Coral Reef Project: Oʻahu
Science Center Objects
As part of the Coral Reef Project, the USGS is working closely with other local groups to investigate poor water quality issues in Maunalua Bay on the southeast coast of Oʻahu.
Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) image data of Oʻahu acquired January 13, 2010
Overview
Oʻahu encompasses 1,546 sq km (597 sq mi) and is the third largest in the Hawaiian Islands chain. Also known as The Gathering Place, Oʻahu draws more visitors than any of the other Hawaiian Islands. The island was formed from joining of the Waiʻanae and Koʻolau volcanoes. Coral reefs surround the island, although active live coral growth is limited to the leeward sides of the island or in sheltered areas on the windward coasts. Reef structures on the north shore help form the waves that draw surfers worldwide.
Motivation
The USGS is working closely with Mālama Maunalua and the Kewalo Marine Laboratory, as part of the Hawaiʻi Local Action Strategy Plan, to investigate poor water quality issues in Maunalua Bay on the southeast coast of Oʻahu. This coral-lined embayment has seen a dramatic decline in ecosystem health, including sedimentation, invasive algae species, and a reduction in reef fish. A major factor in the decline of ecosystem health is human-induced changes on land, mainly from engineering of natural drainage gulches that have become concrete-lined channels. These channels speed up the flow of storm runoff from the uplands, increasing the discharge of freshwater, sediment and other land-based pollutants to the bay. The USGS has been instrumental in measuring water-column properties in Maunalua Bay, including waves, currents, water levels, temperature, salinity, and turbidity, to provide insight into the transport and fate of these contaminants.
We have also assisted the National Park Service (NPS) with documentation of underwater conditions around the USS Arizona Memorial (see World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument) in Pearl Harbor. Of special concern is the fact that the hull of the USS Arizona is deteriorating and has the potential of releasing more than half a million gallons of fuel oil into the environment. By using the same instrumentation packages that we use to monitor oceanographic conditions on coral reefs, such as currents, waves, temperature and salinity, we can help the NPS get a handle on the physical dynamics surrounding the submerged hull.
Other partners working with the USGS on Oʻahu include the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), University of Hawaiʻi, James Cook University, University of California, Santa Cruz, and The Nature Conservancy.
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Date published: July 15, 2019Status: ActiveCoral Reef Project
Explore the fascinating undersea world of coral reefs. Learn how we map, monitor, and model coral reefs so we can better understand, protect, and preserve our Nation's reefs.
Contacts: Curt Storlazzi
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Date published: September 10, 2019Status: ActiveCoral Reef Project: Molokaʻi
As part of the USGS Coral Reef Project, recent USGS work on Molokaʻi includes looking into the coral record to find clues to past sedimentation events.
Contacts: Curt Storlazzi -
Date published: July 15, 2019Status: ActiveMapping Coral Reefs
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Rigorously valuing the role of U.S. coral reefs in coastal hazard risk reduction
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Storlazzi, Curt D.; Reguero, Borja G.; Cole, Aaron D.; Lowe, Erik; Shope, James B.; Gibbs, Ann E.; Nickel, Barry A.; McCall, Robert T.; van Dongeren, Ap R.; Beck, Michael W.
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Widlansky, Matthew J.; Annamalai, Hariharasubramanian; Gingerich, Stephen B.; Storlazzi, Curt D.; Marra, John J.; Hodges, Kevin I.; Choy, Barry; Kitoh, Akio Sources and dispersal of land-based runoff from small Hawaiian drainages to a coral reef: Insights from geochemical signatures
Land-based sediment and contaminant runoff is a major threat to coral reefs, and runoff reduction efforts would benefit from knowledge of specific runoff sources. Geochemical signatures of small drainage basins were determined in the fine fraction of soil and sediment, then used in the nearshore region of a coral reef-fringed urban embayment on...
Takesue, Renee K.; Storlazzi, Curt D. Digital image mosaics of the nearshore coastal waters of selected areas on the Hawaiian Islands of Hawai‘i, Maui, Moloka‘i, and O‘ahu generated using aerial photographs and SHOALS airborne lidar bathymetry data
The lack of geographic and thematic maps of coral reefs limits our understanding of reefs and our ability to assess change. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has the capability to compile digital image mosaics that are useful for creating detailed map products. Image maps covering the shallow near-shore coastal waters have been...
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Over 60 years ago, the discovery that light increased calcification in the coral plant-animal symbiosis triggered interest in explaining the phenomenon and understanding the mechanisms involved. Major findings along the way include the observation that carbon fixed by photosynthesis in the zooxanthellae is translocated to animal cells throughout...
Jokiel, Paul L.; Jury, Christopher P.; Kuffner, Ilsa B. A Geochemical and Geophysical Assessment of Coastal Groundwater Discharge at Select Sites in Maui and O’ahu, Hawai’i
This chapter summarizes fieldwork conducted to derive new estimates of coastal groundwater discharge and associated nutrient loadings at select coastal sites in Hawai’i, USA. Locations for this work were typically identified based on pronounced, recent ecosystem degradation that may at least partially be attributable to sustained coastal...
Swarzenski, Peter W.; Storlazzi, Curt D.; M.L. Dalier; C.R. Glenn; C.G. Smith The effectiveness of coral reefs for coastal hazard risk reduction and adaptation
The world’s coastal zones are experiencing rapid development and an increase in storms and flooding. These hazards put coastal communities at heightened risk, which may increase with habitat loss. Here we analyse globally the role and cost effectiveness of coral reefs in risk reduction. Meta-analyses reveal that coral reefs provide substantial...
Ferrario, Filippo; Beck, Michael W.; Storlazzi, Curt D.; Micheli, Fiorenza; Shepard, Christine C.; Airoldi, Laura Mercury dynamics in a coastal aquifer: Maunalua Bay, Oʻahu, Hawaiʻi
We evaluated the influence of groundwater–seawater interaction on mercury dynamics in Maunalua Bay, a coral reef ecosystem located on the south shore of Oʻahu, Hawaiʻi, by combining geochemical data with submarine groundwater discharge (SGD) rates. During a rising tide, unfiltered total mercury (U-HgT) concentrations in seawater increased from ∼6...
Ganguli, Priya M.; Swarzenski, Peter W.; Dulaiova, Henrieta; Glenn, Craig R.; Flegal, A. Russell
Seafloor video footage and still-frame grabs from U.S. Geological Survey cruises in Hawaiian nearshore waters
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Gibbs, Ann E.; Cochran, Susan A.; Tierney, Peter W.
Coastal circulation and potential coral-larval dispersal in Maunalua Bay, O'ahu, Hawaii—Measurements of waves, currents, temperature, and salinity, June-September 2010
This report presents a summary of fieldwork conducted in Maunalua Bay, O'ahu, Hawaii to address coral-larval dispersal and recruitment from June through September, 2010. The objectives of this study were to understand the temporal and spatial variations in currents, waves, tides, temperature, and salinity in Maunalua Bay during the summer coral-...
Presto, M. Katherine; Storlazzi, Curt D.; Logan, Joshua B.; Reiss, Thomas E.; Rosenberger, Kurt J.
From ridge to reef—linking erosion and changing watersheds to impacts on the coral reef ecosystems of Hawai‘i and the Pacific Ocean
Coral reef ecosystems are threatened by unprecedented watershed changes in the United States and worldwide. These ecosystems sustain fishing and tourism industries essential to the economic survival of many communities. Sediment, nutrients, and pollutants from watersheds are increasingly transported to coastal waters, where these contaminants...
Stock, Jonathan D.; Cochran, Susan A.; Field, Michael E.; Jacobi, James D.; Tribble, Gordon The use (and misuse) of sediment traps in coral reef environments: Theory, observations, and suggested protocols
Sediment traps are commonly used as standard tools for monitoring “sedimentation” in coral reef environments. In much of the literature where sediment traps were used to measure the effects of “sedimentation” on corals, it is clear from deployment descriptions and interpretations of the resulting data that information derived from sediment traps...
Storlazzi, C.D.; Field, M.E.; Bothner, Michael H.-
Date published: January 1, 2019Projected flooding extents and depths based on 10-, 50-, 100-, and 500-year wave-energy return periods, with and without coral reefs, for the States of Hawaii and Florida, the Territories of Guam, American Samoa, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands,
This data release provides flooding extent polygons (flood masks) and depth values (flood points) based on wave-driven total water levels for 22 locations within the States of Hawaii and Florida, the Territories of Guam, American Samoa, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. For each of the 22 locations there are eight associated flood...
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Date published: December 21, 2016Digital image mosaics of the nearshore coastal waters of selected areas on the Hawaiian Islands of Hawai‘i, Maui, Moloka‘i, and O‘ahu generated using aerial photographs and SHOALS airborne lidar bathymetry data
USGS has the capability to compile digital image mosaics that are useful for creating detailed map products. Image maps covering the shallow near-shore coastal waters have been produced for several of the main Hawaiian Islands, including Hawai‘i, Maui, Moloka‘i, and O‘ahu and are presented in JPEG2000 (.jp2) format.