Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Publications

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

Learn About SPCMSC

cover of a booklet with a photo of a beach. "Coastal and Marine Science of the U.S. Geological Survey in St. Petersburg, FL

Learn more about the St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center in this booklet. 

Explore Booklet

Find Data

A plot with numerous lines showing the shape of sediment layers beneath the surface of a barrier island

Looking for data from the St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center? Check out our data page.

View Data

Publications Warehouse

image of publications layered on a wooden table

To do a deeper search of USGS publications, visit the Publications Warehouse

Visit Pubs Warehouse
Filter Total Items: 919

Discovery of a rare pillar coral (Dendrogyra cylindrus) death assemblage off southeast Florida reveals multi-century persistence during the late Holocene

In recent years, coral populations in the western Atlantic have undergone widespread declines from climate change, anthropogenic stressors, and infectious disease outbreaks. The pillar coral, Dendrogyra cylindrus, has been one of the most affected species, prompting its listing as threatened under the United States Endangered Species Act in 2014 and critically endangered under the IUCN Red List in
Authors
Alexander B. Modys, Lauren Toth, Richard A. Mortlock, Anton E. Olenik, William F. Precht
By
St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center

Contributions to uncertainty in runup forecasts

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) provides operational forecasts of total water levels (TWL) and coastal change. Uncertainties around forecast TWL are based on the temporal and spatial range of observed beach slopes near the forecast site. This paper investigates other sources of uncertainty that are not accounted for, focusing on four beaches where the USGS has deployed remote cameras, and on out
Authors
Christopher R. Sherwood, Alfredo Aretxabaleta, Peter A. Traykovski, Jin-Si R. Over, Erin Lyons, David S. Foster, Jennifer L. Miselis, Timothy Nelson, Erdinc Sogut
By
St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center, Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center

The potential for coral reef restoration to mitigate coastal flooding as sea levels rise

The ability of reefs to protect coastlines from storm-driven flooding hinges on their capacity to keep pace with sea-level rise. Here, we show how and whether coral restoration could achieve the often-cited goal of reversing the impacts of coral-reef degradation to preserve this essential function. We combined coral-growth measurements and carbonate-budget assessments of reef-accretion potential a
Authors
Lauren Toth, Curt Storlazzi, Elizabeth M. Whitcher, Ilsa B. Kuffner, Ellen Quataert, Johan Reyns, Robert T. McCall, Anastasios Stathakopoulos, Zandy Hillis-Starr, Nathaniel H. Holloway, Kristin A. Ewen, Clayton G. Pollock, Tess Code, Richard B. Aronson
By
Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program, Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center, St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center

A scuticociliate causes mass mortality of Diadema antillarum in the Caribbean Sea

Echinoderm mass mortality events shape marine ecosystems by altering the dynamics among major benthic groups. The sea urchin Diadema antillarum, virtually extirpated in the Caribbean in the early 1980s by an unknown cause, recently experienced another mass mortality beginning in January 2022. We investigated the cause of this mass mortality event through combined molecular biological and veterinar
Authors
Ian Hewson, Isabella T. Ritchie, James S. Evans, Ashley Altera, Donald Behringer, Erin Bowman, Marilyn E. Brandt, Kayla A. Budd, Ruleo A. Camacho, Tomas O. Cornwell, Peter D. Countway, Aldo Croquer, Gabriel A. Delgado, Christopher M. DeRito, Elizabeth Duermit-Moreau, Ruth Francis-Floyd, Samuel Gittens Jr., Leslie Henderson, Alwin Hylkema, Christina A. Kellogg, Yasu Kiryu, Kimani A. Kitson-Walters, Patricia Kramer, Judith C. Lang, Harilaos Lessios, Lauren Liddy, David Marancik, Stephen Nimrod, Joshua T. Patterson, Marit Pistor, Isabel C. Romero, Rita Sellares-Blasco, Moriah L. B. Sevier, William C. Sharp, Matthew Souza, Andreina Valdez-Trinidad, Marijn van der Laan, Brayan Vilanova-Cuevas, Maria Villalpando, Sarah D. Von Hoene, Matthew Warham, Tom Wijers, Stacey M. Williams, Thierry M. Work, Roy P. Yanong, Someira Zambrano, Alizee Zimmermann, Mya Breitbart
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, National Wildlife Health Center, St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center

The evolution of natural and developed barriers under accelerating sea levels

Communities residing on barrier islands depend upon the ability of barriers to withstand forcings such as waves, sea-level rise, and storms, particularly under stresses from climate change. Using a barrier island evolution model, we compare barrier response to linear versus accelerating sea-level rise. Results suggest that barriers are more likely to drown under accelerating rather than linear sea

Authors
Rose Elizabeth Palermo, Andrew D. Ashton, Di Jin, Porter Hoagland, Jorge Lorenzo-Trueba
By
Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program, St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center

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
By
St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center

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
By
Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program, Geosciences and Environmental Change Science Center, St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center

Mode and provenance of sediment deposition on a transgressive marsh

In this study, we use foraminifera as environmental indicators to aid in computing the historical volumetric inputs of estuarine sediments to adjacent marsh. These data can help assess the importance of estuarine sediment inputs to marsh accretion. The Grand Bay system (GBS), located on the southern coast of Alabama and Mississippi, has been described as a “self-cannibalizing bay-marsh complex” du
Authors
Christopher G. Smith, Alisha M. Ellis, Kathryn Smith
By
St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center

Changes in sediment transport processes at the Chandeleur Islands, Louisiana in response to storm impact

We analyzed elevation changes at the northern Chandeleur Islands, Louisiana, to quantify sediment fluxes and assess sediment transport processes over two time periods (1920 – 2007 and 2007 – 2015). Wave-driven alongshore sediment transport is the predominant fair-weather process, whereas storms transport sediment across the island platform and promote shoreline retreat. Major storm impacts, where

Authors
James Flocks, Julie Bernier
By
Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program, St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center, Gulf of Mexico

Modeling total water level and coastal change at Pea Island, North Carolina, USA

The DUring Nearshore Event eXperiment (DUNEX) was carried out on Pea Island, North Carolina, USA between September-October 2021. We use a coupled numerical model (Windsurf) to hindcast the evolution of the DUNEX transect and produce a time series of hourly water levels at the shoreline from the model output. In addition to assessing the ability of Windsurf to reproduce TWL, we use model output pai

Authors
Michael Christopher Itzkin, Margaret Louise Palmsten, Mark L. Buckley, Christopher R. Sherwood, Jenna A. Brown, Jin-Si R. Over, Peter A. Traykovski
By
Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program, St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center, Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center

Toward a total water level forecast of the Great Lakes

The combined effect of storm surge and large waves is the main driving mechanism that erodes beaches, inundates low-lying areas, leading to millions of dollars in property damage, loss of natural resources, and lives. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) aims to expand the real-time total water level (TWL) forecast provided in the Operational Total Water Level and Coastal Change Forecasts (TWL&CC) to
Authors
Erdinc Sogut, Alfredo Aretxabaleta, Andrew Ashton, Walter Barnhardt, Kara S. Doran, Margaret Louise Palmsten
By
St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center, Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center

Hindcast of Hurricane Sally impacts on barrier islands in the Gulf of Mexico

We performed XBeach and ADIRC+SWAN model simulations of Hurricane Sally over Dauphin and Petit Bois Islands off the Alabama-Mississippi coast to evaluate the morphologic response. Simulated water levels compared well with NOAA tide gauge observations to the east of Dauphin Island with a high model skill of 0.9. In addition, the XBeach model results of water levels, mean current speeds and signific
Authors
Donya P. Frank-Gilchrist, Davina Passeri, Matthew V. Bilskie
By
Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program, St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center, Gulf of Mexico, Hurricane Sally