Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center
Publications
Scienctific literature and information products produced by Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center staff
Featured Journal Article
Estimating the impact of seep methane oxidation on ocean pH and dissolved inorganic radiocarbon along the U.S. mid‐Atlantic Bight
Read articleFeatured USGS Series
Meeting the Challenge: U.S. Geological Survey North Atlantic and Appalachian Region Fiscal Year 2020 in Review
Learn moreSound Waves
Sound Waves newsletter includes coastal and marine research news from across the USGS
Read now
Coastal and marine science of the U.S. Geological Survey in Woods Hole, Massachusetts
Groundwater discharge impacts marine isotope budgets of Li, Mg, Ca, Sr, and Ba
Groundwater-derived solute fluxes to the ocean have long been assumed static and subordinate to riverine fluxes, if not neglected entirely, in marine isotope budgets. Here we present concentration and isotope data for Li, Mg, Ca, Sr, and Ba in coastal groundwaters to constrain the importance of groundwater discharge in mediating the magnitude and...
Mayfield, Kimberly; Eisenhauer, Anton; Santiago Ramos, Danielle P.; Higgins, John A.; Horner, Tristan; Auro, Maureen; Magna, Tomas; Moosdorf, Nils; Charette, Matthew; Gonneea Eagle, Meagan; Brady, Carolyn; Komar, Nemanja; Peucker-Ehrenbrink, Bernard; Paytan, Adina Estimating the impact of seep methane oxidation on ocean pH and dissolved inorganic radiocarbon along the U.S. mid‐Atlantic Bight
Ongoing ocean warming can release methane (CH4) currently stored in ocean sediments as free gas and gas hydrates. Once dissolved in ocean waters, this CH4 can be oxidized to carbon dioxide (CO2). While it has been hypothesized that the CO2 produced from aerobic CH4 oxidation could enhance ocean acidification, a previous study...
Garcia-Tigreros, Fenix; Leonte, Mihai; Ruppel, Carolyn D.; Ruiz-Angulo, Angel; Joung, DoongJoo; Young, Benjamin; Kessler, John D. Soil organic carbon development and turnover in natural and disturbed salt marsh environments
Salt marsh survival with sea‐level rise (SLR) increasingly relies on soil organic carbon (SOC) accumulation and preservation. Using a novel combination of geochemical approaches, we characterized fine SOC (≤1 mm) supporting marsh elevation maintenance. Overlaying thermal reactivity, source (δ13C), and age (F14C) information demonstrates several...
Luk, Sheron; Todd-Brown, Katherine; Eagle, Meagan; McNichol, Ann; Sanderman, Jonathan; Gosselin, Kelsey; Spivak, Amanda C. Evaluation of a roughness length parametrization accounting for wind–wave alignment in a coupled atmosphere–wave model
The importance of wind energy as an alternative energy source has increased over the latest years with more focus on offshore winds. A good estimation of the offshore winds is thus of major importance for this industry. Up to now the effect of the wind–wave (mis)alignment has not yet been taken into account in coupled atmosphere–wave models to...
Porchetta, Sara; Temel, O.; Warner, John C.; Muñoz-Esparza, J.C.; Monbaliu, J; van Beeck, J.; van Lipzig, N. Along-margin variations in breakup volcanism at the Eastern North American Margin
We model the magnetic signature of rift-related volcanism to understand the distribution and volumeofmagmatic activity that occurred during the breakup of Pangaea and early Atlantic opening at the Eastern North American Margin (ENAM).Along-strike variations in the amplitude and character of the prominent East Coast Magnetic Anomaly (ECMA) suggest...
Greene, John A.; Tominaga, Masako; Miller, Nathaniel C. Using tracer variance decay to quantify variability of salinity mixing in the Hudson River Estuary
The salinity structure in an estuary is controlled by time‐dependent mixing processes. However, the locations and temporal variability of where significant mixing occurs is not well‐understood. Here we utilize a tracer variance approach to demonstrate the spatial and temporal structure of salinity mixing in the Hudson River Estuary. We run a 4‐...
Warner, John C.; Geyer, W Rockwill; Ralston, David K.; Kalra, Tarandeep S. Probabilistic patterns of inundation and biogeomorphic changes due to sea-level rise along the northeastern U.S. Atlantic coast
ContextCoastal landscapes evolve in response to sea-level rise (SLR) through a variety of geologic processes and ecological feedbacks. When the SLR rate surpasses the rate at which these processes build elevation and drive lateral migration, inundation is likely.ObjectivesTo examine the role of land cover diversity and composition in landscape...
Lentz, Erika E.; Zeigler, Sara L.; Thieler, E. Robert; Plant, Nathaniel G. Development of a submerged aquatic vegetation growth model in the Coupled Ocean–Atmosphere–Wave–Sediment Transport (COAWST v3.4) model
The coupled biophysical interactions between submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV), hydrodynamics (currents and waves), sediment dynamics, and nutrient cycling have long been of interest in estuarine environments. Recent observational studies have addressed feedbacks between SAV meadows and their role in modifying current velocity, sedimentation, and...
Kalra, Tarandeep S.; Ganju, Neil Kamal; Testa, Jeremy M.
Meeting the challenge: U.S. Geological Survey North Atlantic and Appalachian Region fiscal year 2020 in review
The utilization, preservation, and conservation of the Nation’s resources requires well-informed management decisions. The North Atlantic and Appalachian Region (NAAR) of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) supports science-based decision making for Federal, State, and local policymakers to meet the challenges of today and into the future. The...
Simulated estuary-wide response of seagrass (Zostera marina) to future scenarios of temperature and sea level
Seagrass communities are a vital component of estuarine ecosystems, but are threatened by projected sea level rise (SLR) and temperature increases with climate change. To understand these potential effects, we developed a spatially explicit model that represents seagrass (Zostera marina) habitat and estuary-wide productivity for Barnegat Bay-...
Scalpone, Cara; Jarvis, Jessie; Vasslides, James; Testa, Jeremy; Ganju, Neil Kamal Dynamics of marsh-derived sediments in lagoon-type estuaries
Salt marshes are valuable ecosystems that must trap sediments and accrete in order to counteract the deleterious effect of sea‐level rise. Previous studies have shown that the capacity of marshes to build up vertically depends on both autogenous and exogenous processes including eco‐geomorphic feedbacks and sediment supply from in‐land and coastal...
Donatelli, Carmine; Kalra, Tarandeep S.; Fagherazzi, Sergio; Zhang, Xoaohe; Leonardi, Nicoletta Numerical characterization of cohesive and non-cohesive ‘sediments’ under different consolidation states using 3D DEM triaxial experiments
The Discrete Element Method has been widely used to simulate geo-materials due to time and scale limitations met in the field and laboratories. While cohesionless geo-materials were the focus of many previous studies, the deformation of cohesive geo-materials in 3D remained poorly characterized. Here, we aimed to generate a range of numerical ‘...
Elyashiv, Hadar; Bookman, Revital; Siemann, Lennart; ten Brink, Uri S.; Huhn, Katrin