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Earthquake recurrence estimates for northern Caribbean faults from combinatorial optimization

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Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center

2023 Annual Report

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Pragmatically mapping Phragmites with unoccupied aerial systems: A comparison of invasive species land cover classification using RGB and multispectral imagery

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Hydroacoustic observations reveal drivers of mixing and salinization of a karst subterranean estuary during intense precipitation

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Scientific literature and information products produced by Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center staff

Featured Journal Article

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Pragmatically mapping Phragmites with unoccupied aerial systems: A comparison of invasive species land cover classification using RGB and multispectral imagery

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Featured USGS Series

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Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center—2023 Annual Report.  The 2023 annual report highlights accomplishments, includes a list of publications, and summarizes the work of the center and each of the science groups.

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Sound Waves

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Coastal and Marine Research News from Across the USGS

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Filter Total Items: 1737

Observations and a linear model of water level in an interconnected inlet-bay system Observations and a linear model of water level in an interconnected inlet-bay system

A system of barrier islands and back-barrier bays occurs along southern Long Island, New York, and in many coastal areas worldwide. Characterizing the bay physical response to water level fluctuations is needed to understand flooding during extreme events and evaluate their relation to geomorphological changes. Offshore sea level is one of the main drivers of water level fluctuations in
Authors
Alfredo Aretxabaleta, Neil K. Ganju, Bradford Butman, Richard P. Signell
By
Natural Hazards Mission Area, Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program, Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center, Hurricane Sandy

Inner-shelf ocean dynamics and seafloor morphologic changes during Hurricane Sandy Inner-shelf ocean dynamics and seafloor morphologic changes during Hurricane Sandy

Hurricane Sandy was one of the most destructive hurricanes in US history, making landfall on the New Jersey coast on Oct 30, 2012. Storm impacts included several barrier island breaches, massive coastal erosion, and flooding. While changes to the subaerial landscape are relatively easily observed, storm-induced changes to the adjacent shoreface and inner continental shelf are more...
Authors
John C. Warner, William C. Schwab, Jeffrey H. List, Ilgar Safak, Maria Liste, Wayne E. Baldwin
By
Natural Hazards Mission Area, Science Synthesis, Analysis, and Research Program, Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program, Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center, Advanced Research Computing (ARC), Hurricane Sandy

Demersal fish assemblages on seamounts and other rugged features in the northeastern Caribbean Demersal fish assemblages on seamounts and other rugged features in the northeastern Caribbean

Recent investigations of demersal fish communities in deepwater (>50 m) habitats have considerably increased our knowledge of the factors that influence the assemblage structure of fishes across mesophotic to deep-sea depths. While different habitat types influence deepwater fish distribution, whether different types of rugged seafloor features provide functionally equivalent habitat for...
Authors
Andrea M. Quattrini, Amanda W.J. Demopoulos, Randal Singer, Adela Roa-Varon, Jason D. Chaytor
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Wetland and Aquatic Research Center , Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center

Development of a coupled wave-flow-vegetation interaction model Development of a coupled wave-flow-vegetation interaction model

Emergent and submerged vegetation can significantly affect coastal hydrodynamics. However, most deterministic numerical models do not take into account their influence on currents, waves, and turbulence. In this paper, we describe the implementation of a wave-flow-vegetation module into a Coupled-Ocean-Atmosphere-Wave-Sediment Transport (COAWST) modeling system that includes a flow model...
Authors
Alexis Beudin, Tarandeep S. Kalra, Neil K. Ganju, John C. Warner
By
Natural Hazards Mission Area, Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program, Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center, Hurricane Sandy

Spatially integrative metrics reveal hidden vulnerability of microtidal salt marshes Spatially integrative metrics reveal hidden vulnerability of microtidal salt marshes

Salt marshes are valued for their ecosystem services, and their vulnerability is typically assessed through biotic and abiotic measurements at individual points on the landscape. However, lateral erosion can lead to rapid marsh loss as marshes build vertically. Marsh sediment budgets represent a spatially integrated measure of competing constructive and destructive forces: a sediment...
Authors
Neil K. Ganju, Zafer Defne, Matthew L. Kirwan, Sergio Fagherazzi, Andrea D’Alpaos, Luca Carniello
By
Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center

Spectral wave dissipation by submerged aquatic vegetation in a back-barrier estuary Spectral wave dissipation by submerged aquatic vegetation in a back-barrier estuary

Submerged aquatic vegetation is generally thought to attenuate waves, but this interaction remains poorly characterized in shallow-water field settings with locally generated wind waves. Better quantification of wave–vegetation interaction can provide insight to morphodynamic changes in a variety of environments and also is relevant to the planning of nature-based coastal protection...
Authors
Daniel J. Nowacki, Alexis Beudin, Neil K. Ganju
By
Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center

Volume change associated with formation and dissociation of hydrate in sediment Volume change associated with formation and dissociation of hydrate in sediment

Gas hydrate formation and dissociation in sediments are accompanied by changes in the bulk volume of the sediment and can lead to changes in sediment properties, loss of integrity for boreholes, and possibly regional subsidence of the ground surface over areas where methane might be produced from gas hydrate in the future. Experiments on sand, silts, and clay subject to different...
Authors
Carolyn D. Ruppel, J. Y. Lee, J. Carlos Santamarina
By
Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center

Overview of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission collaborative research program to assess tsunami hazard for nuclear power plants on the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts Overview of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission collaborative research program to assess tsunami hazard for nuclear power plants on the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts

In response to the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami, the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission (US NRC) initiated a long-term research program to improve understanding of tsunami hazard levels for nuclear facilities in the United States. For this effort, the US NRC organized a collaborative research program with the United States Geological Survey (USGS) and the National Oceanic and
Authors
A.M. Kammerer, Uri S. ten Brink, V.V. Titov
By
Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program, Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center

Barrier island breach evolution: Alongshore transport and bay-ocean pressure gradient interactions Barrier island breach evolution: Alongshore transport and bay-ocean pressure gradient interactions

Physical processes controlling repeated openings and closures of a barrier island breach between a bay and the open ocean are studied using aerial photographs and atmospheric and hydrodynamic observations. The breach site is located on Pea Island along the Outer Banks, separating Pamlico Sound from the Atlantic Ocean. Wind direction was a major control on the pressure gradients between...
Authors
Ilgar Safak, John C. Warner, Jeffrey H. List
By
Natural Hazards Mission Area, Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program, Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center, Hurricane Sandy

Observations of seismicity and ground motion in the northeast U.S. Atlantic margin from ocean bottom seismometer data Observations of seismicity and ground motion in the northeast U.S. Atlantic margin from ocean bottom seismometer data

Earthquake data from two short-period ocean-bottom seismometer (OBS) networks deployed for over a year on the continental slope off New York and southern New England were used to evaluate seismicity and ground motions along the continental margin. Our OBS networks located only one earthquake of Mc∼1.5 near the shelf edge during six months of recording, suggesting that seismic activity...
Authors
Claudia Flores, Uri S. ten Brink, Jeffrey J. McGuire, John A. Collins
By
Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center

Temperature response of soil respiration largely unaltered with experimental warming Temperature response of soil respiration largely unaltered with experimental warming

The respiratory release of carbon dioxide (CO2) from soil is a major yet poorly understood flux in the global carbon cycle. Climatic warming is hypothesized to increase rates of soil respiration, potentially fueling further increases in global temperatures. However, despite considerable scientific attention in recent decades, the overall response of soil respiration to anticipated...
Authors
Joanna C. Carey, Jianwu Tang, Pamela H. Templer, Kevin D. Kroeger, Thomas W. Crowther, Andrew J. Burton, Jeffrey S. Dukes, Bridget Emmett, Serita D. Frey, Mary A. Heskel, Lifen Jiang, Megan B. Machmuller, Jacqueline Mohan, Anne Marie Panetta, Peter B. Reich, Sabine Reinsch, Xin Wang, Steven D. Allison, Chris Bamminger, Scott D. Bridgham, Scott L. Collins, Giovanbattista de Dato, William C. Eddy, Brian J. Enquist, Marc Estiarte, John Harte, Amanda Henderson, Bart R. Johnson, Klaus Steenberg Larsen, Yiqi Luo, Sven Marhan, Jerry M. Melillo, Josep Penuelas, Laurel Pfeifer-Meister, Christian Poll, Edward B. Rastetter, Andrew B. Reinmann, Lorien L. Reynolds, Inger K. Schmidt, Gaius R. Shaver, Aaron L. Strong, Vidya Suseela, Albert Tietema
By
John Wesley Powell Center for Analysis and Synthesis, Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center

Observations of pockmark flow structure in Belfast Bay, Maine, Part 3: implications for sediment transport Observations of pockmark flow structure in Belfast Bay, Maine, Part 3: implications for sediment transport

Current observations and sediment characteristics acquired within and along the rim of two pockmarks in Belfast Bay, Maine, were used to characterize periods of sediment transport and to investigate conditions favorable to the settling of suspended sediment. Hourly averaged Shields parameters determined from horizontal current velocity profiles within the center of each pockmark never...
Authors
Christina L. Fandel, Thomas C. Lippmann, Diane L. Foster, Laura L. Brothers
By
Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center
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