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Erosion

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erosion Coastal erosion is a national problem, with enormous economic and social consequences that affect all 30 states bordering the ocean or the Great Lakes. The geologic framework of the coastal region must be determined in order to understand the problems that must be addressed to maintain U.S. coastlines and to predict the effects of any mitigation or management plans.
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Items below are listed from most recently updated to least recently updated.

These are results 1 through 25 of 148 matches.

Publication
Open-File Report 2008-1295: Coastal Circulation and Sediment Dynamics in Hanalei Bay, Kaua'i, Part IV, Measurements of Waves, Currents, Temperature, Salinity, and Turbidity, June-September 2006
Description: High-resolution measurements of waves, currents, water levels, temperature, salinity and turbidity were made in Hanalei Bay, northern Kaua‘i, Hawai‘i, during the summer of 2006 to better understand coastal circulation, sediment dynamics, and the potential impact of a river flood in a coral reef-lined embayment during quiescent summer conditions. A series of bottommounted instrument packages were deployed in water depths of 10 m or less to collect long-term, high-resolution measurements of waves, currents, water levels, temperature, salinity, and turbidity. These data were supplemented with a series of profiles through the water column to characterize the vertical and spatial variability in water column properties within the bay. These measurements support the ongoing process studies being conducted as part of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Coastal and Marine Geology Program’s Pacific Coral Reef Project; the ultimate goal is to better understand the transport mechanisms of sediment, larvae, pollutants, and other particles in coral reef settings. Information regarding the USGS study conducted in Hanalei Bay during the 2005 summer is available in Storlazzi and others (2006), Draut and others (2006) and Carr and others (2006). This report, the last part in a series, describes data acquisition, processing, and analysis for the 2006 summer data set.
updated: 2008-10-08 pages include:

Research Project
WCMG Coastal Processes Studies
Description: California's beaches and nearshore regions are valuable economic and recreational resources but also provide habitats for numerous sensitive species. During winter storms, the coast represents a potentially dangerous interface between ocean and land, nature and humans. Storms produce high waves, strong currents, and elevated sea level that can rapidly erode beaches and inundate low-lying coastal regions, damaging and/or destroying public and private infrastructure as well as stressing coastal ecosystems. Over longer-time scales (e.g. decadal), persistent erosion exacerbated by the pressures of coastal development, reduction in sediment availability and climate change, can result in severely depleted beaches. The USGS performs research along the California coast to understand the physical processes that control coastal change on time scales from individual storms to decades to support the efforts of local, state and government agencies to make informed coastal management decisions to most effectively preserve and protect this valuable resource.
updated: 2008-09-23 pages include:

Research Project
Southern California Coastal Hazards - USGS WCMG
Description: Southern California Coastal Hazards Study of the USGS Western Coastal and Marine Geology Team
updated: 2008-09-23 pages include:

Publication
Open-File Report 2007-1112, Updated: The National Assessment of Shoreline Change: A GIS Compilation of Vector Cliff Edges and Associated Cliff Erosion Data for the California Coast
Description: USGS report titled, A GIS Compilation of Vector Shorelines and Associated Shoreline Change Data for the Sandy Shorelines of the California Coast; this report contains links to data coverage --GIS-- of shoreline change of sandy shorelines of the California Coast. Version 1.1. The data files in this version have been updated to correct for a projection error. All files and metadata now accurately reference the NAD83 datum.
updated: 2008-09-16 pages include:

Research Project
Coastal Processes: San Francisco Bight Coastal Processes Study - USGS WCMG
Description: San Francisco Bight Coastal Processes Study of the USGS Western Coastal and Marine Geology Team. The USGS is conducting a study that documents and analyzes the processes that control the sand transport and sedimentation patterns of Ocean Beach, a National Park site within the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. This area encompasses a complicated coastal setting that is impacted by the tidal influence of San Francisco Bay, as well as the southwest and northwest Pacific swell. High-energy conditions at this site have restricted comprehensive field surveys in the past, but recent innovations in field techniques now make it possible to perform detailed analysis of the physical processes operating on high energy coastlines, such as Ocean Beach.
updated: 2008-08-12 pages include:

Research Project
Santa Barbara-Ventura Coastal Processes Study - USGS WCMG
Description: Santa Barbara/Ventura Coastal Processes Study of the USGS Western Coastal and Marine Geology Team. Whereas coastal urban development and infrastructure are largely fixed with respect to location, shoreline and bluff positions can change substantially over time in response to natural processes. These natural coastal changes can damage or undermine urban structures, resulting in substantial property loss for federal, state, local and individual land owners. Urban development can also indirectly influence coastal change by interrupting natural supplies or transport of sediment in littoral cells. Thus, it is important to evaluate the rates, patterns and causes of coastal change to better manage sediment resources and predict change hazards in coastal urban settings. The Santa Barbara and Ventura County coast represents a littoral cell along the California coast extending from (at least) Point Conception to the Mugu submarine canyon. The beaches along this littoral cell are an important economic resource to the region, and there is evidence that shoreline and bluff erosion are impacting these beaches. Coastal change in the Santa Barbara/Ventura region is complicated, however, by the irregular coastline (there are numerous rocky headlands, river deltas and offshore reefs), variability in wave forcing, structures such as harbors, groins, piers, dams and landscape urbanization, variability in tectonic uplift, and limited information on littoral sediment sources. In response to the potential for coastal change, BEACON (Beach Erosion Authority for Clean Oceans and Nourishment) and the City of Carpinteria have provided a combined $700K in funding for USGS WCMG to evaluate the coastal change patterns and processes along the Santa Barbara/Ventura County coast until the end of 2008.
updated: 2008-08-12 pages include:

Educational Materials
Tsunami and Earthquake Research at the USGS
Description: General information on how earthquakes generate tsunamis and summaries of tsunami research.
updated: 2008-08-01 pages include:

Publication
Data Series 288: Beach Morphology Monitoring in the Elwha River Littoral Cell, 2004-2006
Description: his report describes the methods used, data collected, and results of the Beach Morphology Monitoring Program in the Elwha River Littoral Cell, starting in 2004. The U.S. Geological Survey and the Washington State Department of Ecology collaborated in the data collection with the support of the local Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe. Beach monitoring efforts consisted of collecting topographic and bathymetric horizontal and vertical position data by using a Real Time Kinematic Differential Global Positioning System (RTK-DGPS). The monitoring program was designed to characterize the littoral system of the Elwha River before the scheduled removal of two large dams in 2012. A primary objective of this work is to quantitatively describe the topography and bathymetry of the Elwha River littoral system so that the effects of dam removal may be quantified. Sediment inputs following dam removal are hypothesized to result in (A) larger amounts of fine sediment grain-sizes entering the littoral system and, (B) a reduction or reversal of coastal erosion.
updated: 2008-07-11 pages include:

Publication
EAARL Topography-Sagamore Hill National Historic Site (SAHI)
Description: Digital atlas of lidar-derived topography maps for Sagamore Hill National Historic Site
updated: 2008-04-24 pages include:

Publication
EAARL Topography-Gulf Islands National Seashore (GUIS)-Florida
Description: Digital atlas of lidar-derived bare earth topography maps for Gulf Islands National Seashore-Florida
updated: 2008-04-17 pages include:

Publication
Geomorphology and Depositional Sub-environments of Assateague Island MD/VA
Description: Geomorphology and Depositional Sub-environments of Assateague Island MD/VA, Open File Report 2007-1388
updated: 2008-03-17 pages include:

Publication
EAARL Topography–Gulf Islands National Seashore
Description: Digital atlas of lidar-derived topography maps for Gulf Islands National Seashore-Mississippi
updated: 2008-03-17 pages include:

Publication
Scientific Investigations Report 2007-5254: Sources, Dispersal, and Fate of Fine Sediment Supplied to Coastal California
Description: We have investigated the sources, dispersal, and fate of fine sediment supplied to California coastal waters in a partnership between the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the California Sediment Management Workgroup (CSMW). The purpose of this study was to document the rates and characteristics of these processes so that the State can better manage its coastal resources, including sediment.
updated: 2008-02-29 pages include:

Publication
EAARL Topography - Assateague Island National Seashore (ASIS)
Description: Digital atlas of lidar-derived topography maps for Assateague Island National Seashore
updated: 2008-02-27 pages include:

Research Project
USGS Northern Gulf of Mexico (NGOM) - Welcome!
Description: The goal of the USGS Northern Gulf of Mexico project is to understand the evolution of coastal ecosystems on the Northern Gulf Coast, the impact of human activities on these ecosystems, and the vulnerability of ecosystems and human communities to more frequent and more intense hurricanes in the future.
updated: 2008-01-31 pages include:

Publication
USGS Professional Paper 1751: Systematic Mapping of Bedrock and Habitats along the Florida Reef Tract--Central Key Largo to Halfmoon Shoal
Description: Systematic Mapping of Bedrock and Habitats along the Florida Reef Tract: Central Key Largo to Halfmoon Shoal (Gulf of Mexico) details the bio/geologic record in the Florida Keys from 325,000 years ago to the present.
updated: 2008-01-23 pages include:

Publication
Habitat and Hydrology: Assessing Biological Resources of the Suwannee River Estuarine System Open-File Report 2007-1382
Description: Habitat and Hydrology: Assessing Biological Resources of the Suwannee River Estuarine System, Open File Report 2007-1382
updated: 2008-01-18 pages include:

Research Project
Coastal Change Hazards: Hurricanes and Extreme Storms
Description: This project investigates the coastal impacts of hurricanes and extreme storms, such as Hurricanes Isabel (2003), Dennis (1999), Bonnie & Georges (1998), and winter storms, such as those associated with the 1997-98 El Niño.
updated: 2008-01-16 pages include:

Educational Materials
USGS Monterey Bay Science
Description: USGS Monterey Bay Science - USGS research in the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary and coastal watersheds of central California
updated: 2008-01-01 pages include:

Educational Materials
USGS Coastal Change Hazards
Description: USGS Coastal Change Hazards - Focuses on hurricanes, tsunamis, sea-level rise, shoreline erosion, wetland destruction, and other issues relevant to coastal zone management and disaster preparedness.
updated: 2008-01-01 pages include:

Educational Materials
Coastal and Marine Knowledge Bank
Description: An initiative to develop and present a national-scale, interdisciplinary scientific framework for marine environments, the coastal zone, and coastal watersheds
updated: 2007-11-28 pages include:

Publication
Open-File Report 2007-1270: High-Resolution Topographic, Bathymetric, and Oceanographic Data for the Pleasure Point Area, Santa Cruz County, California: 2005-2007
Description: The County of Santa Cruz Department of Public Works and the County of Santa Cruz Redevelopment Agency requested the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Western Coastal and Marine Geology Team (WCMG) to provide baseline geologic and oceanographic information on the coast and inner shelf at Pleasure Point, Santa Cruz County, California. The rationale for this proposed work is a need to better understand the environmental consequences of a proposed bluff stabilization project on the beach, the nearshore and the surf at Pleasure Point, Santa Cruz County, California. To meet these information needs, the USGS-WCMG Team collected baseline scientific information on the morphology and waves at Pleasure Point. This study provided high-resolution topography of the coastal bluffs and bathymetry of the inner shelf off East Cliff Drive between 32nd Avenue and 41st Avenue. The spatial and temporal variation in waves and their breaking patterns at the study site were documented. Although this project did not actively investigate the impacts of the proposed bluff stabilization project, these data provide the baseline information required for future studies directed toward predicting the impacts of stabilization on the sea cliffs, beach and nearshore sediment profiles, natural rock reef structures, and offshore habitats and resources. They also provide a basis for calculating potential changes to wave transformations into the shore at Pleasure Point.
updated: 2007-10-17 pages include:

Publication
Fact Sheet 2006-3111: Land-Based Lidar Mapping--a New Surveying Technique to Shed Light on Rapid Topographic Change
Description: The rate of natural change in such dynamic environments as rivers and coastlines can sometimes overwhelm the monitoring capacity of conventional surveying methods. In response to this limitation, USGS scientists are pioneering new applications of light detection and ranging (lidar), a laser-based scanning technology that promises to greatly increase our ability to track rapid topographic changes and manage their impact on affected communities.
updated: 2007-10-12 pages include:

Research Project
The Coastal Sedimentary System: Northern North Carolina
Description: The USGS, in collaboration with the State of North Carolina and university researchers, is studying the coastal sedimentary system of northern North Carolina. The primary objective is to map the regional sedimentary framework of the inner shelf in order to understand recent coastal processes, including erosion and the impacts of shoreline change.
updated: 2007-10-11 pages include:

Publication
USGS Open-File Report 2006-1195, Surficial Sediment Character of the Louisiana Offshore Continental Shelf Region: a GIS Compilation
Description: The Louisiana coastal zone, comprising the Mississippi River delta plain stretching nearly 400 km from Sabine Pass at the Texas border east to the Chandeleur Islands at the Mississippi border, represents one of North America's most important coastal ecosystems in terms of natural resources, human infrastructure, and cultural heritage. At the same time, this region has the highest rates of coastal erosion and wetland loss in the Nation due to a complex combination of natural processes and anthropogenic actions over the past century. The USGS has actively supported coastal and wetlands geologic research for the past two decades in partnership with universities (e.g., Louisiana State University, University of New Orleans), state agencies (e.g. Louisiana Geological Survey, Louisiana Department of Natural Resources), and private organizations (Williams and others, 1992a,b; Williams and Cichon, 1993; List and others, 1994). These studies have focused on regional-scale mapping of coastal and wetland change and developing a better understanding of the processes that cause coastal erosion and wetlands loss, particularly the rapid deterioration of Louisiana's barrier islands, estuaries, and wetlands environments. With a better understanding of these processes, the ability to model and predict erosion and wetlands loss will improve. More accurate predictions will, in turn, allow for proper management of coastal resources. Improved predictions will also allow for better assessments of the utility of different restoration alternatives.
updated: 2007-10-11 pages include:

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