Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center
Publications
Scienctific literature and information products produced by Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center staff
Spatial distribution of water level impact to back-barrier bays
Water level in semi-enclosed bays, landward of barrier islands, is mainly driven by offshore sea level fluctuations that are modulated by bay geometry and bathymetry, causing spatial variability in the ensuing response (transfer). Local wind setup can have a secondary role that depends on wind speed, fetch, and relative orientation of the wind...
Aretxabaleta, Alfredo; Ganju, Neil Kamal; Defne, Zafer; Signell, Richard P. Introduction to special issue on gas hydrate in porous media: Linking laboratory and field‐scale phenomena
The proliferation of drilling expeditions focused on characterizing natural gas hydrate as a potential energy resource has spawned widespread interest in gas hydrate reservoir properties and associated porous media phenomena. Between 2017 and 2019, a Special Section of this journal compiled contributed papers elucidating interactions between gas...
Ruppel, Carolyn D.; Lee, Joo Yong; Pecher, Ingo
Evaluating barrier island characteristics and piping plover (Charadrius melodus) habitat availability along the U.S. Atlantic Coast—Geospatial approaches and methodology
Policy makers, individuals from government agencies, and natural resource managers face increasing demands to manage coastal areas in a way that meets economic, social, and ecological needs as sea levels rise. Scientific knowledge of how coastal processes drive beach and barrier island changes and how those changes affect habitat use can support...
Zeigler, Sara L.; Sturdivant, Emily J.; Gutierrez, Benjamin T. Alongshore momentum balance over shoreface-connected ridges, Fire Island, NY
Hydrodynamic and hydrographic data collected on the inner shelf of Fire Island, NY, over a region of shoreface-connected ridges (SFCRs) are used to describe wind-driven circulation over uneven topographies along relatively straight coastlines. The data revealed a predominantly alongshore flow, under westward wind forcing, with localized offshore...
Ofsthun, Conor; Wu, Xiaodong; Voulgaris, George; Warner, John C. Using a Bayesian network to understand the importance of coastal storms and undeveloped landscapes for the creation and maintenance of early successional habitat
Coastal storms have consequences for human lives and infrastructure but also create important early successional habitats for myriad species. For example, storm-induced overwash creates nesting habitat for shorebirds like piping plovers (Charadrius melodus). We examined how piping plover habitat extent and location changed on barrier islands in...
Zeigler, Sara L.; Gutierrez, Benjamin T.; Sturdivant, Emily J.; Catlin, Daniel H.; Fraser, James D.; Hecht, A.; Karpanty, Sarah M.; Plant, Nathaniel G.; Thieler, E. Robert Heat flow in the Western Arctic Ocean (Amerasian Basin)
From 1963 to 1973 the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) measured heat flow at 356 sites in the Amerasian Basin (Western Arctic Ocean) from a drifting ice island (T-3). The resulting measurements, which are unevenly distributed on Alpha-Mendeleev Ridge (AMR) and in Canada and Nautilus basins, greatly expand available heat flow data for the Arctic Ocean...
Ruppel, Carolyn D.; Lachenbruch, A.H.; Hutchinson, Deborah; Munroe, Robert; Mosher, David
Coastal and marine science of the U.S. Geological Survey in Woods Hole, Massachusetts
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, is one of three centers serving the mission of the USGS Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program (CMHRP). Since its authorization by Congress in 1962, the CMHRP has served as the primary Federal program for marine geology and...
Ernst, Sara Thin-layer sediment addition to an existing salt marsh to combat sea-level rise and improve endangered species habitat in California, USA
Current tidal marsh elevations and their accretion rates are important predictors of vulnerability to sea-level rise. When tidal marshes are at risk, adaptation measures, such as sediment addition to increase elevations, can be implemented to prevent degradation and loss. In 2016, wildlife managers prescribed a thin-layer sediment addition of...
Thorne, Karen M.; Freeman, Chase; Rosencranz, Jordan A.; Ganju, Neil Kamal; Guntenspergen, Glenn R. Changes in hydrodynamics and wave energy as a result of seagrass decline along the shoreline of a microtidal back-barrier estuary
Seagrasses are marine flowering plants that provide key ecological services. In recent decades, multiple stressors have caused a worldwide decline in seagrass beds. Changes in bottom friction associated with seagrass loss are expected to influence the ability of estuarine systems to trap sediment inputs through local and regional changes in...
Donatelli, Carmine; Ganju, Neil Kamal; Kalra, Tarandeep S.; Fagherazzi, S; Leonardi, Nicoletta Optimizing an inner-continental shelf geologic framework investigation through data repurposing and machine learning
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) have collected approximately 5,400 km2 of geophysical and hydrographic data on the Atlantic continental shelf between Delaware and Virginia over the past decade and a half. Although originally acquired for different objectives, the comprehensive coverage...
Pendleton, Elizabeth A.; Brothers, Laura L.; Sweeney, Ed Relationships between regional coastal land cover distributions and elevation reveal data uncertainty in a sea-level rise impacts model
Understanding land loss or resilience in response to sea-level rise (SLR) requires spatially extensive and continuous datasets to capture landscape variability. We investigate sensitivity and skill of a model that predicts dynamic response likelihood to SLR across the northeastern U.S. by exploring several data inputs and outcomes. Using...
Lentz, Erika E.; Plant, Nathaniel G.; Thieler, E. Robert Xenon hydrate as an analogue of methane hydrate in geologic systems out of thermodynamic equilibrium
Methane hydrate occurs naturally under pressure and temperature conditions that are not straightforward to replicate experimentally. Xenon has emerged as an attractive laboratory alternative to methane for studying hydrate formation and dissociation in multiphase systems, given that it forms hydrates under milder conditions. However, building...
Fu, Xiaojing; Waite, William F.; Cueto-Felgueroso, Luis; Juanes, Ruben