USGS-led Study: Shoreline Seasonality of California’s Beaches
One common pattern of beach morphology is the seasonal cycle of the shoreline. Shorelines often show cycles of erosion and recovery year after year, which results in recurring widening and narrowing of the beach. Scientists know that these cycles are related to ocean waves, and that larger waves cause movement of beach sand offshore whereas smaller waves move this sand back to the beach. Knowledge of these seasonal cycles comes from a long history of scientific measurement of beaches, and a general consensus is that beaches erode during winter conditions and recover during the summer. These descriptions of winter and
USGS-Led Study Reassesses Earthquake Hazard Potential for Central California’s Hosgri Fault
Regional map showing the main fault structures that are part of the Pacific–North American plate boundary along central California. The San Gregorio–Hosgri fault system is predominantly located near the coastline and highlighted in red. Inset map shows the focus region of this study where the Cross-Hosgri slope is located. A new study from United States Geological Survey (USGS) researchers and industry partners uses advanced sub-surface analyses and sediment dating to reassess the slip rate of the Hosgri fault off the central California coast. The research was led by Dr. Jared Kluesner, USGS Research Geophysicist at the Pacific Coastal and Marine