Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Publications

Scientific reports, journal articles, and information products produced by USGS Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center scientists.

Filter Total Items: 1466

Evaluation of benthic habitat change within the national historic sites of Hawaiʻi’s Kona Coast Evaluation of benthic habitat change within the national historic sites of Hawaiʻi’s Kona Coast

Authors
Meredith Leigh McPherson, Joshua B. Logan, Kristen Alkins, Sarah Groff, Gerry A. Hatcher, Ann E. Gibbs, Susan Cochran, Curt D. Storlazzi

Erosion and transport of sediments in watersheds of southwest Puerto Rico determined from strontium isotopes and mixing models Erosion and transport of sediments in watersheds of southwest Puerto Rico determined from strontium isotopes and mixing models

Sediment outflow from streams to coastal regions can adversely affect water quality and the health of ecosystems including Puerto Rico's southwestern carbonate platform with shallow marine communities. Knowledge of sediment provenance and erosional areas would aid effective restoration to reduce excessive sedimentation. Strontium (Sr) isotopic ratios (87Sr/86Sr) can be used to...
Authors
Aaron O. Reyes, Renee K. Takesue, Curt D. Storlazzi

A synthesis of plant mass mortality events in coastal ecosystems A synthesis of plant mass mortality events in coastal ecosystems

Around the world, mass mortality events are disrupting the ecological and economic stability of shorelines. To better understand mechanisms of mass mortality in coastal ecosystems, we provide a global synthesis of over 250 reports of plant mass mortality events in six coastal ecosystems: coastal freshwater forests, tidal freshwater marshes, salt marshes, mangrove forests, seagrass...
Authors
Camille L. Stagg, Emily Fromenthal, Judith Z. Drexler, Eric E. Grossman, Michael J. Osland, Karen M. Thorne

Organic and isotopic indicators for sorting of sedimentary organic matter along a marginal submarine canyon Organic and isotopic indicators for sorting of sedimentary organic matter along a marginal submarine canyon

Submarine canyons are incised features of many continental margins that can have significant influence on the hydrodynamic distribution of sediments and organic matter eroded and deposited from the continents. Baltimore Canyon, on the mid-Atlantic margin of the United States, contains a complex set of sedimentary processes that simultaneously create unique benthic habitats and control...
Authors
Hilary G. Close, Matthew G. McCarthy, Nancy G. Prouty

Advancing compound coastal flood modeling on aouthern O’ahu, Hawai’i: A hybrid stochastic approach Advancing compound coastal flood modeling on aouthern O’ahu, Hawai’i: A hybrid stochastic approach

Sea-level rise and changing patterns of storminess associated with climate change are expected to increase the frequency and severity of compound coastal flooding events, posing significant challenges to coastal communities in enhancing preparedness and adaptation strategies. This work presents a hybrid stochastic approach for the probabilistic assessment of compound coastal flooding...
Authors
Alba Ricondo, Laura Cagigal, Curt D. Storlazzi, Mark A. Merrifield, Fernando J. Mendez, Peter R Ruggiero

Beach nourishment morphodynamics in a high-energy U.S. West Coast environment Beach nourishment morphodynamics in a high-energy U.S. West Coast environment

Dredged sediment from engineered inlets can be used to nourish coastlines adjacent to these inlets, serving as a beneficial alternative to offshore disposal. Effective strategies for beneficial use of dredged sediment, however, rely on understanding of local sediment transport. A beach nourishment project utilizing dredged sand was carried out at a highly energetic beach north of the...
Authors
Anne de Beer, Andrew W. Stevens, Robert T. McCall, Johan Reyns, Hans R. Moritz

Erratum to earthquake recurrence estimates for northern Caribbean faults from combinatorial optimization Erratum to earthquake recurrence estimates for northern Caribbean faults from combinatorial optimization

In the original article (ten Brink and Geist, 2025), we derived on‐fault magnitude–frequency relationships with uncertainties from a combinatorial optimization method that assigns individual earthquakes from a regional catalog to the different faults. Our model used a magnitude versus area relationship from Shaw (2023). His relationship was published with an error, M=f(1/√A)⁠, instead of...
Authors
Uri S. ten Brink, Eric L. Geist

Measurements of wave runup on an atoll island using LiDAR Measurements of wave runup on an atoll island using LiDAR

Coral atoll islands are highly susceptible to flooding and overwash due to their low-lying nature and the impacts of climate change. This study presents the first long-term, high-resolution field dataset of wave runup on a coral atoll island, collected over 6 weeks using a shore-mounted LiDAR scanner. The LiDAR data captured swash dynamics on a steep coral rubble beach fronted by a...
Authors
Sam Rose, Chris Blenkinsop, Gerd Masselink, Ian L. Turner, Kévin Martin, Curt D. Storlazzi

Vulnerability of key sea turtle nesting beaches to future erosion and sea level rise Vulnerability of key sea turtle nesting beaches to future erosion and sea level rise

Threatened sea turtles rely on sandy beaches for nesting, linking their long-term survival to global beach availability. However, beaches worldwide are increasingly threatened by anthropogenic stressors and sea level rise (SLR). Reliable vulnerability assessments require understanding beach dynamics across multiple time scales, informed by long-term coastal change records. While many...
Authors
Jakob Christiaanse, Sean Vitousek, Ad J.H.M. Reniers, Jose A.A. Antolinez

The USGS Rotating X-ray Computed Tomography (RXCT) Coral-Core Archive: Scope, access, and standardization The USGS Rotating X-ray Computed Tomography (RXCT) Coral-Core Archive: Scope, access, and standardization

We announce the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Rotating X-ray Computed Tomography (RXCT) Coral-Core Archive, a digital resource derived from ~400 coral reef cores curated at the USGS Pacific and St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Centers. The archive de-livers calibrated 3-D image volumes that enable reproducible values of skeletal density, linear extension, and calcification from...
Authors
Ferdinand K.J. Oberle, Lauren T. Toth, Nancy G. Prouty, Brooke Santos, Jessica A. Jacobs, Sierra Kathleen Bloomer, Kian Bagheri, Breanna N Williams, Jason Scott Padgett, Anastasios Stathakopoulos, SeanPaul La Selle

Interplay between tectonics and submarine mass transport deposits in Cortes Basin: New high-resolution geophysics in the Outer California Borderland Interplay between tectonics and submarine mass transport deposits in Cortes Basin: New high-resolution geophysics in the Outer California Borderland

The Outer California Borderland (OCB) is an active transform plate boundary offshore Southern California, where the relationship between faulting and submarine mass transport deposits (MTDs) remains poorly understood. Onshore paleoseismic data provide high-resolution earthquake records, whereas marine geophysical data capture longer-term histories. Offshore fault systems pose hazards to
Authors
Andrea Fabbrizzi, Jillian M. Maloney, Boe Jay Derosier, Bradley Keith
Was this page helpful?