Publications

Gridded bathymetry and sidescan-sonar imagery together cover approximately 37.3 square kilometers of sea floor in the vicinity of Edgartown Harbor, Massachusetts. Although originally collected for charting purposes during National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration hydrographic survey H11346, these acoustic data, and the sea-floor stations and seismic-reflection lines subsequently...

During the period August 14-23, 2002, the discharge of total suspended solids (TSS) from the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority sewage-treatment plant ranged from 32 to 132 milligrams per liter, causing the monthly average discharge to exceed the limit specified in the National Pollution Discharge Elimination System permit. Time-series monitoring data collected by the U.S...

A variety of algorithms are available for parameterizing the hydrodynamic bottom roughness associated with grain size, saltation, bedforms, and wave–current interaction in coastal ocean models. These parameterizations give rise to spatially and temporally variable bottom-drag coefficients that ostensibly provide better representations of physical processes than uniform and constant...

The U.S. Geological Survey Woods Hole Science Center conducted a nearshore geophysical survey offshore of the southern coast of Martha's Vineyard, in the vicinity of the Martha's Vineyard Coastal Observatory in 2007. This mapping program was part of a larger research effort supporting the Office of Naval Research Ripples Directed-Research Initiative studies at Martha's Vineyard Coastal...

Proper understanding of the physical properties of hydrate-bearing sediments is required for interpretation of borehole logs and exploration geophysical data, the analysis of borehole and submarine slope stability, and the formulation of reservoir simulation and production models. Yet current knowledge of geophysical and geotechnical properties of hydrate-bearing sediments is still...

During the 1964 M9.2 great Alaskan earthquake, submarine-slope failures resulted in the generation of highly destructive tsunamis at Port Valdez, Alaska. A high-resolution, mini-sparker reflection profiler was used to image debris lobes, which we attribute to slope failures that occurred both during and prior to the 1964 megathrust event. In these reflection profiles, debris lobe...

No abstract available.

The devastating 12 January 2010 Haiti earthquake (M = 7.0), which killed an estimated 230,000 people and caused extensive damage to homes and buildings, drew attention to the crucial need for improved knowledge of the active tectonics of the Caribbean region. But even before this disastrous event, interest in understanding the active and complex northeastern Caribbean plate boundary had...

We have developed a rapid 'reconnaissance' method of preparing graphite for 14C/12C analysis. Carbonate (~15 mg) is combusted using an elemental analyzer and the resulting CO2 is converted to graphite using a sealed tube zinc reduction method. Over 85% (n=45 replicates on twenty-one individual corals) of reconnaissance ages measured on corals ranging in age from 500 to 33,000 radiocarbon...

The marked decrease in bulk electrical conductivity of sediments in the presence of gas hydrates has been used to interpret borehole electrical resistivity logs and, to a lesser extent, the results of controlled source electromagnetic surveys to constrain the spatial distribution and predicted concentration of gas hydrate in natural settings. Until now, an exhaustive laboratory data set...

The small‐strain mechanical properties (e.g., seismic velocities) of hydrate‐bearing sediments measured under laboratory conditions provide reference values for calibration of logging and seismic exploration results acquired in hydrate‐bearing formations. Instrumented cells were designed for measuring the compressional (P) and shear (S) velocities of sand, silts, and clay with and...

This map is part of a three-map series of German Bank, located on the Scotian Shelf off southern Nova Scotia. This map is the product of a number of surveys (1997-2003) that used a multibeam sonar system to map 5321 km2 of the seafloor. Other surveys collected geological data for scientific interpretation. This map sheet shows the seafloor topography of German Bank in shaded-relief view...