Coral Reefs as National, Natural Infrastructure
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
USGS Research Geologist Curt Storlazzi explains how healthy coral reefs in places like the Caribbean and Pacific Islands serve as national, natural infrastructure
Sound Waves Newsletter: Coastal and Marine Research News from Across the USGS
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
Our latest issue is out! Dive into stories about the ocean and marshes
USGS Leads Research Expedition to Deep-sea Escanaba Trough
USGS Leads Research Expedition to Deep-sea Escanaba Trough
Watch short videos about the expedition, and read deep-dive stories about Escanaba Trough hydrothermal systems, marine geology, and critical minerals.
Watch short videos about the expedition, and read deep-dive stories about Escanaba Trough hydrothermal systems, marine geology, and critical minerals.
Take a Deep Dive into USGS Ocean Science
Take a Deep Dive into USGS Ocean Science
USGS makes a splash with a series of new web pages
USGS makes a splash with a series of new web pages
Cross-center USGS team testing seafloor structure-from-motion technology
Cross-center USGS team testing seafloor structure-from-motion technology
Scientists, engineers, and staff from Santa Cruz, California meet with scientists in Florida to prepare for specialized fieldwork
Scientists, engineers, and staff from Santa Cruz, California meet with scientists in Florida to prepare for specialized fieldwork
USGS Drifter Found on a Scotland Beach
USGS Drifter Found on a Scotland Beach
. . . nearly 40 years after its release in the Arctic Ocean!
. . . nearly 40 years after its release in the Arctic Ocean!
California Deepwater Investigations and Groundtruthing
California Deepwater Investigations and Groundtruthing
BOEM, USGS, and State of CA consider the implications and potential impacts of wind energy development miles offshore of Morro Bay
BOEM, USGS, and State of CA consider the implications and potential impacts of wind energy development miles offshore of Morro Bay
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.
News
Publications
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
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
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
Science
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.
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...
USGS Law of the Sea
The USGS Law of the Sea project helps identify the submerged extent of the U.S. land territory beyond 200 nautical miles. This land area, called the extended continental shelf (ECS), is an important maritime zone with resources and marine habitats. Its size may exceed one million square kilometers, encompassing areas in the Arctic, Atlantic, Bering Sea, Gulf of Mexico, and Pacific west coast. USGS...