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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: 1431

Organic matter at sites 642, 643, and 644, ODP Leg 104 Organic matter at sites 642, 643, and 644, ODP Leg 104

Sedimentary extractable organic matter was analyzed at three ODP Leg 104 sites in the Norwegian Sea. Organic carbon content ranged from less than 0.1% to a maximum of 1.8%. Extractable organic matter content and unresolved complex mixture concentrations were low and randomly distributed. Low levels of aliphatic (branched and normal) and aromatic hydrocarbons were detected in all of the...
Authors
T.J. McDonald, M.C. Kennicutt, J.M. Brooks, Keith A. Kvenvolden

Organic geochemistry on Leg 104 Organic geochemistry on Leg 104

The Leg 104 organic geochemistry program consisted of monitoring (a) hydrocarbon gases, (b) organic and inorganic carbon, and (c) parameters resulting from Rock-Eval pyrolysis at three sites on the Vdring Plateau. The results amplify some of those obtained earlier on Deep Sea Drilling Project (DSDP) Leg 38. In a regional sense there is an inverse correlation between amounts of...
Authors
Keith A. Kvenvolden, T.J. McDonald

Marine magnetic gradiometer: A tool for the seismic interpreter Marine magnetic gradiometer: A tool for the seismic interpreter

The marine magnetometer has been used since the early '50s as an ancillary tool on vessels conducting regional and local seismic surveys. Emphasis on marine magnetic data by academia has led to major discoveries about the structure of the earth's crust, such as the association of shallow, crustal magnetic anomalies to seafloor spreading and long-wavelength anomalies to deep crustal...
Authors
Richard J. Wold, Alan K. Cooper

Morphology and growth history of Delgada Fan: Implications for the Neogene evolution of Point Arena Basin and the Mendocino Triple Junction Morphology and growth history of Delgada Fan: Implications for the Neogene evolution of Point Arena Basin and the Mendocino Triple Junction

Long-range side scan (GLORIA) sonographs and seismic reflection data acquired during a survey of the western U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone in 1984, coupled with information from Deep Sea Drilling Project sites, provide new insights into the growth and evolution of the Delgada Fan. Construction of the fan commenced in the latest Miocene (∼6 Ma) following the filling of the Neogene Point...
Authors
D.E. Drake, D.A. Cacchione, J.V. Gardner, D. S. McCulloch, D. Masson

Morphodynamic signature of the 1985 hurricane impacts on the northern Gulf of Mexico Morphodynamic signature of the 1985 hurricane impacts on the northern Gulf of Mexico

Three hurricanes hit Lousiana (LA), Mississippi (MS), Alabama (AL), and the Florida (FL) panhandle in 1985, producing dramatic geomorphic changes in a wide variety of coastal environments. The impact zone for hurricanes Danny, Elena, and Juan stretched 1000 km between the Sabine River in LA to the Apalachicola River in FL. Barrier shorelines experienced repeated intense overwash events...
Authors
Shea Penland, John R. Suter, Ashbury H. Sallenger, S. Jeffress Williams, Randolph A. McBride, Karen E. Westphal, P. Douglas Reimer, Bruce E. Jaffe

Physiography of the western United States Exclusive Economic Zone Physiography of the western United States Exclusive Economic Zone

GLORIA (Geologic Long-Range Inclined Asdic) sidescan sonar images were collected over the entire Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) west of the conterminous United States. The continuous, overlapping, swath-mapping technique provides, for the first time, a reconnaissance plan view off the entire sea floor from the edge of the continental shelf to 370 km from shore. The mid-ocean ridges...
Authors
D.A. Cacchione, D.E. Drake, Brian D. Edwards, M. E. Field, J. V. Gardner, M. A. Hampton, H. A. Karl, N.H. Kenyon, D.G. Masson, David S. McCulloch

The laboratory albitization of mid-ocean ridge basalt The laboratory albitization of mid-ocean ridge basalt

Complete alteration of fresh mid-ocean ridge basalt to albite + actinolite + smectite took place in the presence of quartz and 3.4m NaCl at 350°C and 400 bars. Significant Na-metasomatism occurred in exchange for Ca + Fe + Mn. In contrast, alteration of the basalt/quartz mixture with a synthetically prepared "natural brine," and basalt with 3.4m NaCl or "natural brine" did not produce...
Authors
Robert J. Rosenbauer, James L. Bischoff, Robert A. Zierenberg

Amino-acid diagenesis and its implication for late Pleistocene lacustrine sediment, Clear Lake, California Amino-acid diagenesis and its implication for late Pleistocene lacustrine sediment, Clear Lake, California

The diagenesis of amino acids in sediments from Clear Lake core CL-80-1 is indicated by changes in amino acid concentrations, compositions, and stereochemistry. Concentrations of total amino acids decrease with depth, but the decrease is not systematic, possibly reflecting a nonuniformity in sedimentary and postdepositional processes affecting the amino acids. Ratios of neutral/acidic...
Authors
D.J. Blunt, Keith A. Kvenvolden

Methane hydrates and global climate Methane hydrates and global climate

Methane hydrates are globally widespread in permafrost regions and beneath the sea in sediment of outer continental margins. The amount of methane sequestered in gas hydrates is probably enormous, but estimates of the amounts are speculative and range over three orders of magnitude (about 103 to 106 GT (gigatons = 1015 g)). A question of current interest concerns the possible...
Authors
Keith A. Kvenvolden

Aliphatic hydrocarbons in sediments from Prydz Bay, Antarctica Aliphatic hydrocarbons in sediments from Prydz Bay, Antarctica

High molecular weight aliphatic hydrocarbons were extracted from sediments at two sites (741 and 742) drilled during ODP Leg 119 in Prydz Bay. The distributions of n-alkanes and triterpenoid and steroid hydrocarbons suggest that the n- alkanes and steranes are mainly of terrestrial origin and that the hydrocarbons are immature to slightly mature in the Lower Cretaceous sediments and...
Authors
Keith A. Kvenvolden, Frances D. Hostettler, J. B. Rapp, Tamara Frank
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