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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: 2189

Stratigraphic potential of Bolboforma significantly increased by new finds in the North Atlantic and South Pacific Stratigraphic potential of Bolboforma significantly increased by new finds in the North Atlantic and South Pacific

Until now, the genus Bolboforma, a problematic group of calcareous microfossils, has been recorded only in Oligocene to Pliocene marine sedimentary rocks, chiefly in the eastern North Atlantic region. We add to this eastern North Atlantic record six new sites and eleven undescribed species from the continental slopes of Ireland and Morocco. More significantly, we record, for the first...
Authors
C. Wylie Poag, A. L. Karowe

A note on the relationships between organic matter and some geotechnical properties of a marine sediment A note on the relationships between organic matter and some geotechnical properties of a marine sediment

An analysis of the relationship between organic matter and liquid and plastic limits, and grain‐specific gravity of a marine sediment was accomplished by making a stepwise adjustment in the organic content of that sediment. The sample used was from Santa Barbara Basin (off southern California) and is typical of fine‐grained marine sediments: it is a clayey silt with a common suite of...

High-energy nearshore processes High-energy nearshore processes

The problem of shoreline erosion has become a matter of much interest in the recent press. To some extent this interest has been driven by the slow rise in sea level that has lent an air of inevitabilty to matters. However, the discussions certainly become more focused by the approach of a major storm or hurricane: for instance, the 1985 scare associated with Hurricane Gloria. In fact...

Mapping nuclear craters on Enewetak Atoll, Marshall Islands Mapping nuclear craters on Enewetak Atoll, Marshall Islands

In 1984, the U.S. Geological Survey conducted a detailed geologic analysis of two nuclear test craters at Enewetak Atoll, Marshall Islands, on behalf of the Defense Nuclear Agency. A multidisciplinary task force mapped the morphology, surface character, and subsurface structure of two craters, OAK and KOA. The field mapping techniques include echo sounding, sidescan sonar imaging, single...
Authors
John C. Hampson

Rapid postglacial shoreline changes in the western Gulf of Maine and the Paleo-Indian environment Rapid postglacial shoreline changes in the western Gulf of Maine and the Paleo-Indian environment

Rapid shoreline regression and transgression along the western Gulf of Maine between 13,000 and 9000 years B.P. are inferred to have produced a nearshore marine environment low in biologic productivity. Paleo-Indians living near the coast of the Gulf were probably forced to rely on nonmarine resources landward of the late-glacial marine limit. Thus, Paleo-Indian sites of the time period...
Authors
Robert N. Oldale

Why deposits of longitudinal dunes are rarely recognized in the geologic record Why deposits of longitudinal dunes are rarely recognized in the geologic record

Dunes that are morphologically of linear type, many of which are probably of longitudinal type in a morphodynamic sense, are common in modern deserts, but their deposits are rarely identified in aeolian sandstones. One reason for non-recognition of such dunes is that they can migrate laterally when they are not exactly parallel to the long-term sand-transport direction, thereby...
Authors
David M. Rubin, Ralph E. Hunter

Ferromanganese crusts from Necker Ridge, Horizon Guyot and S.P. Lee Guyot: Geological considerations Ferromanganese crusts from Necker Ridge, Horizon Guyot and S.P. Lee Guyot: Geological considerations

Necker Ridge, Horizon Guyot and S.P. Lee Guyot in the Central Pacific were sampled, seismically surveyed, and photographed by bottom cameras in order to better understand the distribution, origin, and evolution of ferromanganese crusts. Necker Ridge is over 600 km long with a rugged crest, pods of sediment to 146 m thick, slopes that average 12° to 20°, and debris aprons that cover some...
Authors
James R. Hein, Frank T. Manheim, William C. Schwab, Alice S. Davis

Deep continental margin reflectors Deep continental margin reflectors

In contrast to the rarity of such observations a decade ago, seismic reflecting and refracting horizons are now being observed to Moho depths under continental shelves in a number of places. These observations provide knowledge of the entire crustal thickness from the shoreline to the oceanic crust on passive margins and supplement Consortium for Continental Reflection Profiling (COCORP)...
Authors
J. Ewing, J. Heirtzler, M. Purdy, Kim D. Klitgord

New York Bight fault New York Bight fault

High-resolution, single-channel and multichannel seismic-reflection profiles in the New York Bight provide 7 crossings of a 50-km-long fault that trends north-northeast for 30 km from its southern end, then bends northeast, and may continue northward beneath Long Island. Displacement, which is consistently down to the west, decreases upsection and suggests a growth fault. Dip of the...
Authors
Deborah R. Hutchinson, John A. Grow

A drowned Holocene barrier spit off Cape Ann, Massachusetts A drowned Holocene barrier spit off Cape Ann, Massachusetts

Seismic profiles and bathymetric contours reveal a drowned barrier spit on Jeffreys Ledge off Cape Ann, Massachusetts. Seaward-dipping internal reflectors indicate that a regressive barrier formed during the early Holocene low sea-level stillstand. Preservation of the barrier spit may have been favored by its large size (as much as 20 m thick), by an ample sediment supply from...
Authors
Robert N. Oldale

Bottom current and sediment transport on San Pedro Shelf, California Bottom current and sediment transport on San Pedro Shelf, California

GEOPROBE (Geological Processes Bottom Environmental) tripods were used to measure bottom currents, pressure, and light transmission and scattering and to obtain time-series photographs of the sea floor at depths of 23 m and 67 m on San Pedro shelf between 18 April and 6 June 1978. Winds were light ( 5 m/s) with a mean direction from the southwest throughout the measurement period. Hourly...
Authors
David E. Drake, David A. Cacchione, Herman A. Karl
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