Check out the latest Sound Waves Newsletter!
Explore stories related to coasts, climate, and corals in the July-October 2023 issue of Sound Waves.
Explore stories related to coasts, climate, and corals in the July-October 2023 issue of Sound Waves.
Florida corals are bleaching due to high water temperatures
Explore the history of the St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center
Looking for postdoctoral research opportunities?
Apply to be a Mendenhall Fellow!
Apply to be a Mendenhall Fellow!
Caribbean stakeholder engagement project featured in White House Fact Sheet
A window of opportunity for coastal resilience
How coral restoration could help mitigate the effects of sea-level rise
How coral restoration could help mitigate the effects of sea-level rise
USGS and international team identify the pathogen responsible for killing long-spined sea urchins (Diadema antillarum) across the Caribbean
A disease has emerged in recent months, and its identity has been revealed by USGS and partners.
A disease has emerged in recent months, and its identity has been revealed by USGS and partners.
Discover Coastal and Marine Science of the USGS St. Petersburg
A new interactive geonarrative will take you on a guided journey to explore the research, capabilities, and history of the center
A new interactive geonarrative will take you on a guided journey to explore the research, capabilities, and history of the center
St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center
Research programs have a primary focus of investigating processes related to coastal and marine environments and societal implications related to natural hazards, resource sustainability, and environmental change.
News
SPCMSC Geologic Core and Sample Database is available through an updated web application
SPCMSC Geologic Core and Sample Database is available through an updated web application
News Briefs: January-February 2024
News Briefs: January-February 2024
Sound Waves Newsletter: January-February 2024
Sound Waves Newsletter: January-February 2024
Publications
Implications for the resilience of modern coastal systems derived from mesoscale barrier dynamics at Fire Island, New York
Understanding the response of coastal barriers to future changes in rates of sea level rise, sediment availability, and storm intensity/frequency is essential for coastal planning, including socioeconomic and ecological management. Identifying drivers of past changes in barrier morphology, as well as barrier sensitivity to these forces, is necessary to accomplish this. Using remote sensing, field,
20th century warming in the lower Florida Keys was dominated by increasing winter temperatures
Long-lived Atlantic coral species like Orbicella faveolata are important archives of oceanographic change in shallow, marine environments like the Florida Keys. Not only can coral-based records extend for multiple centuries beyond the limits of the instrumental record, but they can also provide a more accurate representation of in situ conditions than gridded interpolated sea-surface temperature (
Transglobal spread of an ecologically relevant sea urchin parasite
Mass mortality of the dominant coral reef herbivore Diadema antillarum in the Caribbean in the early 1980s contributed to a persistent phase shift from coral- to algal-dominated reefs. In 2022, a scuticociliate most closely related to Philaster apodigitiformis caused further mass mortality of D. antillarum across the Caribbean, leading to >95% mortality at affected sites. Mortality was also report
Science
Diadema antillarum Mass Mortality
Diadema antillarum scuticociliatosis (DaSc) is an emerging infectious disease affecting sea urchins of the genus Diadema . Caused by a ciliate most closely related to Philaster apodigitiformis , the infection caused mass mortalities of urchins in the Caribbean and Mediterranean Seas in 2022-2023.
Mesophotic and Deep Benthic Communities: Coral Propagation Technique (CPT) Development Project
Through a collaborative effort with other federal agencies and academic and research institutions, the USGS is working to inform and enhance the protection and management of coral communities in mesophotic and deep benthic areas of the Gulf of Mexico.
USGS CoastCams
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) uses a nationwide network of coastal observing cameras, or CoastCams, to monitor coastal conditions in near real-time and support research by the USGS and its partners into a variety of coastal processes and hazards. The most recent CoastCam images are made publicly available within minutes of data collection and can be accessed using the links below or by...