USGS Pacific Coral Reefs Website

Maui

Landsat satellite image from NASA

Maui is located 15 km (9 mi) east of Moloka‘i and 15 km northwest of Lāna‘i. 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
  
  
• USGS Open-File Report 03-482
  Coastal circulation and sediment dynamics along West Maui, Hawai‘i:
  Part I -- Long-term measurements of currents, temperature, salinity and turbidity off Kahana, West Maui: 2001-2003
  
  
• USGS Open-File Report 03-430
  Coastal circulation and sediment dynamics along West Maui, Hawai‘i:
  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
  
  
• USGS Open-File Report 2004-1287
  Coastal circulation and sediment dynamics along West Maui, Hawai‘i
  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
  
  
• USGS Open-File Report 2005-1068
  Coastal circulation and sediment dynamics along West Maui, Hawai‘i
  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 Oahu, Moloka‘i, and Maui, Hawai‘i, June-July 2002

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, Hawai'i: Pacific Science, v. 62, no. 1, p. 39-56.
  
  
• 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, Hawaii: Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, v. 77, p. 549-564.
  
  
• 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, p. 401-421.
  
  
• 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, p. 369-381.

| Ni‘ihau | Kaua'i | O‘ahu | Moloka‘i | Lāna‘i | Kaho‘olawe | Maui | Hawai‘i | Guam |

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