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Scientific reports, journal articles, and information products produced by USGS Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center scientists.
USGS Pubs Warehouse
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Sound Waves Newsletter
Sound Waves Newsletter
Browse issues of the Sound Waves newsletter, featuring coastal and marine research news from across the USGS.
Filter Total Items: 1466
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, 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
Book review: Nonlinear ocean waves and the inverse scattering transform Book review: Nonlinear ocean waves and the inverse scattering transform
Nonlinear Ocean Waves and the Inverse Scattering Transform is a comprehensive examination of ocean waves built upon the theory of nonlinear Fourier analysis. The renowned author, Alfred R. Osborne, is perhaps best known for the discovery of internal solitons in the Andaman Sea during the 1970s. In this book, he provides an extensive treatment of nonlinear water waves based on a nonlinear
Authors
Eric L. Geist
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
Bathymetry and digital elevation models of Coyote Creek and Alviso Slough, South San Francisco Bay, California Bathymetry and digital elevation models of Coyote Creek and Alviso Slough, South San Francisco Bay, California
In 2010, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center completed three cruises to map the bathymetry of the main channel and shallow intertidal mudflats in the southernmost part of south San Francisco Bay. The three surveys were merged to generate comprehensive maps of Coyote Creek (from Calaveras Point east to the railroad bridge) and Alviso Slough (from...
Authors
Amy C. Foxgrover, David P. Finlayson, Bruce E. Jaffe, Theresa A. Fregoso
The influence of current speed and vegetation density on flow structure in two macrotidal eelgrass canopies The influence of current speed and vegetation density on flow structure in two macrotidal eelgrass canopies
The influence of eelgrass (Zostera marina) on near-bed currents, turbulence, and drag was investigated at three sites in two eelgrass canopies of differing density and at one unvegetated site in the San Juan archipelago of Puget Sound, Washington, USA. Eelgrass blade length exceeded 1 m. Velocity profiles up to 1.5 m above the sea floor were collected over a spring-neap tidal cycle with...
Authors
Jessica R. Lacy, Sandy Wyllie-Echeverria
The characteristics of gas hydrates recovered from the Mount Elbert Gas Hydrate Stratigraphic Test Well, Alaska North Slope The characteristics of gas hydrates recovered from the Mount Elbert Gas Hydrate Stratigraphic Test Well, Alaska North Slope
Systematic analyses have been carried out on two gas hydrate-bearing sediment core samples, HYPV4, which was preserved by CH4 gas pressurization, and HYLN7, which was preserved in liquid-nitrogen, recovered from the BPXA-DOE-USGS Mount Elbert Stratigraphic Test Well. Gas hydrate in the studied core samples was found by observation to have developed in sediment pores, and the distribution...
Authors
H. Lu, Thomas Lorenson, I.L. Moudrakovski, J.A. Ripmeester, Timothy S. Collett, R.B. Hunter, C.I. Ratcliffe
Effects of fringing reefs on tsunami inundation: American Samoa Effects of fringing reefs on tsunami inundation: American Samoa
A numerical model of tsunami inundation, Delft3D, which has been validated for the 29 September 2009 tsunami in Tutuila, American Samoa, is used to better understand the impact of fringing coral reefs and embayments on tsunami wave heights, inundation distances, and velocities. The inundation model is used to explore the general conditions under which fringing reefs act as coastal...
Authors
G. Gelfenbaum, A. Apotsos, A.W. Stevens, B. Jaffe
What is the role of fresh groundwater and recirculated seawater in conveying nutrients to the coastal ocean? What is the role of fresh groundwater and recirculated seawater in conveying nutrients to the coastal ocean?
Submarine groundwater discharge (SGD) is a major process operating at the land-sea interface. Quantifying the SGD nutrient loads and the marine/terrestrial controls of this transport is of high importance, especially in oligotrophic seas such as the eastern Mediterranean. The fluxes of nutrients in groundwater discharging from the seafloor at Dor Bay (southeastern Mediterranean) were...
Authors
Yishai Weinstein, Yoseph Yechieli, Yehuda Shalem, William C. Burnett, Peter W. Swarzenski, Barak Herut