony coral tissue loss disease (SCTLD) is nonetheless having an unprecedented impact in the region. Whereas numerous studies over the last decade have worked to characterize this novel pathogen and its impacts on coral populations, few have quantified its functional effects

Authors
Lauren Toth, Travis A. Courtney, Michael A. Colella, Robert R. Ruzicka

Informing ASR treatment practices in a Florida aquifer through a human health risk approach

Aquifer storage and recovery (ASR) can augment water supplies and hydrologic flows under varying climatic conditions. However, imposing drinking water regulations on ASR practices, including pre-treatment before injection into the aquifer, remains arguable. Microbial inactivation data—Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, poliovirus type 1 and Cryptosporidium parvum—were used in a human health

Authors
Anna Gitter, Kristina Mean, John T. Lisle

Investigating microbial size classes associated with the transmission of stony coral tissue loss disease (SCTLD)

Effective treatment and prevention of any disease necessitates knowledge of the causative agent, yet the causative agents of most coral diseases remain unknown, in part due to the difficulty of distinguishing the pathogenic microbe(s) among the complex microbial backdrop of coral hosts. Stony coral tissue loss disease (SCTLD) is a particularly destructive disease of unknown etiology, capable of tr

Authors
James S. Evans, Valerie J. Paul, Blake Ushijima, Kelly A. Pitts, Christina A. Kellogg

Evaluating oil and gas industry two-dimensional multichannel seismic data for use in near-surface assessment of geologic framework and potential marine minerals resources

Marine seismic reflection data acquired across the Gulf of Mexico during oil and gas exploration are available to the public through an online database archive. The data are archived as two-dimensional multichannel seismic data in two digital formats. The formats include image files in portable document format (PDF), and binary files in industry standard Society for Exploration Geophysicists revis

Authors
James G. Flocks, Arnell S. Forde, Stephen T. Bosse

Modeling the effects of interior headland restoration on estuarine sediment transport processes in a marine-dominant estuary

The effects of interior headland restoration on estuarine sediment transport processes were assessed through process-based numerical modeling. Three proposed interior headland restoration scenarios in the Grand Bay estuary (Mississippi/Alabama) were modeled using Delft3D to understand impacts on suspended sediment concentrations, bed level morphology, and sediment fluxes under present-day conditio
Authors
Robert L. Jenkins, Davina Passeri, Christopher G. Smith, David M. Thompson, Kathryn Smith

Functional gene composition and metabolic potential of deep-sea coral-associated microbial communities

Over the past decade, an abundance of 16S rRNA gene surveys have provided microbiologists with data regarding the prokaryotes present in a coral-associated microbial community. Functional gene studies that provide information regarding what those microbes might do are fewer, particularly for non-tropical corals. Using the GeoChip 5.0S microarray, we present a functional gene study of microbiomes f

Authors
Zoe A. Pratte, Frank J. Stewart, Christina A. Kellogg

Analysis of high-resolution single channel seismic data for use in sediment resource evaluation, eastern Texas and western Louisiana Continental Shelf, Gulf of Mexico

Shallow subsurface geologic data recorded as high-resolution seismic profiles are used to interpret the geology of coastal and marine systems. These data were originally recorded on paper rolls that are stored in geophysical archives. Data collection has since converted to entirely digital formats, yet the analog data are still useful for geologic interpretation. This report describes the process
Authors
James G. Flocks, Arnell S. Forde, Stephen T. Bosse