Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center
Publications
Search for scientific reports, publications, and information products produced by Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center staff. Also browse the USGS Publications Warehouse to broaden your search with enhanced filtering.
Modeling three-dimensional flow over spur-and-groove morphology
Spur-and-groove (SAG) morphology characterizes the fore reef of many coral reefs worldwide. Although the existence and geometrical properties of SAG have been well documented, an understanding of the hydrodynamics over them is limited. Here, the three-dimensional flow patterns over SAG formations, and a sensitivity of those patterns to waves,...
da Silva, Renan; Storlazzi, Curt D.; Rogers, Justin S.; Reyns, Johan; McCall, Robert T. Spectral wave-driven bedload transport across a coral reef flat/lagoon complex
Coral reefs are an important source of sediment for reef-lined coasts by helping to maintain beaches while also providing protection in the form of wave energy dissipation. Understanding the mechanisms by which sediment is delivered to the coast as well as better constraining the total volumes generated are critical for projecting future coastal...
Rosenberger, Kurt J.; Storlazzi, Curt D.; Cheriton, Olivia; Pomeroy, Andrew; Hansen, Jeff E.; Lowe, Ryan; Buckley, Mark Littoral sediment from rivers: Patterns, rates and processes of river mouth morphodynamics
Rivers provide important sediment inputs to many littoral cells, thereby replenishing sand and gravel of beaches around the world. However, there is limited information about the patterns and processes of littoral-grade sediment transfer from rivers into coastal systems. Here I address these information gaps by examining topographic and...
Warrick, Jonathan Sediment export and impacts associated with river delta channelization compound estuary vulnerability to sea-level rise, Skagit River Delta, Washington, USA
Improved understanding of the budget and retention of sediment in river deltas is becoming increasingly important to mitigate and plan for impacts expected with sea level rise. In this study, analyses of historical bathymetric change, sediment core stratigraphy, and modeling are used to evaluate the sediment budget and environmental response of...
Grossman, Eric; Stevens, Andrew W.; Dartnell, Peter; George, Doug A; Finlayson, David The effects of phosphatization on the mineral associations and speciation of Pb in ferromanganese crusts
The older layers of thick ferromanganese (FeMn) crusts from the central Pacific Ocean have undergone diagenetic phosphatization, during which carbonate fluorapatite (CFA) filled fractures and pore space and replaced carbonates. The effects of phosphatization on individual trace metal concentrations, speciation, and phase associations in FeMn...
Mizell, Kira; Hein, James R.; Koschinsky, Andrea; Hayes, Sarah M. Distribution and transport of Olympia oyster, Ostrea lurida, larvae in northern Puget Sound, Washington, USA
As efforts for restoring Olympia oyster (Ostrea lurida) populations have expanded, there is an increased need to understand local factors that could influence the long-term success of these projects. To address concerns over potential limitations to recruitment at a restoration site in northern Puget Sound, Washington, USA, a study was developed...
Grossman, S.K.; Grossman, Eric; Barber, Julie S.; Gamblewood, S.K.; Crosby, Sean C Research is needed to inform environmental management of hydrothermally inactive and extinct polymetallic sulfide (PMS) deposits
Polymetallic sulfide (PMS) deposits produced at hydrothermal vents in the deep sea are of potential interest to miners. Hydrothermally active sulfide ecosystems are valued for the extraordinary chemosynthetic communities that they support. Many countries, including Canada, Portugal, and the United States, protect vent ecosystems in their Exclusive...
Van Dover, CL; Colaco, Ana; Collins, PC; Croot, P; Metaxas, Anna; Murton, BJ; Swaddling, A; Boschen-Rose, R; Carlsson, J; Cuyvers, L; Fukushima, Toshio; Gartman, Amy; Kennedy, R.; Kriete, C; Mestre, NC; Molodtsova, T; Myhrvold, A; Pelleter, E; Popoola, SO; Qian, P-Y; Sarrazin, J; Sharma, R; Suh, YJ; Sylvan, JB; Tao, Chunhui; Tomczak, Michal; Vermilye, J Increasing threat of coastal groundwater hazards from sea-level rise in California
Projected sea-level rise will raise coastal water tables, resulting in groundwater hazards that threaten shallow infrastructure and coastal ecosystem resilience. Here we model a range of sea-level rise scenarios to assess the responses of water tables across the diverse topography and climates of the California coast. With 1 m of sea-level rise,...
Befus, K.M.; Barnard, Patrick L.; Hoover, Daniel J.; Finzi Hart, Juliette; Voss, Clifford I. Internal tides can provide thermal refugia that will buffer some coral reefs from future global warming
Observations show ocean temperatures are rising due to climate change, resulting in a fivefold increase in the incidence of regional-scale coral bleaching events since the 1980s; analyses based on global climate models forecast bleaching will become an annual event for most of the world’s coral reefs within 30–50 yr. Internal waves at tidal...
Storlazzi, Curt D.; Cheriton, Olivia; Van Hooidonk, Ruben; Zhao, Zhongxiang; Brainard, Russell E.
Ecological forecasting—21st century science for 21st century management
Natural resource managers are coping with rapid changes in both environmental conditions and ecosystems. Enabled by recent advances in data collection and assimilation, short-term ecological forecasting may be a powerful tool to help resource managers anticipate impending near-term changes in ecosystem conditions or dynamics. Managers may use the...
Bradford, John B.; Weltzin, Jake F.; Mccormick, Molly; Baron, Jill; Bowen, Zack; Bristol, Sky; Carlisle, Daren; Crimmins, Theresa; Cross, Paul; DeVivo, Joe; Dietze, Mike; Freeman, Mary; Goldberg, Jason; Hooten, Mevin; Hsu, Leslie; Jenni, Karen; Keisman, Jennifer; Kennen, Jonathan; Lee, Kathy; Lesmes, David; Loftin, Keith; Miller, Brian W.; Murdoch, Peter; Newman, Jana; Prentice, Karen L.; Rangwala, Imtiaz; Read, Jordan; Sieracki, Jennifer; Sofaer, Helen; Thur, Steve; Toevs, Gordon; Werner, Francisco; White, C. LeAnn; White, Timothy; Wiltermuth, Mark Large-scale erosion driven by intertidal eelgrass loss in an estuarine environment
Seagrasses influence local hydrodynamics by inducing drag on the flow and dampening near-bed velocities and wave energy. When seagrasses are lost, near-bed currents and wave energy can increase, which enhances bottom shear stresses, destabilizes sediment, and promotes suspension and erosion. Though seagrasses are being lost rapidly globally, the...
Walter, Ryan K.; O’Leary, Jenifer K.; Vitousek, Sean; Taherkhani, Mohsen; Geraghty, Carolyn; Kitajima, Ann Amazon sediment transport and accumulation along the continuum of mixed fluvial and marine processes
Sediment transfer from land to ocean begins in coastal settings and, for large rivers such as the Amazon, has dramatic impacts over thousands of kilometers covering diverse environmental conditions. In the relatively natural Amazon tidal river, combinations of fluvial and marine processes transition toward the ocean, affecting the transport and...
Nittrouer, Charles A.; DeMaster, David J.; Kuehl, Steven A.; Figueiredo, Alberto G.; Sternberg, Richard W.; Faria, L. Ercilio C.; Silveira, Odete M.; Allison, Meade A.; Kineke, Gail C.; Ogston, Andrea S.; Souza Filho, Pedro W.M.; Asp, Nils E.; Nowacki, Daniel J. ; Fricke, Aaron T.