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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: 292

Comments on potential geologic and seismic hazards affecting coastal Ventura County, California Comments on potential geologic and seismic hazards affecting coastal Ventura County, California

This report examines the regional seismic and geologic hazards that could affect proposed liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities in coastal Ventura County, California. Faults throughout this area are thought to be capable of producing earthquakes of magnitude 6.5 to 7.5, which could produce surface fault offsets of as much as 15 feet. Many of these faults are sufficiently well understood...
Authors
Stephanie Ross, David Boore, Michael Fisher, Arthur Frankel, Eric Geist, Kenneth Hudnut, Robert E. Kayen, Homa J. Lee, William Normark, Florence Wong

Dynamics of the physical environment at the USS Arizona memorial: 2002-2004 Dynamics of the physical environment at the USS Arizona memorial: 2002-2004

No abstract available.
Authors
Curt D. Storlazzi, Matthew Russell, Marshall Owens, Michael Field, Larry Murphy

Shifting shoals and shattered rocks: How man has transformed the floor of west-central San Francisco Bay Shifting shoals and shattered rocks: How man has transformed the floor of west-central San Francisco Bay

San Francisco Bay, one of the world's finest natural harbors and a major center for maritime trade, is referred to as the 'Gateway to the Pacific Rim.' The bay is an urbanized estuary that is considered by many to be the major estuary in the United States most modified by man's activities. The population around the estuary has grown rapidly since the 1850's and now exceeds 7 million...
Authors
John L. Chin, Florence Wong, Paul Carlson

Stratiform barite deposits in the Roberts Mountains allochthon, Nevada: A review of potential analogs in modern sea-floor environments Stratiform barite deposits in the Roberts Mountains allochthon, Nevada: A review of potential analogs in modern sea-floor environments

The United States is a net importer of barite, a critical mineral for the oil and gas industry; more than 80 percent of current domestic consumption of barite is imported from China. Nearly all of the domestic production of barite comes from stratiform deposits in Nevada. The 'modern analogs' approach adopted in this review can contribute to improving deposit models and the long-term...
Authors
Randolph Koski, James Hein

Geochemistry of coastal tarballs in southern California—A tribute to I. R. Kaplan Geochemistry of coastal tarballs in southern California—A tribute to I. R. Kaplan

In the southern offshore California borderland, natural oil seeps occur mainly in the Santa Barbara Channel and Santa Monica Bay. Coastal tar residues (tarballs) from beaches bordering these water bodies were analyzed for six geochemical parameters: stable carbon isotopic compositions (δ13C) and four biomarker ratios (C28IC29 hopane, sterane/hopane, refractory index, bisnorhopane index)...
Authors
Keith Kvenvolden, Frances Hostettler

Chapter 14 Rex Chert member of the Permian Phosphoria Formation: Composition, with emphasis on elements of environmental concern Chapter 14 Rex Chert member of the Permian Phosphoria Formation: Composition, with emphasis on elements of environmental concern

We present bulk chemical and mineralogical compositions, as well as petrographic and outcrop descriptions, of rocks collected from three measured outcrop sections of the Rex Chert Member of the Phosphoria Formation in southeast Idaho. The three measured sections were chosen from 10 outcrops of Rex Chert that were described in the field. The Rex Chert overlies the Meade Peak Phosphatic...
Authors
James Hein, B.R. McIntyre, R.B. Perkins, David Piper, J. Evans

Data report: Stable isotopic measurements of sedimentary organic matter and N. pachyderma (s.) from site 1166, Prydz Bay continental shelf Data report: Stable isotopic measurements of sedimentary organic matter and N. pachyderma (s.) from site 1166, Prydz Bay continental shelf

We report the results of downhole stable isotopic (ẟ13Corg [organic carbon] and ẟ15N) and elemental measurements (total organic carbon [TOC], total nitrogen [TN], and carbon/nitrogen [C/N]) of sedimentary organic matter (SOM) along with stable isotopic measurements (ẟ18O and ẟ13C) of left-coiling Neogloboquadrina pachyderma planktonic foraminifers from Ocean Drilling Program Site 1166...
Authors
Kevin Theissen, Robert Dunbar, Alan Cooper

Seismic stratigraphic correlations between ODP sites 742 and 1166: Implications for depositional paleoenvironments in Prydz Bay, Antarctica Seismic stratigraphic correlations between ODP sites 742 and 1166: Implications for depositional paleoenvironments in Prydz Bay, Antarctica

New high-resolution seismic reflection data recorded between Ocean Drilling Program Sites 1166 and 742 are interpreted to link acoustic features to lithologic units at the two drill sites. New findings include: (1) Site 1166 drilled a deeper (older) section than Site 742; (2) Paleogene units mostly do not extend between the two sites, except the deformed sand unit (Units III [1166] and...
Authors
Tzvetina Erohina, Alan Cooper, D. Handwerger, Robert Dunbar

Synthetic seismograms linking ODP sites to seismic profiles, continental rise and shelf of Prydz Bay, Antarctica Synthetic seismograms linking ODP sites to seismic profiles, continental rise and shelf of Prydz Bay, Antarctica

Synthetic seismograms provide a crucial link between lithologic variations within a drill hole and reflectors on seismic profiles crossing the site. In essence, they provide a ground-truth for the interpretation of seismic data. Using a combination of core and logging data, we created synthetic seismograms for Ocean Drilling Program Sites 1165 and 1166, drilled during Leg 188, and Site...
Authors
D. Handwerger, Alan Cooper, P. O’Brien, T. Williams, S. Barr, A. Leventer, R. D. Jarrard

Prydz channel fan and the history of extreme ice advances in Prydz Bay Prydz channel fan and the history of extreme ice advances in Prydz Bay

During the late Neogene, the Lambert Glacier-Amery Ice Shelf drainage system flowed across Prydz Bay in an ice stream that reached the shelf edge and built a trough mouth fan on the upper continental slope. The adjacent banks saw mostly subglacial till deposition beneath slower-moving ice. The fan consists mostly of debris flow deposits derived from the melting out of subglacial debris...
Authors
P. O’Brien, Alan Cooper, F. Florindo, D. Handwerger, Michael Lavelle, S. Passchier, J. J. Pospichal, P. Quilty, Carl Richter, K. M. Theissen, J. Whitehead

Leg 188 synthesis: Transitions in the glacial history of the Prydz Bay region, East Antarctica, from ODP drilling Leg 188 synthesis: Transitions in the glacial history of the Prydz Bay region, East Antarctica, from ODP drilling

Drilling during Leg 119 (1988) and Leg 188 (2000; Sites 1165–1167) of the Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) provides direct evidence for long- and short-term changes in Cenozoic paleoenvironments in the Prydz Bay region. Cores from across the continental margin reveal that in preglacial times the present shelf was an alluvial plain system with austral conifer woodland in the Late Cretaceous...
Authors
Alan Cooper, P. O’Brien
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