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At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
USGS2010

Modeling downstream fining in sand-bed rivers. I: Formulation

In this paper a numerical modeling formulation is presented for simulation of the development of the longitudinal profile and bed sediment distribution in sand-bed rivers. The objective of the model application, which is presented in the companion paper (Wright and Parker, 2005), is to study the development of two characteristics of large, low-slope, sand-bed rivers: (1) a downstream decrease in bed slope (i.e. concave upward longitudinal profile) and (2) a downstream decrease in characteristic bed sediment diameter (e.g. the median bed surface size D 50 ). Three mechanisms that lead to an upward concave profile and downstream fining are included in the modeling formulation: (1) a delta prograding into standing water at the downstream boundary, (2) sea-level rise, and (3) tectonic subsidence. In the companion paper (Wright and Parker, 2005) the model is applied to simulate the development of the longitudinal profile and downstream fining in sand-bed rivers flowing into the ocean during the past 5000 years of relatively slow sea-level rise.

Journal of Hydraulic Research↗
USGS2003

Morphological impacts of extreme storms on sandy beaches and barriers

Historical extreme storms that struck the Gulf Coast and Atlantic Coast regions of the United States caused several different styles of morphological response and resulted in a wide range of washover penetration distances. The post- storm erosional responses included dune scarps, channel incisions, and washouts, whereas depositional responses included perched fans, washover terraces, and sheetwash lineations. Maximum inland extent of washover penetration ranged from approximately 100 to 1000 m and estimated sediment volumes associated with these deposits ranged from about 10 to 225 m 3/m of beach. Unusual styles of morphological response (sheetwash lineations and incised channels) and maximum washover penetration distances are closely correlated, and they also correspond to storm intensity as denned by the Saffir-Simpson wind-speed scale. The regional morphological responses and washover penetration distances are controlled primarily by the interactions among heights and durations of storm surge relative to adjacent land elevations, differences in water levels between the ocean and adjacent lagoon, constructive and destructive interference of storm waves, and alongshore variations in nearshore bathymetry. For barrier segments that are entirely submerged during the storm, impacts can be enhanced by the combined influences of shallow water depths and organized flow within the wind field. The greatest washover penetrations and sediment accumulations are products of shallow water, confined flow, and high wind stress. Transport and deposition of washover sediments across barrier islands and into the adjacent lagoon are common processes along the Gulf of Mexico but not along the western Atlantic Ocean. This fundamental difference in storm impact underscores how microtidal and mesotidal barriers respond respectively to extreme storms, and provides insight into how different types of barrier islands will likely respond to future extreme storms and to a relative rise in sea level.

Journal of Coastal Research↗
USGS2015

Pre-fieldwork surveys

In sea-level studies, initial surveys at the office or library can increase a project’s likelihood of success. Pre-fieldwork surveys should begin with a thorough review of prior research literature that appraises available data, identifies data gaps, and places the project objectives into a broader scientific context. Whereas peer reviewed journal articles may contain a wealth of research findings, often the most useful maps, historical documents, images, and other data critical for sea-level research are discovered by searching government files, libraries, museums, unpublished reports, or, increasingly, online digital data collections.

Book chapter↗
USGS2006

A search for scale in sea-level studies

Many researchers assume a proportional relationship among the atmospheric CO2 concentration, temperature, and sea level. Thus, the rate of sea-level rise should increase in concert with the documented exponential increase in CO2. Although sea surface temperature has increased in places over the past century and short-term sea level rose abruptly during the 1990s, it is difficult to demonstrate a proportional relationship using existing geologic or historic records. Tide gauge records in the United States cover too short a time interval to verify acceleration in the rate of sea-level rise, although multicentury tide gauge and staff records from the Netherlands and Sweden suggest a mid-19th-century acceleration in sea-level rise. Reconstructions of sea-level changes for the past 1000 years derived using benthic foraminifer data from salt marshes along the East Coast of the United States suggest an increased rate of relative sea-level rise beginning in the 1600s. Geologic records of relative sea-level rise for the past 6000 years are available for several sites along the US East Coast from 14C-dated basal peat below salt marshes and estuarine sediments. When these three scales of sea-level variation are integrated, adjusted for postglacial isostatic movement, and replotted, the range of variation in sea level suggested by basal peat ages is within ??1 meter of the long-term trend. The reconstruction from Long Island Sound data shows a linear rise in sea level beginning in the mid-1600s at a rate consistent with the historic record of mean high water. Long-term tide gauge records from Europe and North America show similar trends since the mid-19th century. There is no clear proportional exponential increase in the rate of sea-level rise. If proportionality exists among sea level, atmospheric CO2, and temperature, there may be a significant time lag before an anthropogenic increase in the rate of sea-level rise occurs.

Journal of Coastal Research↗
USGS1968

Submarine encrustation of a Byzantine nail

Virtually all iron objects recovered from a 7th century Byzantine shipwreck off the coast of Turkey were encrusted with a carbonate-rich layer. Mineralogical and chemical examination reveals limonite, siderite, and aragonite as dominant authigenic phases. The encrustations can be explained by oxidation (corrosion) of the metal in sea water. Analogous processes are suggested for many concretions formed around metallic nuclei in sea water.

Yassi Ada Island↗
USGS2021

What can commercial fishery data in the Great Lakes reveal about juvenile sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus) ecology and management?

The Laurentian Great Lakes of North America support a large and profitable freshwater fishery, but one continuously beset by parasitism from the invasive sea lamprey ( Petromyzon marinus ). Despite being the life stage that inflicts damage to the fishery, therefore necessitating a bi-national control program, our knowledge of juvenile sea lamprey ecology is poor and their response to control efforts are not assessed. Incidental capture of juvenile sea lamprey by commercial fishers is one means to collect data on this enigmatic life stage, and in Lake Huron such data have been collated since 1967. Here, we explore incidental captures of juvenile sea lamprey and their hosts from northern Lake Huron between 1987 and 2017 ( n = 33,246 observations) to address four objectives. Firstly, we document collection efforts by fishers to provide historical context to the dataset. Secondly, we pose and test a series of questions related to fishery encounter, host selection, growth, distribution, and sex ratio to highlight how these types of data can be informative regarding juvenile sea lamprey ecology. Results presented here could be used to develop biological hypotheses to be addressed in future work. Thirdly, we directly assessed whether juvenile sea lamprey capture data could be useful in corroborating trends observed in adult sea lamprey abundance and wounding, as well as in identifying abundance and wounding hotspots. Lastly, we summarize research and outreach efforts that have benefited from the capture of juvenile sea lamprey in recent years.

Great Lakes↗
USGS2021

Quantifying Great Lakes sea lamprey populations using an index of adults

Effective control of aquatic invasive species requires knowledge of the population throughout the infested area. Lake-wide assessments of invasive sea lampreys ( Petromyzon marinus ) are used to assess their status in the Laurentian Great Lakes, informing fisheries managers and decision makers in the sea lamprey control program. Initially these assessments focused on an estimate of absolute abundance, but later switched to an estimate of relative abundance as an index. In this paper, we describe the recently developed index of sea lamprey abundance and the reasons for its use. Rather than trying to estimate spawning run sizes of all Great Lakes tributaries, the index instead estimates run sizes of a small subset of index streams. Streams chosen for the index had large spawning runs and a history of trapping operations that consistently yielded mark-recapture estimates. This change enabled the sea lamprey control program to abandon a previously used regression model that predicted run size on streams with no sea lamprey traps. Further research is needed to determine how strongly correlated the index is with actual patterns in the lake-wide population of adult sea lampreys.

Lake Erie, Lake Huron, Lake Michigan, Lake Ontario↗
USGS2003

Acute toxicity of TFM and a TFM/niclosamide mixture to selected species of fish, including lake sturgeon ( Acipenser fulvescens ) and mudpuppies ( Necturus maculosus ), in laboratory and field exposures

The toxicity of the lampricides 3-trifluoromethyl-4-nitrophenol (TFM) and 2',5-dichloro-4'-nitrosalicylanilide (niclosamide) to non-target fishes has been a major point of concern since their use to control larval sea lamprey ( Petromyzon marinus ) populations began in the early 1960s. The toxicity of TFM to several non-target fish species has been demonstrated in previous studies. However, little information is available on the toxicity of the TFM/1% niclosamide mixture. One species of particular concern is the lake sturgeon ( Acipenser fulvescens ). Juvenile lake sturgeon of several size ranges were exposed to determine potential effects of the lampricides to individuals present in treatment streams. Sac fry were most resistant to the lampricides followed by fingerlings in the 200 to 225 mm size range. Swim-up fry and fingerlings less than 100 mm were the most sensitive. Concentrations that produced 50% mortality (LC50s) in juvenile lake sturgeon of these smaller size ranges were at or near the minimum lethal concentrations (MLCs) required for effective control of larval sea lampreys. The mudpuppy ( Necturus maculosus ), an amphibian native to several tributaries of the Great Lakes, have also become a species of interest in recent years. Laboratory tests conducted with TFM and a TFM/1% niclosamide mixture on adult mudpuppies indicate that although the amphibian is sensitive to the lampricides, an adequate margin of safety exists for adult mudpuppies to survive when exposed during stream treatments. Fifteen other fish species native to streams treated with lampricides were investigated in the laboratory to determine their sensitivity to the lampricides. Centrarchids, bluegill ( Lepomis macrochirus ) and green sunfish ( Lepomis cyanellus ) were the least sensitive to TFM, while ictalurids, black bullhead ( Ictalurus melas ), channel catfish ( Ictalurus punctatus ), and tadpole madtom ( Notorus gyrinus ) were the most sensitive. On-site bioassays conducted before lampricide treatments also revealed that lake sturgeon, channel catfish, and whitefish ( Coregonus clupeaformis ) were sensitive to the lampricides although considerably less sensitive compared to sea lamprey.

Journal of Great Lakes Research↗
USGS2012

Revised geomagnetic polarity time scale for the interval 0–5 m.y. B.P.

A change in the constants used in K‐Ar dating and a significant increase in new data have made a recompilation and recomputation of data used to define the Late Cenozoic K‐Ar polarity time scale highly desirable at this time. All available data in the range 0–5 m.y. have been recalculated using the refined constants, with 354 data points in this time interval now meeting the minimum criteria for acceptability. Recalculation of the major polarity epoch boundaries has yielded ages of 0.73 m.y. for the Brunhes‐Matuyama, 2.48 m.y. for the Matuyama‐Gauss, and 3.40 m.y. for the Gauss‐Gilbert boundaries. A revised polarity time scale has been constructed based on available K‐Ar data and information obtained from marine magnetic anomalies and deep‐sea sedimentary cores.

Journal of Geophysical Research B: Solid Earth↗
USGS2003

Advection, pelagic food webs and the biogeography of seabirds in Beringia

Despite its great distance from productive shelf-edge habitat, the inner shelf area of the Bering Sea, from St. Lawrence Island to the Bering Strait, supports a surprisingly large number (>5 million) of seabirds during summer, mostly small plantivorous auklets (65%) and large piscivorous murres (19%) and kittiwakes (5%). This paradox of seabird biogeography is explained by the Anadyr “Green Belt” - a current that advects nutrients and plankton over 1200 km from the outer Bering Sea shelf-edge to the central Chukchi Sea. Turbulent upwelling of this nutrient-rich water at Anadyr and Bering straits further enhances high levels of primary production (360 gC m -2 y -1 ) and helps sustain the enormous biomass of zooplankton entrained in the Anadyr Current. Primary production in adjacent waters of the Chukchi Sea (420 gC m -2 y -1 ) exceeds that observed below Bering Strait, and zooplankton are equally abundant. Auklets account for 49% of total food consumption below Bering Strait (411 mt d -1 ), whereas piscivores dominate (88% of 179 mt d -1 ) in the Chukchi Sea. Of 2 million seabirds in the Chukchi region, auklets (6%) are supplanted by planktivorous phalaropes (25%), and piscivorous murres (38%) and kittiwakes (15%). Average carbon flux to seabirds (0.65 mgC m -2 d -1 ) over the whole region is more typical of upwelling than shelf ecosystems. The pelagic distribution of seabirds in the region appears to be a function of advection, productivity and water column stability. Planktivores flourish in areas with high zooplankton concentrations on the edge of productive upwelling and frontal zones along the “Green Belt”, whereas piscivores avoid turbulent, mixed waters and forage in stable, stratified waters along the coast and in the central Chukchi Sea.

Alaska↗
USGS2013

Consideration of vertical uncertainty in elevation-based sea-level rise assessments: Mobile Bay, Alabama case study

The accuracy with which coastal topography has been mapped directly affects the reliability and usefulness of elevationbased sea-level rise vulnerability assessments. Recent research has shown that the qualities of the elevation data must be well understood to properly model potential impacts. The cumulative vertical uncertainty has contributions from elevation data error, water level data uncertainties, and vertical datum and transformation uncertainties. The concepts of minimum sealevel rise increment and minimum planning timeline, important parameters for an elevation-based sea-level rise assessment, are used in recognition of the inherent vertical uncertainty of the underlying data. These concepts were applied to conduct a sea-level rise vulnerability assessment of the Mobile Bay, Alabama, region based on high-quality lidar-derived elevation data. The results that detail the area and associated resources (land cover, population, and infrastructure) vulnerable to a 1.18-m sea-level rise by the year 2100 are reported as a range of values (at the 95% confidence level) to account for the vertical uncertainty in the base data. Examination of the tabulated statistics about land cover, population, and infrastructure in the minimum and maximum vulnerable areas shows that these resources are not uniformly distributed throughout the overall vulnerable zone. The methods demonstrated in the Mobile Bay analysis provide an example of how to consider and properly account for vertical uncertainty in elevation-based sea-level rise vulnerability assessments, and the advantages of doing so.

Alabama↗
USGS2012

Anchor ice, seabed freezing, and sediment dynamics in shallow arctic seas

Diving investigations confirm previous circumstantial evidence of seafloor freezing and anchor ice accretion during freeze-up storms in the Alaskan Beaufort Sea. These related bottom types were found to be continuous from shore to 2-m depth and spotty to 4.5-m depth. Spotty anchor ice occurred as pillow-shaped crystal aggregates on buried slabs of frozen sand surrounded by unfrozen sand. Considerations of required conditions for ice bonding and anchor ice growth allows regional extrapolation and suggests the possibility of anchor ice growth out to 20-m depth, the estimated maximum depth of supercooling during fall storms. Anchor ice and seabed freezing apparently do not develop during a calm freeze-up. Because of the abrupt growth of anchor ice during a freezing storm and its release soon after formation of a surface ice cover, this ice type has not been documented before. The concretelike nature of frozen bottom, where present, should prohibit sediment transport by any conceivable wave or current regime during the freezing storm. But elsewhere, particularly where the bonded crust is broken by grounded ice, anchor ice lifts coarse material off the bottom and incorporates it into the ice canopy, thereby leading to significant ice rafting of shallow shelf sediment and likely sediment loss to the deep sea.

Journal of Geophysical Research-Oceans↗
USGS1974

Ancient solution phenomena in the Madison Limestone (Mississippian) of north-central Wyoming

A karst topography was developed on the Madison Limestone of north-central Wyoming during the middle Meramecian early Chesterian time interval. Ancient karst features include enlarged joints, sinkholes, caves, and solution breccias that resulted from leaching of evaporitic beds in the upper 400 ft of the Madison bedrock. These features are predominantly phreatic rather than vadose. Most of the open spaces are fdled by sand and residual products reworked by the early Amsden sea, which transgressed the area during the Chesterian.

Wyoming↗
USGS2003

Boll weevil eradication: a model for sea lamprey control?

Invasions of boll weevil ( Anthonomus grandis ) into the United States and sea lamprey ( Petromyzon marinus ) into the Great Lakes were similar in many ways. Important species (American cotton, Gossypium hirsutum , and lake trout, Salvelinus namaycush ) and the industries they supported were negatively affected. Initial control efforts were unsuccessful until pesticides and application technologies were developed. For boll weevils, controls relying on pesticides evolved into an integrated program that included recommended farming practices and poisoned baits. However, the discovery of a boll weevil sex pheromone in 1964 allowed adoption of an ongoing program of eradication. Despite opposition over concept and cost, insecticides, pheromone traps, poisoned baits, and approved farming practices were used to eradicate boll weevils from Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, and Alabama by 1999. Using the working back approach along the path of the original invasion, eradication was nearly completed by 2002 in Mississippi and eradication programs were underway in Arkansas, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Louisiana, and parts of Texas. Insecticide use for cotton production decreased 50 to 90%, and cotton yields and farm income increased an average of 78 kg/ha and $190 U.S./ha in areas where boll weevils were eradicated. For sea lampreys, integrated management uses lampricides, barriers to migration, trapping, and release of sterilized males. Although sea lamprey eradication is not currently feasible, recent research on larval and sex pheromones might provide the tools to make it possible. A successful eradication program for sea lampreys starting in Lake Superior and expanding to the lower Great Lakes would ultimately provide huge ecological and economic benefits by eliminating lampricide applications, removing barriers that block teleost fishes, and facilitating the recovery of lake trout. Should the opportunity arise, the concept of sea lamprey eradication should not be rejected out of hand. The successful boll weevil eradication program shows that sea lamprey eradication might be achievable.

Journal of Great Lakes Research↗
USGS2021

Progress towards integrating an understanding of chemical ecology into sea lamprey control

The sea lamprey, Petromyzon marinus , is a destructive invader in the Laurentian Great Lakes that relies on several complex chemical cues to complete their life cycle. The central roles of chemical cues in sea lamprey reproduction provide opportunities to leverage knowledge of sea lamprey chemical ecology when developing alternative or supplemental strategies for sea lamprey control. A solid foundation has been laid regarding sea lamprey chemical ecology, with recent advances in our understanding of the migratory pheromone, male sex pheromone, and alarm cues broadening our fundamental understanding of the diversity, complexity, and evolution of chemical cues used by sea lamprey. Additionally, research applying semiochemicals in differing management scenarios has provided useful insights into the challenges of incorporating chemical cues into the sea lamprey control program. Here, we synthesize new findings related to fundamental research of chemosensory cues along with knowledge learned from management-based tests and explore options for integrating an understanding of chemical ecology into sea lamprey control in light of new knowledge. We also highlight current unknowns and future research needs that should be addressed prior to implementation of sea lamprey chemical ecology into the sea lamprey control program.

Great Lakes↗
USGS2003

Planning and executing a lampricide treatment of the St. Marys River using georeferenced data

The St. Marys River is believed to be the primary source of sea lampreys (Petromyzon marinus) in Lake Huron. Planning or evaluating lampricide treatments required knowing where lampricides could effectively be placed and where larvae were located. Accurate maps of larval density were therefore critical to formulating or evaluating management strategies using lampricides. Larval abundance was systematically assessed with a deepwater electrofishing device at 12,000 georeferenced locations during 1993 to 1996. Maps were produced from catches at those locations, providing georeferenced detail previously unavailable. Catches were processed with a geographic information system (GIS), to create a map of larval density. Whole-river treatment scenarios using TFM (3-trifluoromethyl-4-nitrophenol) were evaluated by combining the map with one of lethal conditions predicted by a lampricide-transport model. The map was also used to evaluate spot treatment scenarios with a granular, bottom-release formulation of another lampricide, Bayluscide (2',5-dichloro-4'-nitro-salicylanilide). Potential high-density plots for Bayluscide treatment were selected from the map and estimates of area, cost, and larval population were developed using the GIS. Plots were ranked by the cost per larva killed. Spot treatments were found to be more cost effective than a conventional TFM treatment and Bayluscide was applied to 82 ha in 1998 and 759 ha in 1999. Effectiveness was estimated with stratified-random sampling before and after treatment in 1999 at 35%. Ten percent already had been removed in 1998, for a total reduction of 45% percent. This marked a change in how research and planning were combined in sea lamprey management to minimize treatment costs and evaluate success.

Journal of Great Lakes Research↗
USGS2007

Intertidal sand body migration along a megatidal coast, Kachemak Bay, Alaska

[1] Using a digital video-based Argus Beach Monitoring System (ABMS) on the north shore of Kachemak Bay in south central Alaska, we document the timing and magnitude of alongshore migration of intertidal sand bed forms over a cobble substrate during a 22-month observation period. Two separate sediment packages (sand bodies) of 1–2 m amplitude and ∼200 m wavelength, consisting of well-sorted sand, were observed to travel along shore at annually averaged rates of 278 m/yr (0.76 m/d) and 250 m/yr (0.68 m/d), respectively. Strong seasonality in migration rates was shown by the contrast of rapid winter and slow summer transport. Though set in a megatidal environment, data indicate that sand body migration is driven by eastward propagating wind waves as opposed to net westward directed tidal currents. Greatest weekly averaged rates of movement, exceeding 6 m/d, coincided with wave heights exceeding 2 m suggesting a correlation of wave height and sand body migration. Because Kachemak Bay is partially enclosed, waves responsible for sediment entrainment and transport are locally generated by winds that blow across lower Cook Inlet from the southwest, the direction of greatest fetch. Our estimates of sand body migration translate to a littoral transport rate between 4,400–6,300 m 3 /yr. Assuming an enclosed littoral cell, minimal riverine sediment contributions, and a sea cliff sedimentary fraction of 0.05, we estimate long-term local sea cliff retreat rates of 9–14 cm/yr. Applying a numerical model of wave energy dissipation to the temporally variable beach morphology suggests that sand bodies are responsible for enhancing wave energy dissipation by ∼13% offering protection from sea cliff retreat.

Alaska↗
USGS2012

Along-shelf current variability on the Catalan inner-shelf (NW Mediterranean)

We examine the circulation over the inner shelf of the Catalan Sea using observations of currents obtained from three ADCPs within the inner-shelf (24 and 50 m depth) during March-April 2011. The along-shelf current fluctuations during that period are mainly controlled by the local wind stress on short time scales and by remote pressure gradients on synoptic time scales. Different forcing mechanisms are involved in the along-shelf momentum balance. During storm conditions, wind stress, sea level gradients and the non-linear terms dominate the balance. During weak wind conditions, the momentum balance is controlled by the pressure gradient, while during periods of moderate wind in the presence of considerable stratification, the balance is established between the Coriolis and wind stress terms. Vertical variations of velocity are affected by the strong observed density gradient. The increased vertical shear is accompanied by the development of stratified conditions due to local heating when the wind is not able to counteract (and destroy) stratification. The occasional influence of the Besòs river plume is observed in time scales of hours to days in a limited area in front of Barcelona. The area affected by the plume depends on the vertical extend of the fresher layer, the fast river discharge peak, and the relaxation of cross-shore velocities after northeast storm events. This contribution provides a first interpretation of the inner-shelf dynamics in the Catalan Sea.

Journal of Geophysical Research↗