Publications

In 1946, 1960, and 1964, major tsunamis (giant sea waves usually caused by earthquakes or submarine landslides) struck coastal areas of the Pacific Ocean. In the U.S. alone, these tsunamis killed hundreds of people and caused many tens of millions of dollars in damage. Recent events in Papua New Guinea (1998) and elsewhere are reminders that a catastrophic tsunami could strike U.S...

During January and February 1998 the U.S. Geological Survey Coastal and Marine Geology Team (USGS) conducted regional high-resolution multibeam mapping surveys of the area surrounding EPA-designated ocean disposal sites located offshore of the Hawaiian Islands of Oahu, Kauai, Maui, and Hawaii. The sites are all located within 5 nautical miles of shore on insular shelves or slopes...

Ground-penetrating radar (GPR) was used to investigate the internal structure of two large landslides in Anchorage, Alaska that resulted from the great 1964 earthquake. The Government Hill and Turnagain Heights landslides occurred in similar stratigraphic and geographic settings, yet the style of ground deformation is different at each site. GPR data are compared with previous...

Current methods of monitoring beach morphology changes commonly involve the establishment of Global Positioning System profiles that are surveyed on a regular basis. Although this method produces precise measurements of coastal topography, it is costly in time and effort and may result in large data gaps between profiles. Much of our understanding of coastal dynamics is thus limited by...

No abstract available.

The Antarctic Ice Sheet is one of the great features of our planet. It plays a pivotal role in global atmospheric circulation and the sea-ice zone around it produces cold waters that control much of the ocean’s deep circulation. The Antarctic Ice Sheet is also the largest store of fresh water on earth and controls short-term sea level changes. The history of the Antarctic Ice Sheet has...

Antarctic climate history has been dominated by events and turning points with causes that are poorly understood. To fill the gaps in our knowledges new effort is underway in the international geologic community to acquire and coordinate the circum‐Antarctic geologic data needed to derive and model paleoenvironments of the past 130 m.y. The effort, which focuses principally on using...

The purpose of this field trip is to explore the relationships between local geology, coastal hazards, and human influences in the northern Monterey Bay, which is a tectonically active high wave energy coastal environment. Seacliffs, shore platforms, pocket beaches and a headland/embayment morphology characterize this rocky coastline. Many studies of the onshore and offshore geology and...

The nearshore benthic habitat of the Santa Barbara coast and Channel Islands supports a diversity of marine life that are commercially, recreationally, and intrinsically valuable. Some of these resources are known to be endangered including a variety of rockfish and the White Abalone. State and National agencies have been mandated to preserve and enhance these resources and require...

A three-week cruise to obtain high-resolution boomer and multichannel seismic-reflection profiles supported two project activities of the USGS Coastal and Marine Geology (CMG) Program: (1) evaluating the earthquake and related geologic hazards posed by faults in the near offshore area of southern California and (2) determining the pathways through which sea-water is intruding into...

The tsunami that struck Papua New Guinea on 17 July 1998 shortly after a Mw 7.0 earthquake (Figure 1) was one of the deadliest tsunamis in this century. At least 2,200 people died from this event, essentially destroying an entire generation in some communities. In the months following the tsunami, several international survey teams collected data in an attempt to better understand the...

In Glacier Bay National Park, Alaska there are ongoing studies of Dungeness Crab (Cancer magister) and Pacific Halibut (Hippoglosus stenolepis). Scientists of the United States Geological Survey (USGS) are attempting to ascertain life history, distribution, and abundance, and to determine the effects of commercial fishing in the park (Carlson et al., 1998). Statistical sampling studies...