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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: 1426

Hurricane Sandy washover deposits on Fire Island, New York Hurricane Sandy washover deposits on Fire Island, New York

Washover deposits on Fire Island, New York, from Hurricane Sandy in 2012 were investigated a year after the storm to document the sedimentary characteristics of hurricane washover features. Sediment data collected in the field includes stratigraphic descriptions and photos from trenches, bulk sediment samples, U-channels, and gouge and push cores. Samples and push cores were further...
Authors
SeanPaul M. La Selle, Brent D. Lunghino, Bruce E. Jaffe, Guy Gelfenbaum, Pedro J.M. Costa

Book review: Extreme ocean waves Book review: Extreme ocean waves

“Extreme Ocean Waves”, edited by E. Pelinovsky and C. Kharif, second edition, Springer International Publishing, 2016; ISBN: 978-3-319-21574-7, ISBN (eBook): 978-3-319-21575-4 The second edition of “Extreme Ocean Waves” published by Springer is an update of a collection of 12 papers edited by Efim Pelinovsky and Christian Kharif following the April 2007 meeting of the General Assembly of...
Authors
Eric L. Geist

Book review: Physics of tsunamis Book review: Physics of tsunamis

“Physics of Tsunamis”, second edition, provides a comprehensive analytical treatment of the hydrodynamics associated with the tsunami generation process. The book consists of seven chapters covering 388 pages. Because the subject matter within each chapter is distinct, an abstract appears at the beginning and references appear at the end of each chapter, rather than at the end of the...
Authors
Eric L. Geist

Is “morphodynamic equilibrium” an oxymoron? Is “morphodynamic equilibrium” an oxymoron?

Morphodynamic equilibrium is a widely adopted yet elusive concept in the field of geomorphology of coasts, rivers and estuaries. Based on the Exner equation, an expression of mass conservation of sediment, we distinguish three types of equilibrium defined as static and dynamic, of which two different types exist. Other expressions such as statistical and quasi-equilibrium which do not...
Authors
Zeng Zhou, Giovanni Coco, Ian Townend, Maitane Olabarrieta, Mick van der Wegen, Zheng Gong, Andrea D’Alpaos, Shu Gao, Bruce E. Jaffe, Guy R. Gelfenbaum, Qing He, Yaping Wang, Stefano Lanzoni, Zhengbing Wang, Han Winterwerp, Changkuan Zhang

A global probabilistic tsunami hazard assessment from earthquake sources A global probabilistic tsunami hazard assessment from earthquake sources

Large tsunamis occur infrequently but have the capacity to cause enormous numbers of casualties, damage to the built environment and critical infrastructure, and economic losses. A sound understanding of tsunami hazard is required to underpin management of these risks, and while tsunami hazard assessments are typically conducted at regional or local scales, globally consistent...
Authors
Gareth Davies, Jonathan Griffin, Finn Lovholt, Sylfest Glimsdal, Carl Harbitz, Hong Kie Thio, Stefano Lorito, Roberto Basili, Jacopo Selva, Eric L. Geist, Maria Ana Baptista

Habitat suitability models for groundfish in the Gulf of Alaska Habitat suitability models for groundfish in the Gulf of Alaska

Identifying and quantifying the major ecosystem processes that regulate recruitment strength of commercially and ecologically important fish species is a central goal of fisheries management research. In the Gulf of Alaska (GOA) five groundfish species are of particular interest: sablefish (Anoplopoma fimbria), Pacific cod (Gadus macrocephalus), walleye pollock (Gadus chalcogrammus)...
Authors
Jodi L. Pirtle, S. Kalei Shotwell, Mark Zimmermann, Jane A. Reid, Nadine E. Golden

Investigation of input reduction techniques for morphodynamic modeling of complex inlets with baroclinic forcing Investigation of input reduction techniques for morphodynamic modeling of complex inlets with baroclinic forcing

The Mouth of the Columbia River (MCR) is a complex estuary inlet system characterized by a buoyant plume created by high freshwater flows from the Columbia River into the Pacific Ocean. Data obtained during two major field campaigns have resulted in a comprehensive dataset of hydrodynamics and sediment transport under high (2013) and low (2005) river flow conditions. Through the analysis...
Authors
Guy R. Gelfenbaum, Edwin Elias, Andrew W. Stevens

New techniques to measure cliff change from historical oblique aerial photographs and structure-from-motion photogrammetry New techniques to measure cliff change from historical oblique aerial photographs and structure-from-motion photogrammetry

Oblique aerial photograph surveys are commonly used to document coastal landscapes. Here it is shown that adequate overlap may exist in these photographic records to develop topographic models with Structure-from-Motion (SfM) photogrammetric techniques. Using photographs of Fort Funston, California, from the California Coastal Records Project, imagery were combined with ground control...
Authors
Jonathan A. Warrick, Andy Ritchie, Gabrielle Adelman, Ken Adelman, Patrick W. Limber

Mudflat morphodynamics and the impact of sea level rise in South San Francisco Bay Mudflat morphodynamics and the impact of sea level rise in South San Francisco Bay

Estuarine tidal mudflats form unique habitats and maintain valuable ecosystems. Historic measurements of a mudflat in San Fancsico Bay over the past 150 years suggest the development of a rather stable mudflat profile. This raises questions on its origin and governing processes as well as on the mudflats’ fate under scenarios of sea level rise and decreasing sediment supply. We developed...
Authors
Mick Van der Wegen, Bruce E. Jaffe, Amy C. Foxgrover, Dano Roelvink

Interactions of estuarine shoreline infrastructure with multiscale sea level variability Interactions of estuarine shoreline infrastructure with multiscale sea level variability

Sea level rise increases the risk of storms and other short‐term water‐rise events, because it sets a higher water level such that coastal surges become more likely to overtop protections and cause floods. To protect coastal communities, it is necessary to understand the interaction among multiday and tidal sea level variabilities, coastal infrastructure, and sea level rise. We performed...
Authors
Ruo-Quian Wang, Liv M. Herdman, Li H. Erikson, Patrick L. Barnard, Michelle Hummel, Mark T. Stacey

Controls of multi-modal wave conditions in a complex coastal setting Controls of multi-modal wave conditions in a complex coastal setting

Coastal hazards emerge from the combined effect of wave conditions and sea level anomalies associated with storms or low-frequency atmosphere-ocean oscillations. Rigorous characterization of wave climate is limited by the availability of spectral wave observations, the computational cost of dynamical simulations, and the ability to link wave-generating atmospheric patterns with coastal...
Authors
Christie Hegermiller, Ana C. Rueda, Li H. Erikson, Patrick L. Barnard, J.A.A. Antolinez, Fernando J. Mendez

A multimodal wave spectrum-based approach for statistical downscaling of local wave climate A multimodal wave spectrum-based approach for statistical downscaling of local wave climate

Characterization of wave climate by bulk wave parameters is insufficient for many coastal studies, including those focused on assessing coastal hazards and long-term wave climate influences on coastal evolution. This issue is particularly relevant for studies using statistical downscaling of atmospheric fields to local wave conditions, which are often multimodal in large ocean basins (e...
Authors
Christie Hegermiller, Jose A.A. Antolinez, Ana C. Rueda, Paula Camus, Jorge Perez, Li H. Erikson, Patrick L. Barnard, Fernando J. Mendez
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