Publications
Scientific reports, journal articles, and information products produced by USGS Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center scientists.
Filter Total Items: 1420
Flow speed estimated by inverse modeling of sandy sediment deposited by the 29 September 2009 tsunami near Satitoa, east Upolu, Samoa Flow speed estimated by inverse modeling of sandy sediment deposited by the 29 September 2009 tsunami near Satitoa, east Upolu, Samoa
Sandy deposits from the 29 September 2009 tsunami on the east coast of Upolu, Samoa were investigated to document their characteristics and used to apply an inverse sediment transport model to estimate tsunami flow speed. Sandy deposits 6 to 15 cm thick formed from ~ 25 to ~ 250 m inland. Sedimentary layers in the deposits, that are defined by vertical grain size variation and contacts...
Authors
Bruce E. Jaffe, Mark Buckley, Bruce M. Richmond, Luke Strotz, Samuel Etienne, Kate Clark, Steve Watt, Guy R. Gelfenbaum, James Goff
More than 100 Years of Background-Level Sedimentary Metals, Nisqually River Delta, South Puget Sound, Washington More than 100 Years of Background-Level Sedimentary Metals, Nisqually River Delta, South Puget Sound, Washington
The Nisqually River Delta is located about 25 km south of the Tacoma Narrows in the southern reach of Puget Sound. Delta evolution is controlled by sedimentation from the Nisqually River and erosion by strong tidal currents that may reach 0.95 m/s in the Nisqually Reach. The Nisqually River flows 116 km from the Cascade Range, including the slopes of Mount Rainier, through glacially...
Authors
Renee K. Takesue, Peter W. Swarzenski
Insights on the 2009 South Pacific tsunami in Samoa and Tonga from field surveys and numerical simulations Insights on the 2009 South Pacific tsunami in Samoa and Tonga from field surveys and numerical simulations
An Mw ≈ 8.1 earthquake south of the Samoan Islands on 29 September 2009 generated a tsunami that killed 189 people. From 4 to 11 October, an International Tsunami Survey Team surveyed the seven major islands of the Samoan archipelago. The team measured locally focused runup heights of 17 m at Poloa and inundation of more than 500 m at Pago Pago. A follow-up expedition from 23 to 28...
Authors
Hermann M. Fritz, Jose C. Borrero, Costas E. Synolakis, Emile A. Okal, Robert Weiss, Vasily V. Titov, Bruce E. Jaffe, Spyros Foteinis, Patrick J. Lynett, I-Chi Chan, Philip L-F. Liu
Petroleum hydrocarbons in sediment from the northern Gulf of Mexico shoreline, Texas to Florida Petroleum hydrocarbons in sediment from the northern Gulf of Mexico shoreline, Texas to Florida
Petroleum hydrocarbons were extracted and analyzed from shoreline sediment collected from the northern Gulf of Mexico (nGOM) coastline that could potentially be impacted by Macondo-1 (M-1) well oil. Sediment was collected before M-1 well oil made significant local landfall and analyzed for baseline conditions by a suite of diagnostic petroleum biomarkers. Oil residue in trace quantities...
Authors
Robert J. Rosenbauer, Pamela L. Campbell, Angela Lam, T.D. Lorenson, Frances D. Hostettler, Burt Thomas, Florence L. Wong
Book review: Rogue waves in the ocean Book review: Rogue waves in the ocean
Rogue Waves in the Ocean (2009) is a follow-on text to Extreme Ocean Waves (2008) edited by Pelinovsky and Kharif, both published by Springer. Unlike the earlier text, which is a compilation of papers on a variety of extreme waves that was the subject of a scientific conference in 2007, Rogues Waves in the Ocean is written, rather than edited, by Kharif, Pelinovsky, and Slunyaev and is...
Authors
Eric L. Geist
Overview of the ARkStorm scenario Overview of the ARkStorm scenario
The U.S. Geological Survey, Multi Hazards Demonstration Project (MHDP) uses hazards science to improve resiliency of communities to natural disasters including earthquakes, tsunamis, wildfires, landslides, floods and coastal erosion. The project engages emergency planners, businesses, universities, government agencies, and others in preparing for major natural disasters. The project also...
Authors
Keith Porter, Anne Wein, Charles N. Alpers, Allan Baez, Patrick L. Barnard, James Carter, Alessandra Corsi, James Costner, Dale Cox, Tapash Das, Mike Dettinger, James Done, Charles Eadie, Marcia Eymann, Justin Ferris, Prasad Gunturi, Mimi Hughes, Robert Jarrett, Laurie Johnson, Hanh Dam Le-Griffin, David Mitchell, Suzette Morman, Paul Neiman, Anna Olsen, Suzanne Perry, Geoffrey Plumlee, Martin Ralph, David Reynolds, Adam Rose, Kathleen Schaefer, Julie Serakos, William Siembieda, Jonathan D. Stock, David Strong, Ian Sue Wing, Alex Tang, Pete Thomas, Ken Topping, Chris Wills, Lucile Jones
By
Natural Hazards Mission Area, Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program, Earthquake Hazards Program, Science Application for Risk Reduction, Geologic Hazards Science Center, Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center, Big Sur Landslides, Reducing Risk, San Francisco Bay and Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Estuary
Chapter 50 Geology and tectonic development of the Amerasia and Canada Basins, Arctic Ocean Chapter 50 Geology and tectonic development of the Amerasia and Canada Basins, Arctic Ocean
Amerasia Basin is the product of two phases of counterclockwise rotational opening about a pole in the lower Mackenzie Valley of NW Canada. Phase 1 opening brought ocean–continent transition crust (serpentinized peridotite?) to near the seafloor of the proto-Amerasia Basin, created detachment on the Eskimo Lakes Fault Zone of the Canadian Arctic margin and thinned the continental crust...
Authors
Arthur Grantz, Patrick E. Hart, Vicki A Childers
The ANTOSTRAT legacy: Science collaboration and international transparency in potential marine mineral resource exploitation of Antarctica The ANTOSTRAT legacy: Science collaboration and international transparency in potential marine mineral resource exploitation of Antarctica
The Antarctic Offshore Stratigraphy project (ANTOSTRAT; 1989–2002) was an extremely successful collaboration in international marine geological science that also lifted the perceived “veil of secrecy” from studies of potential exploitation of Antarctic marine mineral resources. The project laid the groundwork for circum-Antarctic seismic, drilling, and rock coring programs designed to...
Authors
Alan Cooper, Peter Barker, Peter Barrett, John Behrendt, Giuliano Brancolini, Jonathan R. Childs, Carlota Escutia, Wilfried Jokat, Yngve Kristoffersen, German Leitchenkov, Howard Stagg, Manabu Tanahashi, Nigel Wardell, Peter Webb
Growth rate and age distribution of deep-sea black corals in the Gulf of Mexico Growth rate and age distribution of deep-sea black corals in the Gulf of Mexico
Black corals (order Antipatharia) are important long-lived, habitat-forming, sessile, benthic suspension feeders that are found in all oceans and are usually found in water depths greater than 30 m. Deep-water black corals are some of the slowest-growing, longest-lived deep-sea corals known. Previous age dating of a limited number of black coral samples in the Gulf of Mexico focused on
Authors
N.G. Prouty, E.B. Roark, N.A. Buster, Steve W. Ross
Rising sea level may cause decline of fringing coral reefs Rising sea level may cause decline of fringing coral reefs
Coral reefs are major marine ecosystems and critical resources for marine diversity and fisheries. These ecosystems are widely recognized to be at risk from a number of stressors, and added to those in the past several decades is climate change due to anthropogenically driven increases in atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases. Most threatening to most coral reefs are elevated...
Authors
Michael E. Field, Andrea S. Ogston, Curt D. Storlazzi
Sediment dynamics and the burial and exhumation of bedrock reefs along an emergent coastline as elucidated by repetitive sonar surveys: Northern Monterey Bay, CA Sediment dynamics and the burial and exhumation of bedrock reefs along an emergent coastline as elucidated by repetitive sonar surveys: Northern Monterey Bay, CA
Two high-resolution bathymetric and acoustic backscatter sonar surveys were conducted along the energetic emergent inner shelf of northern Monterey Bay, CA, USA, in the fall of 2005 and the spring of 2006 to determine the impact of winter storm waves, beach erosion, and river floods on biologically-important siliclastic bedrock reef habitats. The surveys extended from water depths of 4 m...
Authors
C. D. Storlazzi, T.A. Fregoso, N.E. Golden, D.P. Finlayson
The impact of the 2009-10 El Niño Modoki on U.S. West Coast beaches The impact of the 2009-10 El Niño Modoki on U.S. West Coast beaches
High-resolution beach morphology data collected along much of the U.S. West Coast are synthesized to evaluate the coastal impacts of the 2009–10 El Niño. Coastal change observations were collected as part of five beach monitoring programs that span between 5 and 13 years in duration. In California, regional wave and water level data show that the environmental forcing during the 2009–10...
Authors
Patrick L. Barnard, Jonathan Allan, Jeff E. Hansen, George M. Kaminsky, Peter Ruggiero, André Doria