Publications
Scientific reports, journal articles, and information products produced by USGS Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center scientists.
Filter Total Items: 1414
Analysis of a human-mediated microbioinvasion: The global spread of the benthic foraminifer Trochammina hadai Uchio, 1962 Analysis of a human-mediated microbioinvasion: The global spread of the benthic foraminifer Trochammina hadai Uchio, 1962
A non-indigenous species (NIS) of benthic foraminifera was first identified in a core collected in 1993 in San Francisco Bay, California, USA, and subsequently identified as Trochammina hadai Uchio, 1962. Archived samples and literature reviews were used to determine that the species, which is native to Asia, arrived in San Francisco Bay between the early 1960s and 1983. Through...
Authors
Mary McGann, Maria Holzmann, Vincent Bouchet, Sibelle Disaró, Patricia Eichler, David Haig, Stephen Himson, Hiroshi Kitazato, Jean-Charles Pavard, Irina Polovodova Asteman, Andre Rodrigues, Clement Tremblin, Masashi Tsuchiya, Mark Williams, Phoebe O'Brien, Josefin Asplund, Malou Axelsson, Thomas Lorenson
Mitigating flood risks in urban estuaries: Tidal dynamics, shoreline hardening, nature-based solutions, and floodgates in San Francisco Bay Mitigating flood risks in urban estuaries: Tidal dynamics, shoreline hardening, nature-based solutions, and floodgates in San Francisco Bay
Hydrodynamic models are valuable tools for understanding the primary factors influencing daily and peak water levels and for guiding discussions on potential adaptation strategies for managing flood risk in coastal areas. This analysis uses the Delft3D San Francisco Bay-Delta Community Model to simulate water levels and incorporates the effects of a number of adaptation measures in the...
Authors
Kees Nederhoff, Rohin Saleh, Patrick L. Barnard, Mark Stacey
Comparison of creek and bay influences on salt marsh sediment budget and deposition patterns Comparison of creek and bay influences on salt marsh sediment budget and deposition patterns
The resilience of salt marshes with low organic production depends on their effective capture and retention of mineral sediment from adjacent waters. Little prior work has directly compared mechanisms of sediment import from wave-influenced marsh boundaries against those of tidal creeks. We used simultaneous deployment of net-deposition tiles and oceanographic sensors to identify the...
Authors
Lukas WinklerPrins, Jessica Lacy, Mark Stacey, Karen M. Thorne, McKenna Bristow, Scott Jones
Land-based nutrient flux to a fringing reef: Insights from Ofu Island, American Samoa Land-based nutrient flux to a fringing reef: Insights from Ofu Island, American Samoa
Submarine groundwater discharge (SGD) is a critical driver of nutrient transport in coral reef ecosystems, shaping water quality, primary productivity, and overall reef health. This study quantifies SGD fluxes and associated nutrient dynamics in two reef flat pools within the Ofu Unit of the National Park of American Samoa: Papaloloa and Fatuana. A multi-method approach integrating...
Authors
Nancy Prouty, Ferdinand Oberle, Olivia Cheriton, Lauren Toth, Eric K. Brown, Curt Storlazzi
Contributions of erosion, deposition, and human activities to a change in sand storage in the bed of San Francisco Bay, California, 1980s to 2010s Contributions of erosion, deposition, and human activities to a change in sand storage in the bed of San Francisco Bay, California, 1980s to 2010s
This study by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) provides estimates of the change in sand storage in bed sediments from the 1980s to 2010s in the San Francisco Bay area, California. The study is part of a larger project called “Research to Understand Impacts of Bay Sand Mining on Sand Transport in San Francisco Bay and the Outer Coast” that has the goal of providing information for the...
Authors
Theresa Fregoso, Bruce Jaffe, Amy Foxgrover, Donald Woodrow, Bethany Kharrazi, Kevin Orzech
Benchmarking shoreline prediction models over multi-decadal timescales Benchmarking shoreline prediction models over multi-decadal timescales
Robust predictions of shoreline change are critical for sustainable coastal management. Despite advancements in shoreline models, objective benchmarking remains limited. Here we present results from ShoreShop2.0, an international collaborative benchmarking workshop, where 34 groups submitted shoreline change predictions in a blind competition. Subsets of shoreline observations at an...
Authors
Yongjing Mao, Giovanni Coco, Sean Vitousek, Jose Antolinez, Georgios Azorakos, Masayuki Banno, Clément Bouvier, Karin R. Bryan, Laura Cagigal, Kit Calcraft, Bruno Castelle, Xinyu Chen, Maurizio D'Anna, Lucas de Freitas Pereira, Iñaki de Santiago, Aditya N. Deshmukh, Bixuan Dong, Ahmed Elghandour, Amirmahdi Gohari, Eduardo Gomez-de la Peña, Mitchell Harley, Michael Ibrahim, Déborah Idier, Camilo Jaramillo Cardona, Changbin Lim, Ivana Mingo, Julian O'Grady, Daniel Pais, Oxana Repina, Arthur Robinet, Dano Roelvink, Joshua Simmons, Erdinc Sogut, Katie Wilson, Kristen Splinter
Seasonal rotation of California pocket beaches Seasonal rotation of California pocket beaches
Pocket beaches are short, headland-bound coastal landforms that may exhibit shoreline rotation in response to time-varying wave conditions. Here we examine the presence, location and style of pocket beach rotation along the 1700 km coast of California using a comprehensive 22-year satellite-derived shoreline dataset. These analyses identify 23 pocket beaches that exhibit annual cycles of...
Authors
Jonathan Warrick, Daniel Buscombe, Kilian Vos, Andrew C. Ritchie, Bob Battalio
Are equilibrium shoreline models just convolutions? Are equilibrium shoreline models just convolutions?
Yes. Equilibrium shoreline models, which simulate wave-driven cross-shore erosion and accretion, are mathematically equivalent to a discrete convolution (i.e., a weighted, moving average) of a time series of wave-forcing conditions with a parameterized memory-decay kernel function. The direct equivalence between equilibrium shoreline models and convolutions reveals key theoretical...
Authors
Sean Vitousek, Daniel Buscombe, Eduardo Gomez-de la Peña, Kit Calcraft, Mark Lundine, Kristen D. Splinter, Giovanni Coco, Patrick Barnard
Waterline responses to climate forcing along the North American West Coast Waterline responses to climate forcing along the North American West Coast
Understanding waterline variability at seasonal to interannual timescales is crucial for predicting coastal responses to climate forcing. However, relationships between large-scale climate variability and coastal morphodynamics remain underexplored beyond intensively monitored sites. This study leverages a newly developed 25-year (1997–2022) satellite-derived waterline dataset along the...
Authors
Marcan Graffin, Rafael Almar, Erwin W.J. Bergsma, Julien Boucharel, Sean Vitousek, Mohsen Taherkhani, Peter Ruggiero
Do Graviquakes exist? Do Graviquakes exist?
The “Graviquake” model, proposed in 2015 as an alternative to the elastic dislocation model, posits that normal faults are passive features dominated by coseismic gravitational collapse into a dilated crustal wedge, and that normal faulting is fundamentally distinct from strike‐slip and reverse faulting. Developed using finite‐element modeling before the 2016 central Apennines earthquake...
Authors
L. Malagnini, Dreger D.., Thomas Parsons, G. Valensise, A. Michelini, G. De Natale
Marsh sediment in translation: A review of sediment transport across a natural tidal salt marsh in northern San Francisco Bay Marsh sediment in translation: A review of sediment transport across a natural tidal salt marsh in northern San Francisco Bay
Deposition of inorganic sediment is essential for the sustainability of tidal salt marshes. Understanding variability in sediment sources and the processes of sediment delivery to salt marshes are high priorities for decision-makers responsible for managing sediment and conserving and restoring marshes. Research on sediment transport to marshes is published in technical journals, but...
Authors
Madeline Foster-Martinez, Matthew Ferner, John Callaway, Brenda Goeden, Jessica Lacy
Leisure boat harbours, hidden alien species, and pollution: A case study of Hinsholmskilen harbour (Gothenburg, Sweden) Leisure boat harbours, hidden alien species, and pollution: A case study of Hinsholmskilen harbour (Gothenburg, Sweden)
Small leisure boat harbours have important aesthetic and recreational values in any country with a coastline. In Sweden, there are about 860 000 leisure boats, which is one of the world's highest numbers in relation to the country's population. However, small boat harbours also present a wide range of environmental problems, including the introduction of alien species and high pollution...
Authors
Irina Polovodova Asteman, Emilie Jaffre, Agata Olejnik, Maria Holzmann, Mary McGann, Kjell Nordberg, Jean-Charles Pavard, Delia Rosel, Magali Schweizer