Dynamics of the physical environment at the USS Arizona Memorial: 2002-2004
Storlazzi CD, Russell MA, Owens MD, Field ME, Murphy LE. 2004. Dynamics of the physical environment at the USS Arizona Memorial: 2002-2004. U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Open-File Report. 2004-1353
U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and National Park Service (NPS) personnel collected long-term (14 months), high-resolution physical and chemical oceanographic measurements at the USS Arizona Memorial (USAR) in 2002-2004 to better understand the nature of the environment surrounding the mostly submerged historic ship. Scientists used two bottom-mounted, multi-parameter instruments deployed in water depths less than 10 m to record critical environmental data. This study supports the National Park Service’s Submerged Resources Center (NPS-SRC) research directed at understanding and characterizing the nature and rate of natural processes affecting deterioration of the National Historic Landmark (NHL) USS Arizona. The purpose of these measurements was to collect hydrographic data to better constrain the nature of the physical and chemical environment on the submerged vessel hull and near the Memorial to determine how they vary over the course of a year. This project represents a multi-agency approach to acquiring sound scientific data requisite for future stewardship-based management actions. Several organizations cooperatively funded this project: USGS, Department of Defense Legacy Resources Management Fund, NPS Systemwide Archeological Inventory Program, USS Arizona Memorial, Arizona Memorial Museum Association, and NPS Submerged Resources Center. In all, more than 503,730 observations of currents, waves and water-column properties were collected per day for 362 days over the course of 14 months between November 2002 and January 2004 in Pearl Harbor, Oahu, Hawaii, USA. These data provide us with a much clearer picture of the nature of and controls on the physical environment around USS Arizona’s hull in Pearl Harbor, Oahu, Hawaii. The complexity of the physical environment surrounding and influencing Arizona is reflected in the number of interesting phenomena observed during this initial 14-month study. The next step is to correlate these environmental aspects with active processes affecting Arizona to refine the predictive model of the ship’s deterioration.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Storlazzi, C.; Russell, M.; Owens, M.; Field, M.; Murphy, L.
- Date of Issue
- 2004
- Units
- HIST , PACN , VALR
- Keywords
- deterioration, ehistory, History, hydrographic, National Historic Landmark, Physical Characteristics, Sedimentation, submerged cultural resources, USS Arizona Memorial, Water Quality