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At least 415 records · Page 23Linked to original sources
USGS1975

Effects of lowering interior canal stages on salt-water intrusion into the shallow aquifer in southeast Palm Beach County, Florida

Land in southeast Palm Beach County is undergoing a large-scale change in use, from agricultural to residential. To accommodate residential use, a proposal has been made by developers to the Board of the Lake Worth Drainage District to lower the canal stages in the interior part of the area undergoing change. This report documents one of the possible effects of such lowering. Of particular interest to the Board was whether the lower canal stages would cause an increase in salt-water intrusion into the shallow aquifer along the coast. The two main tools used in the investigation were a digital model for aquifer evaluation and an analytical technique for predicting the movement of the salt-water front in response to a change of ground-water flow into the ocean. The method of investigation consisted of developing a digital ground-water flow model for three east-west test strips. They pass through the northern half of municipal well fields in Lake Worth, Delray Beach, and Boca Raton. The strips were first modeled with no change in interior canal stages. Then they were modeled with a change in canal stages of 2 to 4 feet (0.6 to 1.6 metres). Also, two land development schemes were tested. One was for a continuation of the present level of land development, simulated by continuing the present pumpage rates. The second scheme was for land development to continue until the maximum allowable densities were reached, simulated by increasing the pumping rates. The results of the test runs for an east-west strip through Lake Worth show that lowering part of the interior canal water levels 3 feet (1.0 metre), as done in 1961, does not affect the aquifer head or salt-water intrusion along the coastal area of Lake Worth. As a result, no effect in the coastal area would be expected as a result of canal stage lowering in other, interior parts of the study area. Results from the other test runs show that lowering interior canal water levels by as much as 4 feet (1.2 metres) would result in some salt-water intrusion for either land development scheme. Salt-water intrusion is dependent on the location, and amount of water withdrawn, from well fields.

Florida↗
USGS2016

The use of amino acid indices for assessing organic matter quality and microbial abundance in deep-sea Antarctic sediments of IODP Expedition 318

The Adélie Basin, located offshore of the Wilkes Land margin, experiences unusually high sedimentation rates (~ 2 cm yr − 1 ) for the Antarctic coast. This study sought to compare depthwise changes in organic matter (OM) quantity and quality with changes in microbial biomass with depth at this high-deposition site and an offshore continental margin site. Sediments from both sites were collected during the International Ocean Drilling (IODP) Program Expedition 318. Viable microbial biomass was estimated from concentrations of bacterial-derived phospholipid fatty acids, while OM quality was assessed using four different amino acid degradation proxies. Concentrations of total hydrolysable amino acids (THAA) measured from the continental margin suggest an oligotrophic environment, with THAA concentrations representing only 2% of total organic carbon with relative proportions of non-protein amino acids β-alanine and γ-aminobutyric acid as high as 40%. In contrast, THAA concentrations from the near-shore Adélie Basin represent 40%–60% of total organic carbon. Concentrations of β-alanine and γ-aminobutyric acid were often below the detection limit and suggest that the OM of the basin as labile. DI values in surface sediments at the Adélie and margin sites were measured to be + 0.78 and − 0.76, reflecting labile and more recalcitrant OM, respectively. Greater DI values in deeper and more anoxic portions of both cores correlated positively with increased relative concentrations of phenylalanine plus tyrosine and may represent a change of redox conditions, rather than OM quality. This suggests that DI values calculated along chemical profiles should be interpreted with caution. THAA concentrations, the percentage of organic carbon (C AA %) and total nitrogen (N AA %) represented by amino acids at both sites demonstrated a significant positive correlation with bacterial abundance estimates. These data suggest that the selective degradation of amino acids, as indicated by THAA concentrations, C AA % or N AA % values may be a better proxy for describing the general changes in sedimentary bacterial abundances than total organic matter or bulk sedimentation rates.

Marine Chemistry↗
USGS2006

Seaside, Oregon, Tsunami Pilot Study— Modernization of FEMA flood hazard maps: GIS data

Introduction: The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Federal Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) guidelines do not currently exist for conducting and incorporating tsunami hazard assessments that reflect the substantial advances in tsunami research achieved in the last two decades; this conclusion is the result of two FEMA-sponsored workshops and the associated Tsunami Focused Study (Chowdhury and others, 2005). Therefore, as part of FEMA's Map Modernization Program, a Tsunami Pilot Study was carried out in the Seaside/Gearhart, Oregon, area to develop an improved Probabilistic Tsunami Hazard Analysis (PTHA) methodology and to provide recommendations for improved tsunami hazard assessment guidelines (Tsunami Pilot Study Working Group, 2006). The Seaside area was chosen because it is typical of many coastal communities in the section of the Pacific Coast from Cape Mendocino to the Strait of Juan de Fuca, and because State agencies and local stakeholders expressed considerable interest in mapping the tsunami threat to this area. The study was an interagency effort by FEMA, U.S. Geological Survey, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), in collaboration with the University of Southern California, Middle East Technical University, Portland State University, Horning Geoscience, Northwest Hydraulics Consultants, and the Oregon Department of Geological and Mineral Industries. We present the spatial (geographic information system, GIS) data from the pilot study in standard GIS formats and provide files for visualization in Google Earth, a global map viewer.

Oregon↗
USGS2006

Seaside, Oregon tsunami pilot study— Modernization of FEMA flood hazard maps

FEMA Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) guidelines do not currently exist for conducting and incorporating tsunami hazard assessments that reflect the substantial advances in tsunami research achieved in the last two decades; this conclusion is the result of two FEMA-sponsored workshops and the associated Tsunami Focused Study. Therefore, as part of FEMA's Map Modernization Program, a Tsunami Pilot Study was carried out in the Seaside/Gearhart, Oregon, area to develop an improved Probabilistic Tsunami Hazard Assessment (PTHA) methodology and to provide recommendations for improved tsunami hazard assessment guidelines. The Seaside area was chosen because it is typical of many coastal communities in the section of the Pacific Coast from Cape Mendocino to the Strait of Juan de Fuca, and because State Agencies and local stakeholders expressed considerable interest in mapping the tsunami threat to this area. The study was an interagency effort by FEMA, U.S. Geological Survey and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, in collaboration with the University of Southern California, Middle East Technical University. Portland State University, Horning Geosciences, Northwest Hydraulics Consultants, and the Oregon Department of Geological and Mineral Industries. Draft copies and a briefing on the contents, results and recommendations of this document were provided to FEMA officials before final publication.

Oregon↗
USGS1979

Hydrologic overlay maps of the Cape Canaveral Quadrangle, Florida

Brevard County is an area of some 1,300 square miles located on the east coast of central Florida. The Cape Canaveral quadrangle, in central Brevard, includes part of the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, John F. Kennedy Space Center (NASA), and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The eastern part of the quadrangle is occupied by the Atlantic Ocean and the western part by estuarine waters of the Banana River. Topography is characterized by numerous elongate sand dumes, with altitudes up to 10 feet or greater, which roughly parallel the estuary and ocean.

Florida↗
USGS2024

Significant challenges to the sustainability of the California coast considering climate change

Climate change is an existential threat to the environmental and socioeconomic sustainability of the coastal zone and impacts will be complex and widespread. Evidence from California and across the United States shows that climate change is impacting coastal communities and challenging managers with a plethora of stressors already present. Widespread action could be taken that would sustain California’s coastal ecosystems and communities. In this perspective, we highlight the main threat to coastal sustainability: the compound effects of episodic events amplified with ongoing climate change, which will present unprecedented challenges to the state. We present two key challenges for California’s sustainability in the coastal zone: 1) accelerating sea-level rise combined with storm impacts, and 2) continued warming of the oceans and marine heatwaves. Cascading effects from these types of compounding events will occur within the context of an already stressed system that has experienced extensive alterations due to intensive development, resource extraction and harvesting, spatial containment, and other human use pressures. There are critical components that could be used to address these immediate concerns, including comanagement strategies that include diverse groups and organizations, strategic planning integrated across large areas, rapid implementation of solutions, and a cohesive and policy relevant research agenda for the California coast. Much of this has been started in the state, but the scale could be increased, and timelines accelerated. The ideas and information presented here are intended to help expand discussions to sharpen the focus on how to encourage sustainability of California’s iconic coastal region.

California↗
USGS2004

Regional analysis of spiculite faunas in the permian phosphoria basin: Implications for paleoceanography

The sponge spiculites of the Permian Phosphoria basin, Antler high, and eastern Havallah basin were the southernmost expression of one of the largest spiculite belts in the Earth's history. This spiculite belt extended from Nevada to the Barents Sea. In Idaho and Nevada, the spicule populations of this belt are dominated by demosponge spicules and are distinctive for their abundant rhax microscleres, large monaxons, and lithistid desmas. They form an Eastern Belt of spiculites that interfingers with spicule assemblages derived from choristid demosponges and hexactinellids that lived along the eastern margin of the deeper Havallah basin. The Havallah basin assemblages are similar to those in Permian arc terranes to the west, and together the sponge populations in this domain constitute a dis- tinct Central Belt. Radiolarians are virtually absent in the siliceous microfossil populations of the Eastern Belt, abundant in the populations of the Central Belt, and dominant in the populations of a Western Belt confined to Mesozoic accretionary complexes in the Pacific Coast States. The scattered sponge spicules in the Western Belt radiolarites were derived from hexactinellids. During the Permian, the relative abundance and apparent diversity of siliceous sponges expanded over a wide range of depths in the basins from Nevada and Idaho to the open ocean. Radiolarian preservation and apparent diversity increased in the deeper Cordilleran basins as well. In the Arctic regions, significant sponge spiculites were deposited in epicratonic basins. At the same time that siliceous sponge populations expanded along the northwestern margin of Pangea, warm-water carbonate producers disappeared. Suppression of carbonate-producing organisms along the margin was critical to the accu- mulation and preservation of both the demosponge spiculites in the Eastern Belt and the spicule-rich argillites of the Central Belt. Vigorous thermohaline circulation was the major control on the paleobiogeography of the late Early, Middle, and early Late Permian along northwest Pangea. It was driven by cold, nutrient- and oxygen-rich northern waters and it produced a coastal current that swept down the margin of the supercontinent. The upwelling associated with deposition of world-class phosphorites in the Phosphoria basin was a part of this larger oceanographic system.

Handbook of Exploration and Environmental Geochemi↗
USGS2007

Monitoring Ground-Water Quality in Coastal Ecosystems

INTRODUCTION The Cape Cod National Seashore (CACO) extends along more than 70 km of Atlantic Ocean open-beach coastline and includes three large saltwater bays - Wellfleet Harbor, Nauset Marsh, and Pleasant Bay (fig. 1). CACO encompasses about 18,000 ha of uplands, lakes, wetlands, and tidal lands (Godfrey and others, 1999) including most habitats typical of the sandy coast in National seashores and parks extending southward from Massachusetts to Florida. In 1995, CACO was selected by the National Park Service (NPS) as a prototype park typifying the Atlantic and Gulf Coast biogeographic region for long-term coastal ecosystem monitoring. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is currently (2007) assisting the NPS in the development of protocols for a Long-Term Coastal Ecosystem Monitoring Program at the CACO in Massachusetts. The overall purpose of the monitoring program is to characterize both natural and human-induced change in the biological resources of the CACO, over a time scale of decades, in the context of a changing global ecosystem.

Open-File Report↗
USGS2002

Hurricane Mitch: Peak Discharge for Selected River Reachesin Honduras

Hurricane Mitch began as a tropical depression in the Caribbean Sea on 22 October 1998. By 26 October, Mitch had strengthened to a Category 5 storm as defined by the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale (National Climate Data Center, 1999a), and on 27 October was threatening the northern coast of Honduras (fig. 1). After making landfall 2 days later (29 October), the storm drifted south and west across Honduras, wreaking destruction throughout the country before reaching the Guatemalan border on 31 October. According to the National Climate Data Center of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (National Climate Data Center, 1999b), Hurricane Mitch ranks among the five strongest storms on record in the Atlantic Basin in terms of its sustained winds, barometric pressure, and duration. Hurricane Mitch also was one of the worst Atlantic storms in terms of loss of life and property. The regionwide death toll was estimated to be more than 9,000; thousands of people were reported missing. Economic losses in the region were more than $7.5 billion (U.S. Agency for International Development, 1999). Honduras suffered the most widespread devastation during the storm. More than 5,000 deaths, and economic losses of more than $4 billion, were reported by the Government of Honduras. Honduran officials estimated that Hurricane Mitch destroyed 50 years of economic development. In addition to the human and economic losses, intense flooding and landslides scarred the Honduran landscape - hydrologic and geomorphologic processes throughout the country likely will be affected for many years. As part of the U.S. Government's response to the disaster, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) conducted post-flood measurements of peak discharge at 16 river sites throughout Honduras (fig. 2). Such measurements, termed 'indirect' measurements, are used to determine peak flows when direct measurements (using current meters or dye studies, for example) cannot be made. Indirect measurements of peak discharge are based on post-flood surveys of the river channel (observed high-water marks, cross sections, and hydraulic properties) and model computation of peak discharge. Determination of the flood peaks associated with Hurricane Mitch will help scientists understand the magnitude of this devastating hurricane. Peak-discharge information also is critical for the proper design of hydraulic structures (such as bridges and levees), delineation of theoretical flood boundaries, and development of stage-discharge relations at streamflow-monitoring sites.

Water-Resources Investigations Report↗
USGS2018

Hawai‘i and U.S.-Affiliated Pacific Islands

The U.S. Pacific Islands are culturally and environmentally diverse, treasured by the 1.9 million people who call them home. Pacific islands are particularly vulnerable to climate change impacts due to their exposure and isolation, small size, low elevation (in the case of atolls), and concentration of infrastructure and economy along the coasts. A prevalent cause of year-to-year changes in climate patterns around the globe and in the Pacific Islands region is the El Niño –Southern Oscillation (ENSO). The El Niño and La Niña phases of ENSO can dramatically affect precipitation, air and ocean temperature, sea surface height, storminess, wave size, and trade winds. It is unknown exactly how the timing and intensity of ENSO will continue to change in the coming decades, but recent climate model results suggest a doubling in frequency of both El Niño and La Niña extremes in this century as compared to the 20th century under scenarios with more warming, including the higher scenario (RCP8.5). On islands, all natural sources of freshwater come from rainfall received within their limited land areas. Severe droughts are common, making water shortage one of the most important climate-related risks in the region. As temperature continues to rise and cloud cover decreases in some areas, evaporation is expected to increase, causing both reduced water supply and higher water demand. Streamflow in Hawai‘i has declined over approximately the past 100 years, consistent with observed decreases in rainfall. The impacts of sea level rise in the Pacific include coastal erosion, episodic flooding, permanent inundation, heightened exposure to marine hazards, and saltwater intrusion to surface water and groundwater systems. Sea level rise will disproportionately affect the tropical Pacific and potentially exceed the global average. Invasive species , landscape change, habitat alteration, and reduced resilience have resulted in extinctions and diminished ecosystem function. Inundation of atolls in the coming decades is projected to impact existing on-island ecosystems. Wildlife that relies on coastal habitats will likely also be severely impacted. In Hawaiʻi, coral reefs contribute an estimated $477 million to the local economy every year. Under projected warming of approximately 0.5°F per decade, all nearshore coral reefs in the Hawai‘i and Pacific Islands region will experience annual bleaching before 2050. An ecosystem -based approach to international management of open ocean fisheries in the Pacific that incorporates climate-informed catch limits is expected to produce more realistic future harvest levels and enhance ecosystem resilience. Indigenous communities of the Pacific derive their sense of identity from the islands. Emerging issues for Indigenous communities of the Pacific include the resilience of marine-managed areas and climate-induced human migration from their traditional lands. The rich body of traditional knowledge is place-based and localized and is useful in adaptation planning because it builds on intergenerational sharing of observations. Documenting the kinds of governance structures or decision-making hierarchies created for management of these lands and waters is also important as a learning tool that can be shared with other island communities. Across the region, groups are coming together to minimize damage and disruption from coastal flooding and inundation as well as other climate-related impacts. Social cohesion is already strong in many communities, making it possible to work together to take action. Early intervention can lower economic, environmental, social, and cultural costs and reduce or prevent conflict and displacement from ancestral land and resources.

Report↗
USGS2007

Impact of hurricanes storm surges on the groundwater resources

Ocean surges onto coastal lowlands caused by tropical and extra tropical storms, tsunamis, and sea level rise affect all coastal lowlands and present a threat to drinking water resources of many coastal residents. In 2005, two such storms, Hurricanes Katrina and Rita struck the Gulf Coast of the US. Since September 2005, water samples have been collected from water wells impacted by the hurricanes' storm surges along the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain in southeastern Louisiana. The private and public water wells tested were submerged by 0.6-4.5 m of surging saltwater for several hours. The wells' casing and/or the associated plumbing were severely damaged. Water samples were collected to determine if storm surge water inundated the well casing and, if so, its effect on water quality within the shallow aquifers of the Southern Hills Aquifer System. In addition, the samples were used to determine if the impact on water quality may have long-term implication for public health. Laboratory testing for several indicator parameters (Ca/Mg, Cl/Si, chloride, boron, specific conductance and bacteria) indicates that surge water entered water wells' casing and the screened aquifer. Analysis of the groundwater shows a decrease in the Ca/Mg ratio right after the storm and then a return toward pre-Katrina values. Chloride concentrations were elevated right after Katrina and Rita, and then decreased downward toward pre-Katrina values. From September 2005 to June 2006, the wells showed improvement in all the saltwater intrusion indicators. ?? 2007 Springer-Verlag.

Environmental Geology↗
USGS2023

Etiology of a fish kill, Including the endangered Tidewater Goby (Eucyclogobius newberryi), in a northeastern pacific coastal lagoon

Ecological disturbances such as fish kills can negatively impact ecosystem processes in coastal lagoons. To gain an understanding of factors causing fish kills, we examined conditions associated with a summertime fish kill in a northeastern Pacific coastal lagoon (Rodeo Lagoon, CA, USA). Examination of available data indicated the fish kill was likely caused by hypoxia involving the following etiology: (1) strong onshore winds (up to 12 m/s) mixed a stratified water column, (2) water column mixing transported nutrients from near the bed into the photic zone, (3) increased nutrient concentrations in the photic zone (> 200%) together with high solar irradiance fueled a phytoplankton bloom, (4) death and decomposition of phytoplankton (72% decrease in abundance) contributed to biological oxygen demand that led to (5) hypoxic conditions (as low as 0.6 mg/L) that caused the fish kill. The event resulted in the death of an estimated 3677 Tidewater Goby ( Eucyclogobius newberryi ), a species listed as endangered under the US Endangered Species Act, and numerous (but not enumerated) Threespine Stickleback ( Gasterosteus aculeatus ), unidentified sculpins (Cottidae), and macroinvertebrates (primarily Amphipoda). The processes contributing to the event are likely re-occurring phenomena responsible for observed periodic fish kills. Coastal lagoons with limited freshwater inflows and connection to the Pacific Ocean may retain nutrients and be susceptible to similar events.

California↗
USGS2017

Geomorphology, denudation rates, and stream channel profiles reveal patterns of mountain building adjacent to the San Andreas fault in northern California, USA

Relative horizontal motion along strike-slip faults can build mountains when motion is oblique to the trend of the strike-slip boundary. The resulting contraction and uplift pose off-fault seismic hazards, which are often difficult to detect because of the poor vertical resolution of satellite geodesy and difficulty of locating offset datable landforms in active mountain ranges. Sparse geomorphic markers, topographic analyses, and measurement of denudation allow us to map spatiotemporal patterns of uplift along the northern San Andreas fault. Between Jenner and Mendocino, California, emergent marine terraces found southwest of the San Andreas fault record late Pleistocene uplift rates between 0.20 and 0.45 mm yr –1 along much of the coast. However, on the northeast side of the San Andreas fault, a zone of rapid uplift (0.6–1.0 mm yr –1 ) exists adjacent to the San Andreas fault, but rates decay northeastward as the coast becomes more distant from the San Andreas fault. A newly dated 4.5 Ma shallow-marine deposit located at ∼500 m above sea level (masl) adjacent to the San Andreas fault is warped down to just 150 masl 15 km northeast of the San Andreas fault, and it is exposed at just 60–110 masl to the west of the fault. Landscape denudation rates calculated from abundance of cosmogenic radionuclides in fluvial sediment northeast of, and adjacent to, the San Andreas fault are 0.16–0.29 mm yr –1 , but they are only 0.03–0.07 mm yr –1 west of the fault. Basin-average channel steepness and the denudation rates can be used to infer the erosive properties of the underlying bedrock. Calibrated erosion rates can then be estimated across the entire landscape using the spatial distribution of channel steepness with these erosive properties. The lower-elevation areas of this landscape that show high channel steepness (and hence calibrated erosion rate) are distinct from higher-elevation areas with systematically lower channel steepness and denudation rates. These two areas do not appear to be coincident with lithologic contacts. Assuming that changes in rock uplift rates are manifest in channel steepness values as an upstream-propagating kinematic wave that separates high and low channel steepness values, the distance that this transition has migrated vertically provides an estimate of the timing of rock uplift rate increase. This analysis suggests that rock uplift rates along the coast changed from 0.3 to 0.75 mm yr –1 between 450 and 350 ka. This zone of recent, relatively rapid crustal deformation along the plate boundary may be a result of the impingement of relatively strong crust underlying the Gualala block into the thinner, weaker oceanic crust left at the western margin of the North American plate by the westward migration of the subduction zone prior to establishment of the current transform plate boundary. The warped Pliocene marine deposits and the presence of a topographic ridge support the patterns indicated by the channel steepness analyses, and further indicate that the zone of rapid uplift may herald elevated off-fault seismic hazard if this uplift is created by periodic stick-slip motion on contractional structures.

California↗
USGS2020

A non-linear relationship between marsh size and sediment trapping capacity compromises salt marshes’ resilience to sea-level rise

Global assessments predict the impact of sea-level rise on salt marshes with present-day levels of sediment supply from rivers and the coastal ocean. However, these assessments do not consider that variations in marsh extent and the related reconfiguration of intertidal area affect local sediment dynamics, ultimately controlling the fate of the marshes themselves. We conducted a meta-analysis of six bays along the United States East Coast to show that a reduction in the current salt marsh area decreases the sediment availability in estuarine systems through changes in regional-scale hydrodynamics. This positive feedback between marsh disappearance and the ability of coastal bays to retain sediments reduces the trapping capacity of the whole tidal system and jeopardizes the survival of the remaining marshes. We show that on marsh platforms, the sediment deposition per unit area decreases exponentially with marsh loss. Marsh erosion enlarges tidal prism values and enhances the tendency toward ebb dominance, thus decreasing the overall sediment availability of the system. Our findings highlight that marsh deterioration reduces the sediment stock in back-barrier basins and therefore compromises the resilience of salt marshes.

Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Vir↗
USGS2010

Impacts of climate change on Oregon's coasts and estuaries

Earth’s changing climate is expected to have significant physical impacts along the coast and estuarine shorelands of Oregon, ranging from increased erosion and inundation of low lying areas, to wetland loss and increased estuarine salinity. The environmental changes associated with climate change include rising sea levels, increased occurrences of severe storms, rising air and water temperatures, and ocean acidification. The combination of these processes and their climate controls are important to beach and property erosion, flood probabilities, and estuarine water quality, with the expectation of significant changes projected for the 21st century. In the following sections we attempt to summarize the most recent literature documenting historical changes as well as what may be expected to occur in response to climate change. Where little information is available we draw preliminary conclusions about the potential for specific impacts. When possible we highlight what research is needed to bridge knowledge gaps to improve our ability to identify climate change impacts more precisely, ultimately allowing for future projections.

Oregon↗
USGS2023

Ocean current patterns drive the worldwide colonization of eelgrass (Zostera marina)

Currents are unique drivers of oceanic phylogeography and thus determine the distribution of marine coastal species, along with past glaciations and sea-level changes. Here we reconstruct the worldwide colonization history of eelgrass ( Zostera marina L.), the most widely distributed marine flowering plant or seagrass from its origin in the Northwest Pacific, based on nuclear and chloroplast genomes. We identified two divergent Pacific clades with evidence for admixture along the East Pacific coast. Two west-to-east (trans-Pacific) colonization events support the key role of the North Pacific Current. Time-calibrated nuclear and chloroplast phylogenies yielded concordant estimates of the arrival of Z. marina in the Atlantic through the Canadian Arctic, suggesting that eelgrass-based ecosystems, hotspots of biodiversity and carbon sequestration, have only been present there for ~243 ky (thousand years). Mediterranean populations were founded ~44 kya, while extant distributions along western and eastern Atlantic shores were founded at the end of the Last Glacial Maximum (~19 kya), with at least one major refuge being the North Carolina region. The recent colonization and five- to sevenfold lower genomic diversity of the Atlantic compared to the Pacific populations raises concern and opportunity about how Atlantic eelgrass might respond to rapidly warming coastal oceans.

Nature Plants↗
USGS1999

The evolutionary history of steelhead ( Oncorhynchus mykiss ) along the US Pacific Coast: Developing a conservation strategy using genetic diversity

Changes in genetic variation across a species range may indicate patterns of population structure resulting from past ecological and demographic events that are otherwise difficult to infer and thus provide insight into evolutionary development. Genetic data is used, drawn from 11 microsatellite loci amplified from anadromous steelhead ( Oncorhynchus mykiss ) sampled throughout its range in the eastern Pacific Ocean, to explore population structure at the southern edge in California. Steelhead populations in this region represent less than 10% of their reported historic abundance and survive in very small populations found in fragmented habitats. Genetic data derived from three independent molecular systems (allozymes, mtDNA, and microsatellites) have shown that the southernmost populations are characterized by a relatively high genetic diversity. Two hypothetical models supporting genetic population substructure such as observed were considered: (1) range expansion with founder-flush effects and subsequent population decline; (2) a second Pleistocene radiation from the Gulf of California. Using genetic and climatic data, a second Pleistocene refugium contributing to a southern ecotone seems more feasible. These data support strong conservation measures based on genetic diversity be developed to ensure the survival of this uniquely diverse gene pool.

ICES Journal of Marine Science↗
USGS2001

Asian dust events of April 1998

On April 15 and 19, 1998, two intense dust storms were generated over the Gobi desert by springtime low-pressure systems descending from the northwest. The windblown dust was detected and its evolution followed by its yellow color on SeaWiFS satellite images, routine surface-based monitoring, and through serendipitous observations. The April 15 dust cloud was recirculating, and it was removed by a precipitating weather system over east Asia. The April 19 dust cloud crossed the Pacific Ocean in 5 days, subsided to the surface along the mountain ranges between British Columbia and California, and impacted severely the optical and the concentration environments of the region. In east Asia the dust clouds increased the albedo over the cloudless ocean and land by up to 10–20%, but it reduced the near-UV cloud reflectance, causing a yellow coloration of all surfaces. The yellow colored backscattering by the dust eludes a plausible explanation using simple Mie theory with constant refractive index. Over the West Coast the dust layer has increased the spectrally uniform optical depth to about 0.4, reduced the direct solar radiation by 30–40%, doubled the diffuse radiation, and caused a whitish discoloration of the blue sky. On April 29 the average excess surface-level dust aerosol concentration over the valleys of the West Coast was about 20–50 μg/m 3 with local peaks >100 μg/m 3 . The dust mass mean diameter was 2–3 μm, and the dust chemical fingerprints were evident throughout the West Coast and extended to Minnesota. The April 1998 dust event has impacted the surface aerosol concentration 2–4 times more than any other dust event since 1988. The dust events were observed and interpreted by an ad hoc international web-based virtual community. It would be useful to set up a community-supported web-based infrastructure to monitor the global aerosol pattern for such extreme aerosol events, to alert and to inform the interested communities, and to facilitate collaborative analysis for improved air quality and disaster management.

Journal of Geophysical Research D: Atmospheres↗