Conference Papers

No abstract available.

Mixed sediment beaches are morphologically distinct from and more complex than either sand or gravel only beaches. Three digital imaging techniques are employed to quantify surficial grain size and bedload sediment transport rates along the mixed sediment beaches of Kachemak Bay, Alaska. Applying digital imaging procedures originally developed for quickly and efficiently quantifying...

An 8500-year Holocene simulation developed in GEOMBEST provides a possible scenario to explain the evolution of barrier coast between Rodanthe and Cape Hatteras, NC. Sensitivity analyses suggest that in the Outer Banks, the rate of sea-level rise is the most important factor in determining how barrier islands evolve. The Holocene simulation provides a basis for future simulations, which...

Coastal engineers typically use numerical models such as SBEACH to predict coastal change due to extreme storms. SBEACH model inputs include pre-storm profiles, wave heights and periods, and water levels. This study focuses on the sensitivity of SBEACH to the details of pre-storm bathymetry. The SBEACH model is tested with two initial conditions for bathymetry, including (1) measured...

The dynamics of rainstorm plumes in the coastal waters of southern California was studied during the Bight'03 Regional Water Quality Program surveys. Measurements of surface salinity and bacterial counts collected from research vessels were compared to MODIS-Aqua satellite imagery. The spectra of normalized water-leaving radiation (nLw) were different in plumes and ambient ocean waters...

In 2005, the San Andreas Fault Observatory at Depth (SAFOD) was drilled through the San Andreas Fault zone at a depth of about 3.1 km. The borehole has subsequently been instrumented with high-frequency geophones in order to better constrain locations and source processes of nearby microearthquakes that will be targeted in the upcoming phase of SAFOD. The microseismic monitoring software...

As one of the few deep-earth imaging techniques, magnetotellurics provides information on both the structure and physical state of the crust and upper mantle. Magnetotellurics is sensitive to electrical conductivity, which varies within the earth by many orders of magnitude and is modified by a range of earth processes. As with all geophysical techniques, magnetotellurics has a non...

It has been well established that fresh or brackish groundwater can exist both near and far from shore in many coastal and marine environments. The often permeable nature of marine sediments and the underlying bedrock provides abundant pathways for submarine groundwater discharge. While submarine groundwater discharge as a coastal hydrogeological phenomenon has been widely recognized...

We attempted to resolve deltaic facies in Taylor Valley, Antarctica by using pulses centered near 120, 300 and 880 MHz, the latter of which has not yet been tried in this setting, The 120 MHz profiles clearly defined gross material changes, while the 300 MHz profiles added significant resolution to the top set, foreset and bottomset beds. The additional, higher frequency provided only...

The Southwestern Regional Partnership on CO2 Sequestration conducted an Enhanced Coalbed Methane (ECBM)/Carbon Storage Pilot in the San Juan Basin as part of the ongoing DOE/NETL Carbon Capture and Storage Program. The primary goal of this pilot is to demonstrate the efficacy of using CO2 to enhance coalbed methane recovery particularly near reservoir abandonment pressure while also...

Research from several regions of the world provides spatially anecdotal evidence to hypothesize which hydrologic and agricultural factors contribute to groundwater vulnerability to nitrate contamination. Analysis of nationally consistent measurements from the U.S. Geological Survey's NAWQA program confirms these hypotheses for a substantial range of agricultural systems. Shallow...

Elevated levels of atmospheric N deposition are affecting terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems at high elevations in Rocky Mountain National Park and adjacent areas of the Front Range of Colorado. Federal and state agencies are now working together to develop cost-effective means for reducing atmospheric N deposition. A discussion on N saturation covers the need for better understanding of...