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Assembling a Seismic History of the southern San Andreas Fault beneath Salton Sea

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Deep Dive: Biological Communities at Escanaba Trough

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Deep Dive: Seafloor Mapping in Escanaba Trough

Learn how researchers "see" the seafloor, miles below the surface

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Featured Story: Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai Eruption

Massive Volcanic Eruption and Tsunami Informs Plan for Future Eruptions, Sea-level Rise

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In Depth: Surprising tsunamis caused by Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai Eruption

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Coral Reefs as National, Natural Infrastructure

USGS Research Geologist Curt Storlazzi explains how healthy coral reefs in places like the Caribbean and Pacific Islands serve as national, natural infrastructure

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Sound Waves Newsletter: Coastal and Marine Research News from Across the USGS

Our latest issue is out! Dive into stories about the ocean and marshes

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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

Five people, spread out along a beach with rocky and sandy areas, walk parallel to the water's edge carrying gear.

Read about our science projects, find out where we are working, and discover the reasons why our research matters.

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Science Seminar Series

Small ridges of sand growing downwind of beachgrass clusters as a result of the grass slowing the wind.

Join us for virtual science seminars via Microsoft Teams. Details will be posted here!

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News

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Sound Waves Newsletter - July-August 2022

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Keys to Collaboration - Research Teams Work Together to Study Reef Erosion in the Florida Keys

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Photo Roundup - July-August 2022

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Publications

Element concentrations and grain size of sediment from the Similkameen River above Enloe Dam (Enloe Reservoir) near Oroville, Washington, 2019

In 2019, the U.S. Geological Survey conducted a reconnaissance survey of concentrations of 41 trace elements present in bed sediment in the reservoir on the Similkameen River upstream from Enloe Dam, near Oroville, Washington. The Similkameen River drains a watershed containing highly mineralized geologic deposits with current (2019) and historical mining activity. Results of this survey indicated

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Water Resources, Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program, Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center, Washington Water Science Center

Reproducibility and variability of earthquake subsidence estimates from saltmarshes of a Cascadia estuary

We examine fossil foraminiferal assemblages from 20 sediment cores to assess sudden relative sea-level (RSL) changes across three mud-over-peat contacts at three salt marshes in northern Humboldt Bay, California (~44.8°N, -124.2°W). We use a validated foraminiferal-based Bayesian transfer function to evaluate the variability of subsidence stratigraphy at a range of 30-6000 m across an estuary. We
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Ecosystems, Natural Hazards, Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program, Alaska Science Center, Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center

Crowd-sourced SfM: Best practices for high resolution monitoring of coastal cliffs and bluffs

Structure from motion (SfM) photogrammetry is an increasingly common technique for measuring landscape change over time by deriving 3D point clouds and surface models from overlapping photographs. Traditional change detection approaches require photos that are geotagged with a differential GPS (DGPS) location, which requires expensive equipment that can limit the ability of communities and researc

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Natural Hazards, Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program, Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center
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Science

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View of beach from roof top, edge of roof in foreground, pier extending from beach out over water in center, park in background.

Remote Sensing Coastal Change

We use remote-sensing technologies—such as aerial photography, satellite imagery, structure-from-motion (SfM) photogrammetry, and lidar (laser-based surveying)—to measure coastal change along U.S. shorelines.
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Natural Hazards, Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program, Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center
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Remote Sensing Coastal Change

We use remote-sensing technologies—such as aerial photography, satellite imagery, structure-from-motion (SfM) photogrammetry, and lidar (laser-based surveying)—to measure coastal change along U.S. shorelines.
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Equipment attached to a metal frame floats in the water on two buoys while dolphins frolic nearby.

SQUID-5 camera system

The SQUID-5 is a Structure-from-Motion Quantitative Underwater Imaging Device with 5 cameras.
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Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program, Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center, St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center
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SQUID-5 camera system

The SQUID-5 is a Structure-from-Motion Quantitative Underwater Imaging Device with 5 cameras.
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View from the sky looking at mouth of river with lots of sediment deposited at a beach.

Sediment Transport in Coastal Environments

Our research goals are to provide the scientific information, knowledge, and tools required to ensure that decisions about land and resource use, management practices, and future development in the coastal zone and adjacent watersheds can be evaluated with a complete understanding of the probable effects on coastal ecosystems and communities, and a full assessment of their vulnerability to natural...
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Natural Hazards, Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program, Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center, Sediment Lab Suite and Carbon Analysis Laboratory
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Sediment Transport in Coastal Environments

Our research goals are to provide the scientific information, knowledge, and tools required to ensure that decisions about land and resource use, management practices, and future development in the coastal zone and adjacent watersheds can be evaluated with a complete understanding of the probable effects on coastal ecosystems and communities, and a full assessment of their vulnerability to natural...
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