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Publications

Scientific reports, journal articles, and information products produced by USGS Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center scientists.

Filter Total Items: 1314

Physicochemical coastal groundwater dynamics between Kauhakō Crater lake and Kalaupapa settlement, Moloka‘i, Hawai‘i

Land-based sources of groundwater pollution can be a critical threat to coral reefs, and a better understanding of “ridge-to-reef” water movement is required to advance management and coral survival in the Anthropocene. In this study a more complete understanding of the geological, atmospheric, and oceanic drivers behind coastal groundwater exchange on the Kalaupapa peninsula, on Moloka‘i, Hawai‘i
Authors
Ferdinand Oberle, Olivia Cheriton, Peter W Swarzenski, Eric K. Brown, Curt D. Storlazzi

Subaqueous clinoforms created by sandy wave-supported gravity flows: Lessons from the central California shelf

Subaqueous clinoforms are an important yet underappreciated shelf feature. Their origins are typically associated with subaerial deltas but recent work has identified similar features in settings without a significant fluvial source. These other studies have shown that such subaqueous clinoforms, also known as infralittoral prograding wedges (IPWs), are created largely by wave-induced processes. T
Authors
Elisa Medri, Alexander R. Simms, Jared W. Kluesner, Samuel Y. Johnson, Stuart P. Nishenko, H. Gary Greene, James E. Conrad

Understanding uncertainties in contemporary and future extreme wave events for broad-scale impact and adaptation planning

Understanding uncertainties in extreme wind-wave events is essential for offshore/coastal risk and adaptation estimates. Despite this, uncertainties in contemporary extreme wave events have not been assessed, and projections are still limited. Here, we quantify, at global scale, the uncertainties in contemporary extreme wave estimates across an ensemble of widely used global wave reanalyses/hindca
Authors
Joao Morim, Thomas Wahl, Sean Vitousek, Sara Santamaria, Ian Young, Mark Hemer

“Aftershock Faults” and what they could mean for seismic hazard assessment

We study stress‐loading mechanisms for the California faults used in rupture forecasts. Stress accumulation drives earthquakes, and that accumulation mechanism governs recurrence. Most moment release in California occurs because of relative motion between the Pacific plate and the Sierra Nevada block; we calculate relative motion directions at fault centers and compare with fault displacement dire
Authors
Thomas E. Parsons, Eric L. Geist, Sophie E. Parsons

Sound-side inundation and seaward erosion of a barrier island during hurricane landfall

Barrier islands are especially vulnerable to hurricanes and other large storms, owing to their mobile composition, low elevations, and detachment from the mainland. Conceptual models of barrier-island evolution emphasize ocean-side processes that drive landward migration through overwash, inlet migration, and aeolian transport. In contrast, we found that the impact of Hurricane Dorian (2019) on No
Authors
Christopher R. Sherwood, Andrew C. Ritchie, Jin-Si R. Over, Christine J. Kranenburg, Jonathan Warrick, Jenna A. Brown, Wayne Wright, Alfredo Aretxabaleta, Sara Zeigler, Phillipe Alan Wernette, Daniel D. Buscombe, Christie Hegermiller

What controls suspended-sediment concentration and export in flooded agricultural tracts in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta?

We investigated wind-wave and suspended-sediment dynamics in Little Holland Tract and Liberty Island, two subsided former agricultural tracts in the Cache Slough complex in the northern Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta which were restored to tidal shallows to improve habitat. Turbidity, and thus suspended-sediment concentration (SSC), is important to habitat quality because some species of native fish
Authors
Jessica R. Lacy, Evan T. Dailey, Tara L. Morgan-King

The future of coastal monitoring through satellite remote sensing

Satellite remote sensing is transforming coastal science from a “data-poor” field into a “data-rich” field. Sandy beaches are dynamic landscapes that change in response to long-term pressures, short-term pulses, and anthropogenic interventions. Until recently, the rate and breadth of beach change have outpaced our ability to monitor those changes, due to the spatiotemporal limitations of our obser
Authors
Sean Vitousek, Dan Buscombe, Kilian Vos, Patrick L. Barnard, Andrew C. Ritchie, Jonathan Warrick

The Searsville Lake Site (California, USA) as a candidate Global boundary Stratotype Section and Point for the Anthropocene series

Cores from Searsville Lake within Stanford University’s Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve, California, USA, are examined to identify a potential GSSP for the Anthropocene: core JRBP2018-VC01B (944.5 cm-long) and tightly correlated JRBP2018-VC01A (852.5 cm-long). Spanning from 1900 CE ± 3 years to 2018 CE, a secure chronology resolved to the sub-annual level allows detailed exploration of the Holoce
Authors
M. Allison Stegner, Elizabeth A. Hadly, Anthony D. Barnosky, SeanPaul La Selle, Brian L. Sherrod, R. Scott Anderson, Sergio A. Redondo, Maria Viteri, Karrie Weaver, Andrew Cundy, Pawel Gaca, Neil Rose, Handong Yang, Sarah A. Roberts, Irka Hajdas, Bryan A. Black, Trisha Spanbauer

The over-prediction of seismically induced soil liquefaction during the 2016 Kumamoto, Japan earthquake sequence

Following the M7.0 strike-slip earthquake near Kumamoto, Japan, in April of 2016, most geotechnical engineering experts believed that there would be significant soil liquefaction and liquefaction-induced infrastructure damage observed in the densely populated city of Kumamoto during the post-event engineering reconnaissance. This belief was driven by several factors including the young geologic en
Authors
Donald J. Anderson, Kevin W. Franke, Robert Kayen, Shideh Dashti, M Badanagki

Global ocean wave fields show consistent regional trends between 1980 and 2014 in a multi-product ensemble

Historical trends in the direction and magnitude of ocean surface wave height, period, or direction are debated due to diverse data, time-periods, or methodologies. Using a consistent community-driven ensemble of global wave products, we quantify and establish regions with robust trends in global multivariate wave fields between 1980 and 2014. We find that about 30–40% of the global ocean experien
Authors
Li H. Erikson, J. Morim, M. Hemer, Ian Young, X. Wang, L. Mentaschi, N. Mori, A. Semedo, Justin Stopa, V Grigorieva, S. Gulev, O. Aarnes, J-R Bidlot, O. Breivik, P. Bricheno, P. Camus, T. Shimura, M. Menendez, M. Markina, V.D. Sharmar, C. Trenham, J.F. Wolf, C. Appendini, S. Caires, N. Groll, A. Webb

Assessment of significant sand resources in Federal and California State Waters of the San Francisco, Oceanside, and Silver Strand littoral cell study areas along the continental shelf of California

Executive SummaryThe Sand Resources Project was established through collaborative agreements between the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), and the California Ocean Protection Council (OPC) with the purpose of evaluating sand and gravel resources in Federal and California State Waters for potential use in future beach-nourishment projects. Project partners
Authors
Jonathan A. Warrick, James E. Conrad, Antoinette Papesh, Tom Lorenson, Ray Sliter

Compilation of existing data for sand resource studies in Federal and California State Waters of the San Francisco, Oceanside, and Silver Strand littoral cell study areas along the continental shelf of California—Strategy for field studies and sand resour

Executive SummaryThe Sand Resources Project was established through collaborative agreements between the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), and the California Ocean Protection Council (OPC) with the purpose of evaluating sand and gravel resources in Federal and California State Waters for potential use in future beach-nourishment projects. Project partners
Authors
Jonathan A. Warrick, James E. Conrad, Antoinette Papesh, Tom Lorenson, Ray Sliter