Digital Commons Network^™

Patterns Of Ocean Current Variability On The West Florida Shelf Using The Self-Organizing Map, Yonggang Liu, Robert H. Weisberg

Marine Science Faculty Publications

Patterns of ocean current variability are examined on the West Florida Shelf by a neural network analysis based on the self‐organizing map (SOM), using time series of moored velocity data that span the interval October 1998–September 2001. Three characteristic spatial patterns are extracted in a 3 × 4 SOM array: spatially coherent southeastward and northwestward flow patterns with strong currents and a transition pattern of weak currents. On the synoptic weather timescale the variations of these patterns are coherent with the local winds. On the seasonal timescale the variations of the patterns are coherent with both the local winds and …

Hydrographic And Biological Changes In The Taiwan Strait During The 1997–1998 El Niño Winter, S. Shang, C. Zhang, H. Hong, Q. Liu, G. T. F. Wong, C. Hu, B. Huang

Marine Science Faculty Publications

During the 1997–1998 El Niño event, the average sea surface temperature (SST) in the Taiwan Strait (TWS) in the winter was ∼1.4°C higher than that of the winter climatological mean. The areal ratio of the warm water (≥2°C above the regional mean) to the cold water (≥2°C below the regional mean) in the TWS increased by 25% while the area of the eutrophic water (chlorophyll a >1 mg m⁻³) was halved. Field observations also indicate that the mixed layer in the TWS became more nutrient-poor during this winter. These observations are consistent with a diminished advection of the …

Interannual And Decadal Variability Of The Western Pacific Sea Surface Condition For The Years 1787-2000: Reconstruction Based On Stable Isotope Record From A Guam Coral, Ryuji Asami, Tsutomu Yamada, Yasufumi Iryu, Terrence M. Quinn, Christopher P. Meyer, Gustav Paulay

Marine Science Faculty Publications

We present a monthly resolved, 213‐year stable isotope time series from a coral from Guam (13°N, 145°E), which is located on the northern edge of the western Pacific warm pool. Oxygen isotopic composition of the coral skeleton (δ¹⁸O_coral) shows seasonal, interannual, and decadal variability, which documents significant oceanographic changes related to thermal and hydrologic variations in this region. The δ¹⁸O_coral anomaly reflects sea surface temperature (SST) anomaly and sea surface salinity (SSS) anomaly with significant r values of −0.69 and 0.49, respectively, which are strongly linked to oceanographic changes that occur during El …

Interannual Temperature Variability In The Tropical Pacific And Lagrangian Heat Transport Pathways, C. L. Holland, Gary T. Mitchum

Marine Science Faculty Publications

In a previous study we found that volume variability during an El Ni (n) over tildeo-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) event is well described by variations in, and redistribution of, the heat content for any given region within the tropical Pacific. In this study we use numerical model temperature and velocity fields in a Lagrangian analysis of heat content variability. These three-dimensional fields are used to examine specific warm and cool anomaly regions by computing trajectories back through time to the origins of the anomalously warm or cool water. In particular, we find that three distinct pathways are important in creating and …

Diffuse Attenuation Coefficient Of Downwelling Irradiance: An Evaluation Of Remote Sensing Methods, Zhongping Lee, Miroslaw Darecki, Kendall L. Carder, Curtiss O. Davis, Dariusz Stramski, W. Joseph Rhea

Marine Science Faculty Publications

The propagation of downwelling irradiance at wavelength λ from surface to a depth (z) in the ocean is governed by the diffuse attenuation coefficient, (λ). There are two standard methods for the derivation of (λ) in remote sensing, which both are based on empirical relationships involving the blue‐to‐green ratio of ocean color. Recently, a semianalytical method to derive (λ) from reflectance has also been developed. In this study, using (490) and (443) as examples, we compare the (λ) values derived from the three methods using data collected in three different regions that cover oceanic and coastal waters, with …

Assessment Of Biogeochemical Deposits In Landfill Drainage Systems, Audrey D. Levine, Valerie J. Harwood, Antonio J. Cardoso, Lisa R. Rhea, Bina S. Nayak, Barbara M. Dodge, Mindy L. Decker, George Dzama, Lawrence Jones, Edward Haller

Integrative Biology Faculty and Staff Publications

Design, operation, and closure practices for Class I municipal solid waste (MSW) landfills are based on RCRA Subtitle D requirements for control of leachates and gases generated during the life of the landfill. Because leachate is generated as a result of water percolating through the landfill and waste consolidation, it contains dissolved and suspended materials that reflect the characteristics of the material it contacts. Over the past two decades significant changes have occurred in the characteristics of the waste streams that are disposed in landfills. In addition, many Florida municipalities have implemented Waste-to-Energy (WTE) systems. The WTE ash is either …

The Reflection Of Karst In The Online Mirror: A Survey Within Scientific Databases, 1960-2005, Lee J. Florea, Beth Fratesi, Todd A. Chavez

Academic Resources Faculty and Staff Publications

The field of cave and karst science is served by a literature that is dispersed across far-flung topical journals, government publications, and club newsletters. As part of an inter-institutional project to globalize karst information (KIP, the Karst Information Portal), the USF Library undertook a structured battery of literature searches to map the domain of karst literature. The study used 4,300 individual searches and four literature databases: GeoRef, BIOSIS, Anthropology Plus, and GPO Access. The searches were based on a list of 632 terms including 321 karst-related keywords culled from three leading encyclopedias and glossaries of cave and karst science. An …

Where Rivers And Oceans Collide, J. S. Crockett, C. A. Nittrouer, A. S. Ogston, R. W. Sternberg, N. W. Driscoll, J. Babcock, J. D. Milliman, R. Slingerland, D. F. Naar, B. Donahue, J. P. Walsh, W. Dietrich, G. Parker, M. Bera, H. Davies, P. Harris, M. Goni, R. Aller, J. Aller

Marine Science Faculty Publications

Fluvial sediment fills the coastal ocean, and sea level rise floods river valleys. This epic battle of terrestrial and marine processes occurs along all shorelines, and the complexities are especially well revealed in the Gulf of Papua, a foreland basin on the southern coast of New Guinea. Two hundred to four hundred million tons of sediment are supplied each year by the Fly and other rivers to a continental shelf that has been dissected by ancestors of these same rivers. The new sediment builds a large depositional feature known as a clinoform, which grows seaward and buries the record of …

A Regional Index Of Northeast Pacific Variability Based On Satellite Altimeter Data, Patrick F. Cummins, Gary S. Lagerloef, Gary Mitchum

Marine Science Faculty Publications

An index of climate variability to monitor the state of the upper ocean is proposed for the northeast (NE) Pacific Ocean based on sea surface height (SSH) data from satellite altimetry. While sea surface temperature (SST) is often used characterize ocean variability, SSH reflects the integrated influence of temperature and salinity anomalies through the water column. A canonical correlation analysis shows that SSH and SST anomalies vary coherently at large spatial scales and low frequencies over the region. SSH anomalies are less subject to short period variability and the temporal components for SSH resemble smoothed, low-pass-filtered versions of the SST …

Method For Discovering Novel Dna Viruses In Blood Using Viral Particle Selection And Shotgun Sequencing, Mya Breitbart, Forest Rohwer

Marine Science Faculty Publications

Rapid identification of viruses is needed to monitor the blood supply for emerging threats. Here we present a method that meets these criteria and allows for the shotgun sequencing of novel, uncultured DNA viruses directly from human blood. This method employs selection based on the physical properties of viruses combined with sequence-independent amplification and cloning. We show that both single- and double-stranded DNA viruses can be recovered from blood samples using this approach. In addition, we report the discovery of novel anellovirus sequences in the blood of healthy donors. PCR primers designed to amplify these novel anellovirus sequences were then …

Coastal Change Rates And Patterns: Kaloko-Honokohau National Historical Park, Hawai’I, Cheryl J. Hapke, Rick Gmirkin, Bruce M. Richmond

Marine Science Faculty Publications

A collaborative project between the U.S. Geological Survey's Coastal and Marine Geology Program and the National Park Service (NPS) has been developed to create an inventory of geologic resources for National Park Service lands on the Big Island of Hawai’i. The NPS Geologic Resources Inventories are recognized as essential for the effective management, interpretation, and understanding of vital park resources. In general, there are three principal components of the inventories: geologic bibliographies, digital geologic maps, and geologic reports. The geologic reports are specific to each individual park and include information on the geologic features and processes that are important to …

Salinity Change In The Subtropical Atlantic: Secular Increase And Teleconnections To The North Atlantic Oscillation, Brad E. Rosenheim, Peter K. Swart, Simon R. Thorrold, Anton Eisenhauer, Philippe Willenz

Marine Science Faculty Publications

Recent studies comparing shipboard data between the 1950's and the 1990's have shown significant, heterogeneous adjustments of the temperature-salinity structure of the N. Atlantic Ocean. Here, we present proxy records of temperature and salinity from aragonite sclerosponge skeletons, extending existing records of the Salinity Maximum Waters (SMW) of the N. Atlantic back to 1890. These proxy records show secular temperature increases of 1.6–2.0°C, higher than published global averages, and salinity increases of 0.35–0.5 psu, smaller than short-term secular trends recently measured. Salinity reconstructions vary more significantly on the decadal scale, showing changes that are related to low-frequency variations of the …

The Antares Observation Network, Frank E. Muller-Karger, Chuamin Hu, Brock Murch, Charles Taylor

Marine Science Faculty Publications

The ANTARES network seeks to understand the variability of the coastal environment on a continental scale and the local, regional, and global factors and processes that modulate this variability. The target are coastal zones of South America and the Caribbean Sea. The initial approach includes developing time series of in situ and satellite-based environmental observations in coastal and oceanic regions. The network is constituted by experts that seek to exchange ideas, develop an infrastructure for mutual logistical and knowledge support, and link in situ time series of observations located around the Americas with real-time and historical satellite-derived time series of …

Phaccs, An Online Tool For Estimating The Structure And Diversity Of Uncultured Viral Communities Using Metagenomic Information, Florent Angly, Beltran Rodriguez-Brito, David Bangor, Patrick Mcnairnie, Mya Breitbart, Peter Salamon, Ben Felts, James Nulton, Joseph Mahaffy, Forest Rohwer

Marine Science Faculty Publications

Background: Phages, viruses that infect prokaryotes, are the most abundant microbes in the world. A major limitation to studying these viruses is the difficulty of cultivating the appropriate prokaryotic hosts. One way around this limitation is to directly clone and sequence shotgun libraries of uncultured viral communities (i.e., metagenomic analyses). PHACCS http://phage.sdsu.edu/phaccs, Phage Communities from Contig Spectrum, is an online bioinformatic tool to assess the biodiversity of uncultured viral communities. PHACCS uses the contig spectrum from shotgun DNA sequence assemblies to mathematically model the structure of viral communities and make predictions about diversity.

Results: PHACCS builds models of possible …

Decadal-Scale Analysis Of Coastal Landslides Along The Big Sur Coast: Rates And Processes, Cheryl J. Hapke, Krystal R. Green

Marine Science Faculty Publications

Landslides in the coastal mountains of Big Sur in Monterey and San Luis Obispo Counties are common, especially during the winter months. These frequent landslides regularly disrupt Coast Highway 1, by blocking the highway with boulders and/or debris, or undercutting the roadway. Historical documentation of landslide activity in this area indicates slide activity closed portions of the road prior to its completion in 1937. The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) maintains the Coast Highway 1 corridor and recently established the Big Sur Coast Highway Management Plan (CHMP) to develop management practices that will best maintain the highway while minimizing impact …

The Reflection Of Karst In The Online Mirror: A Survey Within Scientific Databases, 1960-2005, Lee J. Florea, Beth Fratesi, Todd A. Chavez

Todd A. Chavez

The field of cave and karst science is served by a literature that is dispersed across far-flung topical journals, government publications, and club newsletters. As part of an inter-institutional project to globalize karst information (KIP, the Karst Information Portal), the USF Library undertook a structured battery of literature searches to map the domain of karst literature. The study used 4,300 individual searches and four literature databases: GeoRef, BIOSIS, Anthropology Plus, and GPO Access. The searches were based on a list of 632 terms including 321 karst-related keywords culled from three leading encyclopedias and glossaries of cave and karst science. An …