Arctic Mid-Ocean Ridge Sediment Cores Shed Light on Past Hydrothermal Activity
Forecasting Storm-Induced Coastal Flooding for the Hawaiian, Mariana, and American Samoan Islands
San Francisco Bay Shallow Water Strategic Placement Pilot Project
USGS supports innovative project between U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, CA Coastal Conservancy, and Port of Redwood City to increase marsh resilience to sea-level rise
USGS supports innovative project between U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, CA Coastal Conservancy, and Port of Redwood City to increase marsh resilience to sea-level rise
New Video Offers Virtual Tour of the USGS Sediment Core Lab
Physics to Fish
Habitat Restoration for Native Fish Populations in California's Central Valley
Habitat Restoration for Native Fish Populations in California's Central Valley
Cutting-Edge Storm Modeling System Forecasts Future Coastal Hazards in the Salish Sea
Web Portal Offers Access to National Marine Seismic Surveys
Federal Scientists Assess Unusual River-Erosion Disaster in Ecuadorian Amazon
Coastal Communities on U.S. East Coast Face Growing Subsidence-Related Hazards
Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center
We conduct multidisciplinary scientific research in the coastal and offshore areas of California, Oregon, Washington, Alaska, Hawaii, and other US Pacific Islands; and in other waterways of the United States.
Research Projects
Research Projects
Read about our science projects, find out where we are working, and discover the reasons why our research matters.
Science Seminar Series
Science Seminar Series
Join us for virtual science seminars via Microsoft Teams. Details will be posted here!
News
Publications
Database and time series of nearshore waves along the Alaskan coast from the United States-Canada border to the Bering Sea
Alaska’s Arctic coast has some of the highest coastal erosion rates in the world, primarily driven by permafrost thaw and increasing wave energy. In the Arctic, a warming climate is driving sea ice cover to decrease in space and time. A lack of long-term observational wave data along Alaska’s coast challenges the ability of engineers, scientists, and planners to study and address threats and effec
Consumer isoscapes reveal heterogeneous food webs in deep-sea submarine canyons and adjacent slopes
The deep sea is the largest biome on earth, but one of the least studied despite its critical role in global carbon cycling and climate buffering. Deep-sea organisms largely rely on particulate organic matter from the surface ocean for energy – these organisms in turn play critical roles in energy transport, transformation, storage, and sequestration of carbon. Within the deep sea, submarine canyo
Physics-based satellite-derived bathymetry (SDB) using Landsat OLI images
The estimation of depth in optically shallow waters using satellite imagery can be efficient and cost-effective. Active sensors measure the distance traveled by an emitted laser pulse propagating through the water with high precision and accuracy if the bottom peak intensity of the waveform is greater than the noise level. However, passive optical imaging of optically shallow water involves measur
Science
USGS Research Vessel Williams
USGS Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center's Research Vessel Williams.
Typhoon Merbok Disaster Emergency Recovery Efforts
Extreme storm events, such as Extratropical-Typhoon Merbok that hit the coast of Western Alaska in September 2022, are stark reminders of the devastating impacts coastal storms can have on Alaska Native community’s livelihoods and infrastructure. A chronic lack of environmental monitoring and technical assistance in rural Alaska present major barriers to communities affected by Typhoon Merbok...
USGS CoastCams
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) uses a nationwide network of coastal observing cameras, or CoastCams, to monitor coastal conditions in near real-time and support research by the USGS and its partners into a variety of coastal processes and hazards. The most recent CoastCam images are made publicly available within minutes of data collection and can be accessed using the links below or by...