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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: 1311

Seismic evidence for magmatic underplating along the Kodiak-Bowie Seamount Chain, Gulf of Alaska

Oceanic crust formed at mid-ocean ridges may be later modified by off-ridge magmatism forming seamounts, guyots, and islands. We investigate processes associated with seamount formation in the Gulf of Alaska Seamount Province using two coincident seismic reflection/wide-angle profiles. A north-south profile crosses the Kodiak-Bowie Seamount Chain and Aja fracture zone (FZ), and an orthogonal east-
Authors
Gail L. Christeson, Sean P.S. Gulick, Maureen A. L. Walton, Ginger Barth

Affinity of the benthic foraminifer Cassidulinoides parkeriana (Brady) for whale-falls: Evidence from off western Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada

A partial skeleton of a blue or fin whale, estimated to have been 16.5 m in length and thought to have been lying on the seafloor for less than 10 years, was observed at a depth of 1288 m off western Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada (48.68° N, 126.84° W). Four push cores were taken at the site, three (15-26 cm in length) directly under caudal vertebrae and one 18 cm long, considered a re
Authors
Mary McGann, Charles K. Paull

Coral reef restoration for risk reduction (CR4): A guide to project design and proposal development

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and University of California Santa Cruz (UCSC) are working through the U.S. Coral Reef Task Force to provide guidance on the development of coral reef restoration proposals for federal hazard mitigation funding.
Authors
Austen Stovall, Michael W. Beck, Curt Storlazzi, Juliette Hayes, Janan Reilly, Jennifer Koss, Doug Bausch

Warming-driven erosion and sediment transport in cold regions

Rapid atmospheric warming since the mid-twentieth century has increased temperature-dependent erosion and sediment-transport processes in cold environments, affecting food, energy and water security. In this Review, we summarize landscape changes in cold environments and provide a global inventory of increases in erosion and sediment yield driven by cryosphere degradation. Anthropogenic climate ch
Authors
Tinghu Zhang, Dongfeng Li, Amy E. East, Desmond E. Walling, Stuart N. Lane, Irina Overeem, Achim A. Beylich, Michele N Koppes, Xixi Lu

A characterization of the deep-sea coral and sponge community along the California, Oregon, and Washington coasts using a remotely operated vehicle on the EXPRESS 2019 expedition

NOAA’s Deep-Sea Coral Research Technology Program (DSCRTP) began a 4-year funding initiative for the U.S. West Coast in 2018. The goals of the West Coast Deep-Sea Coral Initiative were to: 1) gather baseline information on DSCS in areas subject to fishing regulation changes prior to the implementation of Amendment 28; 2) improve our understanding of known DSCS bycatch “hot spots”; and 3) explore a
Authors
Tom Laidig, Diana Watters, Nancy G. Prouty, Meredith Everett, Lizzie Duncan, Liz Clarke, Chris Caldow, Jill Bourque, Jennifer McClain Counts, Amanda Demopoulos

On the use of high-resolution and deep-learning seismic catalogs for short-term earthquake forecasts: Potential benefits and current limitations

Enhanced earthquake catalogs provide detailed images of evolving seismic sequences. Currently, these data sets take some time to be released but will soon become available in real time. Here, we explore whether and how enhanced seismic catalogs feeding into established short-term earthquake forecasting protocols may result in higher predictive skill. We consider three enhanced catalogs for the 201
Authors
Simone Mancini, Margarita Segou, Maximillan J. Werner, Thomas E. Parsons, Gregory C. Beroza, Lauro Chiaraluce

Using active source seismology to image the Palos Verdes Fault damage zone as a function of distance, depth, and geology

Fault damage zones provide a window into the non-elastic processes of an earthquake. Geological and seismic tomography methods have been unable to measure damage zones at depth with sufficient spatial sampling to evaluate the relative influence of depth, distance, and lithological variations. Here, we identify and analyze the damage zone of the Palos Verdes Fault offshore southern California using
Authors
Travis Alongi, Emily Brodsky, Jared W. Kluesner, Daniel S. Brothers

Multi-factor biotopes as a method for detailed site characterization in diverse benthic megafaunal communities and habitats in deep-water off Morro Bay, California

Here we describe the methods and results for biological characterization of the benthos on a previously unexplored area of central California, USA seafloor. We conducted 40 remotely operated vehicle dives from 371 to 1173 m water depth. Seafloor habitats and megafauna (fish and invertebrates) were documented from 46.8 km of seafloor video footage. Our expanded development and analysis of biotopes
Authors
Linda A. Kuhnz, Lisa Gilbane, Guy R. Cochrane, Charles K. Paull

Estimation of site terms in ground-motion models for California using horizontal-to-vertical spectral ratios from microtremor

The horizontal‐to‐vertical spectral ratios from microtremor (mHVSR) data obtained at 196 seismic stations in California are used to evaluate three alternative microtremor‐based proxies for site amplification for use in ground‐motion models (GMMs): the site fundamental period (⁠f0⁠), the period‐dependent amplitude of the mHVSR(T), and the normalized amplitude of the mHVSR(T). The alternative parame
Authors
Camilo Pinilla Ramos, Norman A. Abrahamson, Robert Kayen

Planetary-scale change to the biosphere signalled by global species translocations can be used to identify the Anthropocene

We examine three distinctive biostratigraphic signatures associated with: hunting and gathering, landscape domestication, and globalisation. All three signatures have significant fossil records of regional importance that can be correlated inter-regionally and help describe the developing pattern of human expansion and appropriation of resources. While none have individual first or last appearance
Authors
Mark A. Williams, Reinhold Leinfelder, Anthony D. Barnosky, Martin J Head, Francine M G McCarthy, Cearreta. Alejandro, Stephen J Himson, Rachael Holmes, Colin N. Waters, Jan Zalasiewicz, Simon Turner, Mary McGann, Elizabeth A. Hadly, M. Allison Stegner, Paul Michael Pilkington, Jérôme Kaiser, Juan Carlos Berrio, Ian P. Wilkinson, Jens Zinke, Kristine L. DeLong

Wave-driven hydrodynamic processes over fringing reefs with varying slopes, depths, and roughness: Implications for coastal protection

Wave breaking on the steep fore-reef slopes of shallow fringing reefs is effective at dissipating incident sea-swell waves prior to reaching reef shorelines. However, wave setup and free infragravity waves generated during the sea-swell breaking process are often the largest contributors to wave-driven water levels at the shoreline. Laboratory flume experiments and a multi-layer phase-resolving no

Authors
Mark L. Buckley, Ryan L. Lowe, Jeff E. Hansen, Ap R. Dongeren, Andrew Pomeroy, Curt Storlazzi, Dirk P. Rijnsdorp, Renan F. Silva, Stephanie Contardo, Rebecca H. Green

Measuring and attributing sedimentary and geomorphic responses to modern climate change: Challenges and opportunities

Today, climate change is affecting virtually all terrestrial and nearshore settings. This commentary discusses the challenges of measuring climate-driven physical landscape responses to modern global warming: short and incomplete data records, land use and seismicity masking climatic effects, biases in data availability and resolution, and signal attenuation in sedimentary systems. We identify opp
Authors
Amy E. East, Jonathan Warrick, Dongfeng Li, Joel B. Sankey, Margaret H. Redsteer, Ann E. Gibbs, Jeffrey A. Coe, Patrick L. Barnard