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Sea-Level Change

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Global sea level has always fluctuated depending on the climate. When the climate cools, more ice accumulates at the Earth's poles and sea level drops. When that ice melts, sea level rises. These changes are identifiable in the rock record and ice layers. CMG research aims to understand this cycle and its effects on the marine and coastal environments.

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Items below are listed from most recently updated to least recently updated.

These are results 1 through 25 of 106 matches.

Research Project
USGS Northern Gulf of Mexico (NGOM)

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: 2009-05-28 pages include:

Publication
USGS Gulf Coast Science Conference and Florida Integrated Science Center Meeting: Proceedings with Abstracts, October 20-23, 2008, Orlando, Florida

Description: Talks, posters, and abstracts from the USGS Gulf Coast Science Conference and Florida Integrated Science Center Meeting.
updated: 2009-01-29 pages include:

Publication
Scientific Investigations Report 2007-5101: The Coral Reef of South Moloka�i, Hawai�i�Portrait of a Sediment-Threatened Fringing Reef

Description: In this landmark volume, U.S. Geological Survey researchers and their colleagues have developed and applied a remarkably integrated approach to the reefs of Moloka�i, combining geology, oceanography, and biology to provide an in-depth understanding of the processes that have made these reefs grow and that now limit them. They have joined old fashioned natural history of marine animals and plants with study of the geological evolution of the island, hydrology, meteorology, and land-use history, to an arsenal of new methods of remote sensing, including aerial photography, laser ranging, infrared thermal mapping, seismic reflection, in-situ instrumentation to measure chemical parameters of water quality, and direct measurements of the physical driving forces affecting them�such as wave energy, currents, sedimentation, and sediment transport. They provide a level of documentation and insight that has never been available for any reef before.
updated: 2008-11-19 pages include:

Publication
Documentation of the U.S. Geological Survey Oceanographic Time-Series Measurement Database, USGS Open-File Report 2007-1194, Title Page

Description: Observations of ocean current and hydrographic measurements primarily from the coastal United States are provided in this database. Data is available in the raw sample interval logged by the instrument, and optionally as hourly averaged, and low-pass filtered files. Data served may include measurements of currents, light transmission (beam attenuation), temperature, conductivity, density, oxygen, salinity, and other parameters. Time range: 1975 - present"
updated: 2008-11-17 pages include:

Publication
USGS OFR 2007-1017: Historical Shoreline Changes at Rinc�n, Puerto Rico, 1936-2006, Title Page

Description: The coast from Punta Hig�ero to Punta Cadena in Rinc�n, Puerto Rico is experiencing long-term erosion. This study documents historical shoreline changes at Rinc�n for the period 1936-2006 and constitutes a significant expansion and revision of previous work. The study area extends approximately 8 km from Punta Hig�ero to Punta Cadena. Fourteen historical shoreline positions were compiled from existing data, new orthophotography, and Global Positioning System (GPS) field surveys.
updated: 2008-11-17 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:

Publication
Land Area Change in Coastal Louisiana: A Multidecadal Perspective (from 1956 to 2006)

Description: The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) analyzed changes in the configuration of land and water in coastal Louisiana by using a sequential series of 14 data sets summarizing land and water areas from 1956 to 2006. The purpose of this study is to provide a spatially and temporally consistent source of quantitative information on land area across coastal Louisiana, broken into three physiographic provinces (the term "coastal Louisiana" is used to present data on the collective area).
updated: 2008-05-21 pages include:

Publication
USGS-NPS-NASA EAARL Submarine Topography-Northern Florida Keys

Description: Digital map atlas of lidar-derived submarine topography maps for the Northern Florida Keys Reef Tract
updated: 2008-04-25 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 Submarine Topography-Florida Keys National Marine

Description: Digital atlas of Lidar-derived submarine topography maps for Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary
updated: 2008-04-21 pages include:

Publication
EAARL First Return Topography�Fire Island National Seashore

Description: Digital map atlas of lidar-derived topography maps for Assateague Island National Seashore
updated: 2008-04-21 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
USGS-NPS-NASA EAARL Topography - Dry Tortugas National Park

Description: This lidar-derived submarine topography map was produced as a collaborative effort between the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Coastal and Marine Geology Program, National Park Service (NPS) South Florida/Caribbean Network Inventory and Monitoring Program, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Wallops Flight Facility. One objective of this research is to create techniques to survey coral reefs for the purposes of habitat mapping, ecological monitoring, change detection, and event assessment (for example: bleaching, hurricanes, disease outbreaks).
updated: 2008-03-24 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
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:

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:

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:

Publication
Systematic Mapping of Bedrock and Habitats along the Florida Reef Tract�Central Key Largo to Halfmoon Shoal (Gulf of Mexico)

Description: This database-synthesis project was undertaken to examine these processes in depth and to capture and consolidate more than 60 years of geologic and biologic research conducted by the USGS and by others in a contiguous area of the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. The goal was to produce a digitized regional database and comprehensive one-volume reference source for the area between central Key Largo and Halfmoon Shoal. This report is the result.
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
Professional Paper 1661-E: Seismic Stability of the Duwamish River Delta, Seattle, Washington

Description: The delta front of the Duwamish River valley near Elliott Bay and Harbor Island is founded on young Holocene deposits shaped by sea-level rise, episodic volcanism, and seismicity. These river-mouth deposits are highly susceptible to seismic soil liquefaction and are potentially prone to submarine landsliding and disintegrative flow failure. A highly developed commercial-industrial corridor, extending from the City of Kent to the Elliott Bay/Harbor Island marine terminal facilities, is founded on the young Holocene deposits of the Duwamish River valley. The deposits of this Holocene delta have been shaped not only by relative sea-level rise but also by episodic volcanism and seismicity. Ground-penetrating radar (GPR), cores, in situ testing, and outcrops are being used to examine the delta stratigraphy and to infer how these deposits will respond to future volcanic eruptions and earthquakes in the region. A geotechnical investigation of these river-mouth deposits indicates high initial liquefaction susceptibility during earthquakes, and possibly the potential for unlimited-strain disintegrative flow failure of the delta front.
updated: 2007-11-02 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
U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2005-1249, Coastal Change-Potential Assessment of Sleeping Bear Dunes, Indiana Dunes, and Apostle Islands National Lakeshores to Lake-Level Changes, Title Page

Description: Relative Coastal Change Potential Assessment of Apostle Islands, Indiana Dunes, and Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshores to Lake-Level Changes.
updated: 2007-10-11 pages include:

These are results 1 through 25 of 106 matches.

Coastal and Marine Geology Program > Online Science Resource Locator > Sea-Level Change