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Publications

The Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program publications are listed here. Search by topics and by year.

Filter Total Items: 2190

Submarine groundwater discharge to Tampa Bay: Nutrient fluxes and biogeochemistry of the coastal aquifer Submarine groundwater discharge to Tampa Bay: Nutrient fluxes and biogeochemistry of the coastal aquifer

To separately quantify the roles of fresh and saline submarine groundwater discharge (SGD), relative to that of rivers, in transporting nutrients to Tampa Bay, Florida, we used three approaches (Darcy's Law calculations, a watershed water budget, and a 222Rn mass-balance) to estimate rate of SGD from the Pinellas peninsula. Groundwater samples were collected in 69 locations in the...
Authors
Kevin D. Kroeger, Peter W. Swarzenski, Jason Greenwood, Christopher Reich

Rip currents, mega-cusps, and eroding dunes Rip currents, mega-cusps, and eroding dunes

Dune erosion is shown to occur at the embayment of beach mega-cusps O(200 m alongshore) that are associated with rip currents. The beach is the narrowest at the embayment of the mega-cusps allowing the swash of large storm waves coincident with high tides to reach the toe of the dune, to undercut the dune and to cause dune erosion. Field measurements of dune, beach, and rip current...
Authors
E.B. Thornton, J. MacMahan, A. H. Sallenger

Colored dissolved organic matter in Tampa Bay, Florida Colored dissolved organic matter in Tampa Bay, Florida

Absorption and fluorescence of colored dissolved organic matter (CDOM) and concentrations of dissolved organic carbon (DOC), chlorophyll and total suspended solids in Tampa Bay and its adjacent rivers were examined in June and October of 2004. Except in Old Tampa Bay (OTB), the spatial distribution of CDOM showed a conservative relationship with salinity in June, 2004 (aCDOM(400) = − 0...
Authors
Z. Chen, C. Hu, R.N. Conmy, F. Muller-Karger, P. Swarzenski

Airborne desert dust and aeromicrobiology over the Turkish Mediterranean coastline Airborne desert dust and aeromicrobiology over the Turkish Mediterranean coastline

Between 18 March and 27 October 2002, 220 air samples were collected on 209 of 224 calendar days, on top of a coastal atmospheric research tower in Erdemli, Turkey. The volume of air filtered for each sample was 340 liters. Two hundred fifty-seven bacterial and 2598 fungal colony forming units (CFU) were enumerated from the samples using a low-nutrient agar. Ground-based dust...
Authors
Dale W. Griffin, Nilgun Kubilay, Mustafa Kocak, Mike A. Gray, Timothy C. Borden, Eugene A. Shinn

Impacts of the 2004 Indian ocean tsunami on the southwest coasts of Sri Lanka Impacts of the 2004 Indian ocean tsunami on the southwest coasts of Sri Lanka

The 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami caused major landscape changes along the southwest coasts of Sri Lanka that were controlled by the flow, natural topography and bathymetry, and anthropogenic modifications of the terrain. Landscape changes included substantial beach erosion and scouring of return-flow channels near the beach, and deposition of sand sheets across the narrow coastal plain. In...
Authors
Robert A. Morton, John A. Goff, Scott L. Nichol

USGS advances in integrated, high-resolution sea-floor mapping: inner continental shelf to estuaries USGS advances in integrated, high-resolution sea-floor mapping: inner continental shelf to estuaries

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has been involved in geological mapping of the sea floor for the past thirty years. Early geophysical and acoustic mapping efforts using GLORIA (Geologic LOng Range Inclined ASDIC) a long-range sidescan-sonar system, provided broad-scale imagery of deep waters within the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). In the early 1990's, research emphasis shifted...
Authors
J. F. Denny, W. C. Schwab, D.C. Twichell, T.F. O’Brien, W. W. Danforth, D.S. Foster, E. Bergeron, C.W. Worley, B.J. Irwin, B. Butman, P. C. Valentine, W. E. Baldwin, R.A. Morton, E.R. Thieler, D.R. Nichols, B.D. Andrews

Continuous resistivity profiling data from the upper Neuse River Estuary, North Carolina, 2004-2005 Continuous resistivity profiling data from the upper Neuse River Estuary, North Carolina, 2004-2005

The Neuse River Estuary in North Carolina has suffered impacts of eutrophication in recent years. As part of a larger project to better constrain nutrient budgets in the estuary, field investigations were performed to study occurrence and discharge of fresh and brackish ground water and nutrients beneath the estuary itself (fig. 1). A Continuous Resistivity Profiling (CRP) system...
Authors
VeeAnn A. Cross, John F. Bratton, Emile M. Bergeron, Jeff K. Meunier, John Crusius, Dirk Koopmans

Distribution, thickness, and volume of fine-grained sediment from precipitation of metals from acid-mine waters in Keswick Reservoir, Shasta County, California Distribution, thickness, and volume of fine-grained sediment from precipitation of metals from acid-mine waters in Keswick Reservoir, Shasta County, California

In February 1993, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) acquired high-resolution seismic-reflection data to map the distribution and thickness of fine-grained sediments associated with acid-mine drainage in Keswick Reservoir on the Sacramento River, near Redding, California. In the Spring Creek Arm of Keswick Reservoir, the sediments occurred in three distinct accumulations; thicknesses are...
Authors
Terry R. Bruns, Charles N. Alpers, Paul Carlson

South Carolina Coastal Erosion Study: Data report for observations, October 2003 - April 2004 South Carolina Coastal Erosion Study: Data report for observations, October 2003 - April 2004

Oceanographic observations have been made at nine locations in Long Bay, South Carolina from October 2003 through April 2004. These sites are centered around a shore-oblique sand feature that is approximately 10 km long, 2 km wide, and in excess of 3 m thick. The observations were collected through a collaborative effort with the U.S. Geological Survey, the University of South Carolina...
Authors
Charlene M. Sullivan, John C. Warner, Marinna A. Martini, George Voulgaris, Paul Work, Kevin A. Haas, Daniel Hanes

Submarine ground-water discharge: nutrient loading and nitrogen transformations Submarine ground-water discharge: nutrient loading and nitrogen transformations

Eutrophication of coastal waters due to nonpoint source land-derived nitrogen (N) loads is a worldwide phenomenon and perhaps the greatest agent of change altering coastal ecology (National Research Council, 2000; Howarth and others, 2000). Within the United States, a majority of estuaries have been determined to be moderately to severely impaired by eutrophication associated with...
Authors
Kevin D. Kroeger, Peter W. Swarzenski, John Crusius, John F. Bratton, Matthew A. Charette

Reconnaissance investigation of Caribbean extreme wave deposits — Preliminary observations, interpretations, and research directions Reconnaissance investigation of Caribbean extreme wave deposits — Preliminary observations, interpretations, and research directions

This report presents an overview of preliminary geological investigations and recommended future research activities in the Caribbean region pertaining to coastal hazards with an emphasis on establishing tsunami risk for U.S. territories. Fieldwork was conducted in March 2006 on the islands of Bonaire, Puerto Rico, and Guadeloupe to evaluate the stratigraphic records of extreme wave...
Authors
Robert A. Morton, Bruce M. Richmond, Bruce E. Jaffe, Guy Gelfenbaum
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