Maui

Landsat satellite image from NASA

Maui is located 15 km (9 mi) east of Molokaʻi and 15 km northwest of Lānaʻi. Known as the Valley Isle, it encompasses 1883 sq km (727 sq mi), making it the second largest of the main eight Hawaiian Islands. A fringing reef surrounds much of the island. However much of the live coral growth can only be found on the leeward west coast where the reef is protected from waves by the surrounding islands. Reef growth is limited on the windward northeast coast due to wave impacts.

The USGS has conducted a number of studies along the west coast of Maui including seismic studies, video mapping, coastal circulation and sediment dynamics. Click on any of the following links for more information.

Studying the impact of sediment on Maui reef corals

U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 03-482
Coastal circulation and sediment dynamics along West Maui, Hawaiʻi: Part I — Long-term measurements of currents, temperature, salinity and turbidity off Kahana, West Maui: 2001-2003

U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 03-430
Coastal circulation and sediment dynamics along West Maui, Hawaiʻi: Part II — 2003 Hydrographic survey cruises A-3-03-HW and A-4-03-HW Report on the spatial structure of currents, temperature, salinity and turbidity along Western Maui

U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2004-1287
Coastal circulation and sediment dynamics along West Maui, Hawaiʻi: Part III — Flow and particulate dynamics during the 2003 summer coral spawning season

Using current drifters to help track coral larvae from West Maui

West Maui coastal circulation experiment: Understanding the Movement of Sediment, Coral Larvae, and Contaminants Along Coral Reefs

Underwater video groundtruthing of SHOALS data for benthic habitat mapping

U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2005-1068
Coastal circulation and sediment dynamics along West Maui, Hawaiʻi: Part IV — Measurements of waves, currents, temperature, salinity and turbidity in Honolua Bay, Northwest Maui: 2003-2004

U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2005-1244
Summary and preliminary interpretations of USGS cruise A-2-02-HW: Underwater video surveys collected off of Oʻahu, Molokaʻi, and Maui, Hawaiʻi, June-July 2002

U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2008-1215
Winds, waves, tides, and the resulting flow patterns and fluxes of water, sediment, and coral larvae off West Maui, Hawaiʻi

U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2012-1166
Nearshore morphology, benthic structure, hydrodynamics, and coastal groundwater discharge near Kahekili Beach Park, Maui, Hawaiʻi

U.S. Geological Survey Data Series 735
Seafloor video footage and still-frame grabs from U.S. Geological Survey cruises in Hawaiian nearshore waters

Other selected works

Piniak, G.A., and Brown, E.K., 2008, Growth and mortality of coral transplants (Pocillopora damicornis) along a range of sediment influence in Maui, Hawaiʻi: Pacific Science, v. 62, no. 1, p. 39-55, doi:10.2984/1534-6188(2008)62[39:GAMOCT]2.0.CO;2.

Storlazzi, C.D., and Jaffe, B.E., 2008, The relative contribution of processes driving variability in flow, shear, and turbidity over a fringing coral reef; West Maui, Hawaiʻi: Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, v. 77, i. 4, p. 549-564, doi:10.1016/j.ecss.2007.10.012.

Storlazzi, C.D., McManus, M.A., Logan, J.B., and McLaughlin, B.E., 2006, Cross-shore velocity shear, eddies and heterogeneity in water column properties over fringing coral reefs; West Maui, Hawaii. Continental Shelf Research, v. 26, i. 3, p. 401-421, doi:10.1016/j.csr.2005.12.006.

Storlazzi, C.D., Brown, E.K., and Field, M.E., 2006, The application of acoustic Doppler current profilers to measure the timing and patterns of coral larval dispersal: Coral Reefs, v. 25, no. 3, p. 369-381, doi:10.1007/s00338-006-0121-x.

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