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Earthquake recurrence estimates for northern Caribbean faults from combinatorial optimization

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Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center

2023 Annual Report

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Pragmatically mapping Phragmites with unoccupied aerial systems: A comparison of invasive species land cover classification using RGB and multispectral imagery

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Hydroacoustic observations reveal drivers of mixing and salinization of a karst subterranean estuary during intense precipitation

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Scientific literature and information products produced by Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center staff

Featured Journal Article

Invasive Phragmites plants on the shore of a lake

Pragmatically mapping Phragmites with unoccupied aerial systems: A comparison of invasive species land cover classification using RGB and multispectral imagery

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Featured USGS Series

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Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center—2023 Annual Report.  The 2023 annual report highlights accomplishments, includes a list of publications, and summarizes the work of the center and each of the science groups.

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Sound Waves

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Coastal and Marine Research News from Across the USGS

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Filter Total Items: 1737

Size distribution of submarine landslides and its implication to tsunami hazard in Puerto Rico Size distribution of submarine landslides and its implication to tsunami hazard in Puerto Rico

We have established for the first time a size frequency distribution for carbonate submarine slope failures. Using detailed bathymetry along the northern edge of the carbonate platform north of Puerto Rico, we show that the cumulative distribution of slope failure volumes follows a power-law distribution. The power-law exponent of this distribution is similar to those for rock falls on...
Authors
Uri S. ten Brink, E.L. Geist, B.D. Andrews
By
Natural Hazards Mission Area, Landslide Hazards Program, Geologic Hazards Science Center, Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center, Subduction Zone Science

Satellite-derived, melt-season surface temperature of the Greenland Ice Sheet (2000-2005) and its relationship to mass balance Satellite-derived, melt-season surface temperature of the Greenland Ice Sheet (2000-2005) and its relationship to mass balance

Mean, clear-sky surface temperature of the Greenland Ice Sheet was measured for each melt season from 2000 to 2005 using Moderate-Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS)–derived land-surface temperature (LST) data-product maps. During the period of most-active melt, the mean, clear-sky surface temperature of the ice sheet was highest in 2002 (−8.29 ± 5.29°C) and 2005 (−8.29 ± 5.43°C...
Authors
D.K. Hall, R.S. Williams, K.A. Casey, N.E. DiGirolamo, Z. Wan
By
Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center

Surficial sediment character of the Louisiana offshore continental shelf region: A GIS compilation Surficial sediment character of the Louisiana offshore continental shelf region: A GIS compilation

The Louisiana coastal zone, comprising the Mississippi River delta plain stretching nearly 400 km from Sabine Pass at the Texas border east to the Chandeleur Islands at the Mississippi border, represents one of North America’s most important coastal ecosystems in terms of natural resources, human infrastructure, and cultural heritage. At the same time, this region has the highest rates...
Authors
S. Jeffress Williams, Matthew A. Arsenault, Brian J. Buczkowski, Jane A. Reid, James Flocks, Mark A. Kulp, Shea Penland, Chris J. Jenkins
By
Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center, Samples Repository

Relative Coastal Change-Potential Assessment of Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve Relative Coastal Change-Potential Assessment of Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve

A change-potential index (CPI) was used to map the relative coastal change-potential of the shoreline to future sea-level fluctuation within Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve (GBNPP) in southeastern Alaska. The CPI ranks the following in terms of their physical contribution to coastal change: geomorphology, regional coastal slope, rate of relative sea-level change, historical...
Authors
Elizabeth A. Pendleton, E. Robert Thieler, S. Jeffress Williams
By
Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center

Migration of the Pee Dee River system inferred from ancestral paleochannels underlying the South Carolina Grand Strand and Long Bay inner shelf Migration of the Pee Dee River system inferred from ancestral paleochannels underlying the South Carolina Grand Strand and Long Bay inner shelf

Several generations of the ancestral Pee Dee River system have been mapped beneath the South Carolina Grand Strand coastline and adjacent Long Bay inner shelf. Deep boreholes onshore and high-resolution seismic-reflection data offshore allow for reconstruction of these paleochannels, which formed during glacial lowstands, when the Pee Dee River system incised subaerially exposed coastal...
Authors
W. E. Baldwin, R.A. Morton, T.R. Putney, M.P. Katuna, M.S. Harris, P. T. Gayes, N. W. Driscoll, J. F. Denny, W. C. Schwab
By
Natural Hazards Mission Area, Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program, Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center

On the interpretation of energy and energy fluxes of nonlinear internal waves: An example from Massachusetts Bay On the interpretation of energy and energy fluxes of nonlinear internal waves: An example from Massachusetts Bay

A self-consistent formalism to estimate baroclinic energy densities and fluxes resulting from the propagation of internal waves of arbitrary amplitude is derived using the concept of available potential energy. The method can be applied to numerical, laboratory or field data. The total energy flux is shown to be the sum of the linear energy flux ??? u??? p??? dz (primes denote baroclinic
Authors
A. Scotti, R. Beardsley, B. Butman
By
Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center

Inventory of glaciers in the Sierra Nevada, California Inventory of glaciers in the Sierra Nevada, California

All perennial bodies of ice in the Sierra Nevada are listed and classified. The inventory includes 497 glaciers covering a total area of 50 square kilometers and 788 small ice bodies which do not meet the definition of a glacier, covering a total of 13 square kilometers. The listings include each ice body's drainage basin, location, orientation, altitude, area, and length the glaciers...
Authors
William Raub, C. Suzanne Brown, Austin Post
By
Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center

Groundwater-transported dissolved organic nitrogen exports from coastal watersheds Groundwater-transported dissolved organic nitrogen exports from coastal watersheds

We analyzed groundwater-transported nitrogen (N) exports from 41 watershed segments that comprised 10 Cape Cod, Massachusetts watersheds to test the hypotheses that chemical form of N exports is related to land use and to length of flow paths through watersheds. In the absence of human habitation, these glacial outwash-plain watersheds exported largely dissolved organic N (DON) but at...
Authors
K.D. Kroeger, Marci L. Cole, I. Valiela
By
Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center

Bluff evolution along coastal drumlins: Boston Harbor Islands, Massachusetts Bluff evolution along coastal drumlins: Boston Harbor Islands, Massachusetts

A series of partially drowned drumlins forms the backbone of the inner islands within Boston Harbor. The shoreline of these rounded glacial deposits is composed of actively retreating bluffs formed by continual wave attack. Comparisons of bluffs reveal variability in their height and lateral extent, as well as in the dominant mechanism causing their retreat. Two processes are responsible...
Authors
E. A. Himmelstoss, D. M. FitzGerald, P.S. Rosen, J.R. Allen
By
Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center

Relative coastal change-potential assessment of Kenai Fjords National Park Relative coastal change-potential assessment of Kenai Fjords National Park

A change-potential index (CPI) was used to map the relative coastal change-potential of the shoreline to future sea-level changes within Kenai Fjords National Park (KEFJ) in south-central Alaska. The CPI ranks the following parameters in terms of their physical contribution to coastal change: geomorphology, regional coastal slope, rate of relative sea-level change, historical shoreline...
Authors
Elizabeth A. Pendleton, E. Robert Thieler, S. Jeffress Williams
By
Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center

Nearshore shore-oblique bars, gravel outcrops, and their correlation to shoreline change Nearshore shore-oblique bars, gravel outcrops, and their correlation to shoreline change

This study demonstrates the physical concurrence of shore-oblique bars and gravel outcrops in the surf zone along the northern Outer Banks of North Carolina. These subaqueous features are spatially correlated with shoreline change at a range of temporal and spatial scales. Previous studies have noted the existence of beach-surf zone interactions, but in general, relationships between...
Authors
C.A. Schupp, J. E. McNinch, J. H. List
By
Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center

Physical properties of Long Island Sound sediment cores Physical properties of Long Island Sound sediment cores

This report presents data on x-radiography, water content, and sediment texture from sediment cores collected in 1996 in Long Island Sound, offshore of Connecticut and New York (Figure 1). Core locations and analytical data are presented in both graphical and numerical form. The physical properties data presented here are a subset of a larger dataset consisting of results from these...
Authors
Joel Moore, Erin Galvin Gutierrez, Ellen L. Mecray, Marilyn R. Buchholtz ten Brink
By
Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center, USGS Science in Long Island Sound and its Watershed
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