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Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center

2022 Annual Report

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Mapping methane reduction potential of tidal wetland restoration in the United States

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Opportunities to improve alignment with the FAIR Principles for U.S. Geological Survey data

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Scientific literature and information products produced by Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center staff

Featured Journal Article

Herring River, Wellfleet, MA

Calibrating optical turbidity measurements with suspended-sediment concentrations from the Herring River in Wellfleet, Massachusetts, from November 2018 to November 2019

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Featured USGS Series

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Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center—2022 Annual Report.  The 2022 annual report highlights accomplishments, includes a list of publications, and summarizes the work of the center and each of the science groups.

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Sound Waves

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Coastal and Marine Research News from Across the USGS

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Filter Total Items: 1688

Hydrate formation on marine seep bubbles and the implications for water column methane dissolution

Methane released from seafloor seeps contributes to a number of benthic, water column, and atmospheric processes. At seafloor seeps within the methane hydrate stability zone, crystalline gas hydrate shells can form on methane bubbles while the bubbles are still in contact with the seafloor or as the bubbles begin ascending through the water column. These shells reduce methane dissolution rates, al
Authors
Xiaojing Fu, William F. Waite, Carolyn D. Ruppel
By
Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center

Discrete sample introduction module for quantitative and isotopic analysis of methane and other gases by cavity ring-down spectroscopy

Carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) are natural and anthropogenic products that play a central role in the global carbon cycle and regulating Earth’s climate. Applications utilizing laser absorption spectroscopy, which continuously measure concentrations and stable isotope ratios of these greenhouse gases, are routinely employed to measure the source and magnitude of atmospheric inputs. We deve
Authors
John Pohlman, Michael Casso, Cedric Magen, Emile M. Bergeron
By
Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center

Modeling morphodynamics of coastal response to extreme events: What shape are we in?

This review focuses on recent advances in process-based numerical models of the impact of extreme storms on sandy coasts. Driven by larger-scale models of meteorology and hydrodynamics, these models simulate morphodynamics across the Sallenger storm-impact scale, including swash, collision, overwash, and inundation. Models are becoming both wider (as more processes are added) and deeper (as detail
Authors
Christopher R. Sherwood, Ap van Dongeren, James Doyle, Christie Hegermiller, T. J. Hsu, Tarandeep S. Kalra, Maitane Olabarrieta, Allison Penko, Yashar Rafati, Dano Roelvink, Marlies van der Lugt, Jay Veeramony, John C. Warner
By
Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center

Metabolic flexibility of aerobic methanotrophs under anoxic conditions in Arctic lake sediments

Methane (CH4) emissions from Arctic lakes are a large and growing source of greenhouse gas to the atmosphere with critical implications for global climate. Because Arctic lakes are ice covered for much of the year, understanding the metabolic flexibility of methanotrophs under anoxic conditions would aid in characterizing the mechanisms responsible for limiting CH4 emissions from high-latitude reg
Authors
Ruoying He, Jing Wang, John Pohlman, Zhongjun Jia, Yi-Xuan Chu, Matthew Wooller, Mary Beth Leigh
By
Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center

Processing coastal imagery with Agisoft Metashape Professional Edition, version 1.6—Structure from motion workflow documentation

IntroductionStructure from motion (SFM) has become an integral technique in coastal change assessment; the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) used Agisoft Metashape Professional Edition photogrammetry software to develop a workflow that processes coastline aerial imagery collected in response to storms since Hurricane Florence in 2018. This report details step-by-step instructions to create three-dimen

Authors
Jin-Si R. Over, Andrew C. Ritchie, Christine J. Kranenburg, Jenna A. Brown, Daniel D. Buscombe, Tom Noble, Christopher R. Sherwood, Jonathan A. Warrick, Phillipe A. Wernette
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Natural Hazards Mission Area, Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program, Maryland-Delaware-D.C. Water Science Center, Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center, Southwest Biological Science Center, St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center, Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center, Hurricane Florence, Hurricanes

Recent carbon storage and burial exceed historic rates in the San Juan Bay estuary peri-urban mangrove forests (Puerto Rico, United States)

Mangroves sequester significant quantities of organic carbon (C) because of high rates of burial in the soil and storage in biomass. We estimated mangrove forest C storage and accumulation rates in aboveground and belowground components among five sites along an urbanization gradient in the San Juan Bay Estuary, Puerto Rico. Sites included the highly urbanized and clogged Caño Martin Peña in the w
Authors
Cathleen Wigand, Meagan J. Eagle, Benjamin Branoff, Stephen Balogh, Kenneth Miller, Rose M. Martin, Alana Hanson, Autumn Oczkowski, Evelyn Huertas, Joseph Loffredo, Elizabeth Watson
By
Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center

Oxygen-controlled recirculating seepage meter reveals extent of nitrogen transformation in discharging coastal groundwater at the aquifer–estuary interface

Nutrient loads delivered to estuaries via submarine groundwater discharge (SGD) play an important role in the nitrogen (N) budget and eutrophication status. However, accurate and reliable quantification of the chemical flux across the final decimeters and centimeters at the sediment–estuary interface remains a challenge, because there is significant potential for biogeochemical alteration due to c
Authors
Thomas W. Brooks, Kevin D. Kroeger, Holly A. Michael, Joanna K. York
By
Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center

A survey of storm-induced seaward-transport features observed during the 2019 and 2020 hurricane seasons

Hurricanes are known to play a critical role in reshaping coastlines, but often only impacts on the open ocean coast are considered, ignoring seaward-directed forces and responses. The identification of subaerial evidence for storm-induced seaward transport is a critical step towards understanding its impact on coastal resiliency. The visual features, found in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Authors
Jin-Si R. Over, Jenna A. Brown, Christopher R. Sherwood, Christie Hegermiller, Phillipe Alan Wernette, Andrew C. Ritchie, Jonathan Warrick
By
Natural Hazards Mission Area, Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program, Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center, Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center, Hurricane Delta, Hurricane Dorian, Hurricane Isaias, Hurricane Laura, Hurricanes

Impact of SST and surface waves on Hurricane Florence (2018): A coupled modeling investigation

Hurricane Florence (2018) devastated the coastal communities of the Carolinas through heavy rainfall that resulted in massive flooding. Florence was characterized by an abrupt reduction in intensity (Saffir-Simpson Category 4 to Category 1) just prior to landfall and synoptic-scale interactions that stalled the storm over the Carolinas for several days. We conducted a series of numerical modeling
Authors
Joseph Zambon, Ruoying He, John C. Warner, Christie Hegermiller
By
Natural Hazards Mission Area, Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program, Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center, Hurricane Florence, Hurricanes

Summary of oceanographic and water-quality measurements offshore of Matanzas Inlet, Florida, 2018

U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientists and technical staff deployed instrumented underwater platforms and buoys to collect oceanographic and atmospheric data at two sites near Matanzas Inlet, Florida, on January 24, 2018, and recovered them on April 13, 2018. Matanzas Inlet is a natural, unmaintained inlet on the Florida Atlantic coast that is well suited to study inlet and cross-shore processes
Authors
Marinna A. Martini, Ellyn Montgomery, Steven E. Suttles, John C. Warner
By
Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program, Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center

Molluscan aminostratigraphy of the US Mid-Atlantic Quaternary coastal system: Implications for onshore-offshore correlation, paleochannel and barrier island evolution, and local late Quaternary sea-level history

The Quaternary record of the US Mid-Atlantic coastal system includes onshore emergent late Pleistocene shoreline deposits, offshore inner shelf and barrier island units, and paleovalleys formed during multiple glacial stage sea-level lowstands. The geochronology of this coastal system is based on uranium series, radiocarbon, amino acid racemization (AAR), and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL
Authors
John Wehmiller, Laura L. Brothers, Kelvin Ramsey, David S. Foster, C.R. Mattheus, Christopher Hein, Justin L. Shawler
By
Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center

Quantifying slopes as a driver of forest to marsh conversion using geospatial techniques: Application to Chesapeake Bay coastal-plain, USA

Coastal salt marshes, which provide valuable ecosystem services such as flood mitigation and carbon sequestration, are threatened by rising sea level. In response, these ecosystems migrate landward, converting available upland into salt marsh. In the coastal-plain surrounding Chesapeake Bay, United States, conversion of coastal forest to salt marsh is well-documented and may offset salt marsh loss
Authors
Grace Damore Molino, Zafer Defne, Alfredo Aretxabaleta, Neil K. Ganju, Joel A. Carr
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Climate Research and Development Program, Land Change Science Program, Eastern Ecological Science Center, Chesapeake Bay Activities, Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center