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Transport of invasive microorganisms Active

By Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center November 30, 2021

The objectives of his project are to investigate the vectors and timing of microbiological invasions and the subsequent dispersal of these non-native organisms due to sediment transport. We will attempt to confirm the identification of specific invasives encountered with molecular sequencing, monitor the spread of the invading populations through their recent distribution and the historic sedimentologic record, and document the impact of the invasions on native populations. The information we gain in this study will also aid port managers in developing plans for reducing the introduction of invasives in our nation's ports by understanding potential pathways of introductions and the temporal survival capability of these organisms during transport.

This research is part of the project, “Sediment Transport in Coastal Environments.”

Grid of photomicrographs and sketches of foraminifera.
Sources/Usage: Public Domain.
Figure 2 from the 2012 publication, "Arrival and Expansion of the Invasive Foraminifera Trochammina hadai Uchio in Padilla Bay, Washington," by McGann, et al.

Learn about all of the “Sediment Transport in Coastal Environments” research studies by choosing a title below.

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View from the sky looking at mouth of river with lots of sediment deposited at a beach.

Sediment Transport in Coastal Environments

Our research goals are to provide the scientific information, knowledge, and tools required to ensure that decisions about land and resource use, management practices, and future development in the coastal zone and adjacent watersheds can be evaluated with a complete understanding of the probable effects on coastal ecosystems and communities, and a full assessment of their vulnerability to natural...
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Natural Hazards Mission Area, Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program, Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center, Sediment Lab Suite and Carbon Analysis Laboratory
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Sediment Transport in Coastal Environments

Our research goals are to provide the scientific information, knowledge, and tools required to ensure that decisions about land and resource use, management practices, and future development in the coastal zone and adjacent watersheds can be evaluated with a complete understanding of the probable effects on coastal ecosystems and communities, and a full assessment of their vulnerability to natural...
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View from the sky of a large estuary with large and small waterways surrounded by villages and agriculture, hills in background.

Coastal watershed and estuary restoration in the Monterey Bay area

Objectives: Support further work by the USGS and collaborating federal, state, and local agencies and academic partners in analyzing the effectiveness of restoration work in coastal watersheds and estuaries in the Monterey Bay area. The USGS will play a supporting role in field efforts led by NOAA and California State University - Monterey Bay to measure physical and ecological changes in the...
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Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program, Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center
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Coastal watershed and estuary restoration in the Monterey Bay area

Objectives: Support further work by the USGS and collaborating federal, state, and local agencies and academic partners in analyzing the effectiveness of restoration work in coastal watersheds and estuaries in the Monterey Bay area. The USGS will play a supporting role in field efforts led by NOAA and California State University - Monterey Bay to measure physical and ecological changes in the...
Learn More
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Grid of photomicrographs and sketches of foraminifera.

Transport of invasive microorganisms

The objectives of his project are to investigate the vectors and timing of microbiological invasions and the subsequent dispersal of these non-native organisms due to sediment transport. We will attempt to confirm the identification of specific invasives encountered with molecular sequencing, monitor the spread of the invading populations through their recent distribution and the historic...
By
Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program, Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center
link

Transport of invasive microorganisms

The objectives of his project are to investigate the vectors and timing of microbiological invasions and the subsequent dispersal of these non-native organisms due to sediment transport. We will attempt to confirm the identification of specific invasives encountered with molecular sequencing, monitor the spread of the invading populations through their recent distribution and the historic...
Learn More
link
Colored shaded-relief bathymetry map of Monterey Canyon and Vicinity, California

Sediment transport in submarine canyons

Objectives: Produce a step-change in understanding of submarine turbidity currents by measuring their two key features (synchronous velocity and concentration profiles) in detail (every 2-to-30 seconds) for the first time, and documenting spatial changes in their flow velocity from source-to-sink for the first time.
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Natural Hazards Mission Area, Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program, Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center
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Sediment transport in submarine canyons

Objectives: Produce a step-change in understanding of submarine turbidity currents by measuring their two key features (synchronous velocity and concentration profiles) in detail (every 2-to-30 seconds) for the first time, and documenting spatial changes in their flow velocity from source-to-sink for the first time.
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An estuary with many channels widening towards the sea through lush forests and grasslands, village in distance.

Columbia River estuary

This research is part of the project “Sediment Transport in Coastal Environments.” We aim to support regional sediment management in the Columbia River littoral cell by monitoring and modeling shoreline change, modeling fate of disposed dredged material, and studying bedform morphology.
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Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program, Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center
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Columbia River estuary

This research is part of the project “Sediment Transport in Coastal Environments.” We aim to support regional sediment management in the Columbia River littoral cell by monitoring and modeling shoreline change, modeling fate of disposed dredged material, and studying bedform morphology.
Learn More
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View from the air across a tidal march, mudflat, and channels with bay water to the right and a city in the background.

Sediment transport between estuarine habitats in San Francisco Bay

We investigate mechanisms of sediment transport, resuspension dynamics in shoals, wave evolution in the shallows, wave attenuation in marshes, and transport of sediment between mudflats and marshes. We produce data sets for calibration of and comparison with sediment transport models, including wave parameters, suspended sediment concentration, and sediment flux.
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Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program, Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center
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Sediment transport between estuarine habitats in San Francisco Bay

We investigate mechanisms of sediment transport, resuspension dynamics in shoals, wave evolution in the shallows, wave attenuation in marshes, and transport of sediment between mudflats and marshes. We produce data sets for calibration of and comparison with sediment transport models, including wave parameters, suspended sediment concentration, and sediment flux.
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Two people hold onto a large metal tripod with instruments suspended from a cable as they guide it into the water.

Drag and sediment transport: conditions at the bottom boundary

Research on bed sediment grain size, bedform morphology, vegetation characteristics, and sediment resuspension and transport.
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Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program, Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center, Sediment Lab Suite and Carbon Analysis Laboratory
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Drag and sediment transport: conditions at the bottom boundary

Research on bed sediment grain size, bedform morphology, vegetation characteristics, and sediment resuspension and transport.
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Illustration showing the contours of the bay floor underwater and the relief of surrounding hills, and dots.

San Francisco Bay geomorphology

The primary objective of this task is to develop tools for predicting the long-term geomorphic evolution of estuaries. Sediment core and historical change analysis will be used in combination with interpretation of high-resolution seismic profiles to develop tools for predicting geomorphic evolution of estuaries. Historical change analysis will use hydrographic and lidar data. Longer-term data...
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Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program, Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center, Core Preparation and Analysis Laboratory and Sample Repositories, Multi-Sensor Core Logger Laboratory
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San Francisco Bay geomorphology

The primary objective of this task is to develop tools for predicting the long-term geomorphic evolution of estuaries. Sediment core and historical change analysis will be used in combination with interpretation of high-resolution seismic profiles to develop tools for predicting geomorphic evolution of estuaries. Historical change analysis will use hydrographic and lidar data. Longer-term data...
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Census counts of benthic foraminifera, environmental parameters (temperature, salinity, and oxygen concentration), and radiocarbon measurements from cores obtained under and near a whale-fall off western Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada

This data release provides census counts of benthic foraminifera (in percent for the total fauna and as raw counts for just the living specimens) as well as environmental parameters (temperature, salinity, and oxygen concentration) at the sampling sites, and radiocarbon measurements from selected push core samples obtained under and near a whale-fall off western Vancouver Island, British Columbia,
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Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program, Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center

Grain-size data from core S3-15G, Monterey Fan, Central California

This data release presents sediment grain-size data from samples collected from core S3-15G, a 4.72-m long gravity core collected at a depth of 3,491 meters on the western levy of the Monterey Fan on May 31, 1978 (USGS Field Activity S-3-78-SC).
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Natural Hazards Mission Area, Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program, Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center, Core Preparation and Analysis Laboratory and Sample Repositories

Geophysical properties, geochronologic, and geochemical data of sediment cores collected from San Pablo Bay, California, October 17-20, 2016

Geophysical properties (P-wave velocity, gamma ray density, and magnetic susceptibility), geochronologic (radiocarbon, excess Lead-210, and Cesium-137), and geochemical data (organic carbon content and 60 element contents) are reported for select vibracores collected aboard the S/V Retriever October 17-20, 2016 in San Pablo Bay, California. Geophysical properties were measured with a Geotek Multi-
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Natural Hazards Mission Area, Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program, Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center, Multi-Sensor Core Logger Laboratory

Below are publications associated with this project.

Filter Total Items: 18

Potential use of the benthic foraminifers Bulimina denudata and Eggerelloides advenus in marine sediment toxicity testing

The benthic foraminifers Bulimina denudata and Eggerelloides advenus are commonly abundant in offshore regions in the Pacific Ocean, especially in waste-discharge sites. The relationship between their abundance and standard macrofaunal sediment toxicity tests (amphipod survival and sea urchin fertilization) as well as sediment chemistry analyte measurements were determined for sediments collected
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Natural Hazards Mission Area, Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program, Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center

Shallow-water foraminifera and other microscopic biota of Clipperton Island, tropical eastern Pacific

The recent foraminiferal fauna and associated microbiota of Clipperton Island (10.2833°N, 109.2167°W) were investigated at 20 sites collected in the intertidal zone around the perimeter of the island and from the edge of the inner brackish-water lagoon. Due to the island’s geographic location in a low productivity zone, a lack of variable habitats on and surrounding the island, and heavy surf that
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Natural Hazards Mission Area, Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program, Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center

A ship's ballasting history as an indicator of foraminiferal invasion potential--An example from Prince William Sound, Alaska, USA

We investigated the potential role of ballast sediment from coastal and transoceanic oil tankers arriving and de-ballasting in Port Valdez as a vector for the introduction of invasive benthic foraminifera in Prince William Sound, Alaska. Forty-one ballast sediment samples were obtained in 1998-1999 from 11 oil tankers that routinely discharged their ballast in Prince William Sound after sailing fr

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Natural Hazards Mission Area, Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program, Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center

Discovery of an extensive deep-sea fossil serpulid reef associated with a cold seep, Santa Monica Basin, California

Multi-beam mapping of the Santa Monica Basin in the eastern Pacific has revealed the existence of a number of elevated bathymetric features, or mounds, harboring cold seep communities. During 2013-2014, mounds at ~600 m water depth were observed for the first time and sampled by Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute’s ROV Doc Ricketts. Active cold seeps were found, but surprisingly one of these
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Natural Hazards Mission Area, Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program, Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center

Initial dispersal (1986-1987) of the invasive foraminifera Trochammina hadai Uchio in San Francisco Bay, California, USA

A time series of three closely-spaced data sets are used to track the early expansion of the invasive Japanese benthic foraminifera Trochammina hadai in the southern portion of San Francisco Bay known as South Bay. The species initially appeared in 1983, comprising only 1.5% of the assemblage in one of four samples that were dominated by the native species Ammonia tepida and Cribroelphidium excava

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Natural Hazards Mission Area, Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program, Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center

The occurrence of the invasive foraminifera Trochammina hadai Uchio in Flamengo Inlet, Ubatuba, São Paulo State, Brazil

The agglutinated foraminifera Trochammina hadai Uchio (1962), a dominant species in Japan, first appeared as an invasive species in San Francisco Bay, US, in 1983. Trochammina hadai's first appearance in the Brazilian coastal waters of Flamengo Inlet, Ubatuba, Sao Paulo State, is recorded nearly three decades later, in two of thirty-four sediment samples collected in the western portion known as "
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Natural Hazards Mission Area, Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program, Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center

Faunal and stable isotopic analyses of benthic foraminifera from the Southeast Seep on Kimki Ridge offshore southern California, USA

We investigated the benthic foraminiferal faunal and stable carbon and oxygen isotopic composition of a 15-cm push core (NA075-092b) obtained on a Telepresence-Enabled cruise to the Southeast Seep on Kimki Ridge offshore southern California. The seep core was taken at a depth of 973 m in the vicinity of a Beggiatoa bacterial mat and vesicomyid clams (Calyptogena) and compared to previously publish
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Natural Hazards Mission Area, Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program, Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center

Developing Foram-AMBI for biomonitoring in the Mediterranean: Species assignments to ecological categories

Most environmental bio-monitoring methods using the species composition of marine faunas define the Ecological Quality Status of soft bottom ecosystems based on the relative proportions of species assigned to a limited number of ecological categories. In this study we analyse the distribution patterns of benthic foraminifera in the Mediterranean as a function of organic carbon gradients on the bas
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Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center

Selective transport of palynomorphs in marine turbiditic deposits: An example from the Ascension-Monterey Canyon system offshore central California

The pollen assemblage of a deep-sea core (15G) collected at lower bathyal depths (3491 m) on a levee of Monterey Canyon off central California was investigated to gain insights into the delivery processes of terrigenous material to submarine fans and the effect this transport has on the palynological record. Thirty-two samples were obtained down the length of the core, 19 from hemipelagic and mixe
By
Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center

Use of mussel casts from archaeological sites as paleoecological indicators: An example from CA-MRN-254, Marin County, Alta California

Archaeological investigations at prehistoric site CA-MRN-254 at the Dominican University of California in Marin County, California, revealed evidence of Native American occupation spanning the past 1,800 years. A dominant source of food for the inhabitants in the San Francisco Bay area was the intertidal, quiet-water dwelling blue mussel (Mytilus trossulus), although rare occurrences of the open c
By
Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center

Late 20th Century benthic foraminiferal distribution in Central San Francisco Bay, California: Influence of the Trochammina hadai invasion

The distribution of foraminifera in most of San Francisco Bay is well documented, but this is not the case for the subembayment known as Central Bay. To resolve this, 55 grab samples obtained in 1998 were analyzed to characterize the foraminiferal fauna in the surface sediments of the area. Thirty-five species were identified, including the invasive Japanese species Trochammina hadai that was intr
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Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program, Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center

Earliest record of the invasive Foraminifera Trochammina hadai in San Francisco Bay, California, USA

In 1995, Trochammina hadai, a benthic Foraminifera prevalent in Japanese estuaries, was found in San Francisco Bay, California, USA. Subsequent field investigations determined that the species was also present in nearly all of the major ports and estuaries along the western United States. Because of its widespread colonization, it is of interest to determine when T. hadai first appeared as an inva
By
Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center