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New Research Informs Dredging Efforts at Columbia River Mouth, Conserving Valuable Resource

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Midwinter Dry Spells Amplify Post-Fire Snowpack Decline in California

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Carmel River: An Approach To Dam Removal To Minimize Downstream Impacts

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USGS-Engineered Tripod Allows Study of Deep-Sea Oceanographic Processes

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Groundwater and Coral Health at Moloka'i, Hawai'i

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Federal Scientists Assess Unusual River-Erosion Disaster in Ecuadorian Amazon

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Video Highlights San Francisco Bay Sediment Transport Fieldwork

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Earth Science Looks to Outer Space

How Satellites Revolutionize Geoscience

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USGS Remote Sensing Data Tracks Coastal Erosion from California Storms

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Understanding Extreme Wave Events for Coastal Adaptation

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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

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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

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

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News

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New research informs dredging efforts at Columbia River mouth, conserving valuable resource

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Midwinter Dry Spells Amplify Post-Fire Snowpack Decline in California

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Carmel River: An Approach To Dam Removal To Minimize Downstream Impacts

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Publications

South San Francisco Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project—A synthesis of Phase-1 mercury studies

The South Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project (SBSPRP) encompasses over 6,000 hectares of former salt production ponds along the south edge of the San Francisco Bay and represents the largest wetland restoration effort on the west coast of North America. A series of studies associated with Phase 1 (2010–2018) restoration activities that are focused on a historically mercury contaminated slough and s
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Water Resources Mission Area, Ecosystems Mission Area, California Water Science Center, Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center, Western Ecological Research Center (WERC)

Combinatorial optimization of earthquake spatial distributions under minimum cumulative stress constraints

We determine optimal on‐fault earthquake spatial distributions using a combinatorial method that minimizes the long‐term cumulative stress resolved on the fault. An integer‐programming framework was previously developed to determine the optimal arrangement of a millennia‐scale earthquake sample that minimizes the misfit to a target slip rate determined from geodetic data. The resulting cumulative
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Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center

Observations of coastal circulation, waves, and sediment transport along West Maui, Hawaiʻi (November 2017– March 2018), and modeling effects of potential watershed restoration on decreasing sediment loads to adjacent coral reefs

Terrestrial sediment discharging from watersheds off West Maui, Hawaiʻi, has been documented as a primary stressor to local coral reefs, causing coral reef health to decline. The U.S. Geological Survey acquired and analyzed physical oceanographic and sedimentologic field data off the coast of West Maui to calibrate and validate physics-based, numerical hydrodynamic and sediment transport models of
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Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center
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Science

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areal view of the Klamath River, Iron Gate Dam and Hatchery. A portion of the Iron Gate Reservoir can be seen to the right.

Klamath Dam Removal Studies

Following the removal of four dams along the Klamath River, more naturally dynamic flow conditions may result in novel water quality, sediment transport, and geomorphic conditions leading to temporary or longer-term ecological impacts. USGS continuous and discrete monitoring data on aspects related to sediment and geomorphic conditions will be integral to post-dam removal assessments and...
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California Water Science Center, Oregon Water Science Center, Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center, Western Geographic Science Center
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Klamath Dam Removal Studies

Following the removal of four dams along the Klamath River, more naturally dynamic flow conditions may result in novel water quality, sediment transport, and geomorphic conditions leading to temporary or longer-term ecological impacts. USGS continuous and discrete monitoring data on aspects related to sediment and geomorphic conditions will be integral to post-dam removal assessments and...
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Image: USCGC Healy in Heavy Ice Passing CCGS Louis S. St-Laurent

Delineating the U.S. Extended Continental Shelf

The United States has an interest in knowing the full extent of its continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles from shore (called the extended continental shelf, or ECS) so that it can better protect, manage and use the resources of the seabed and subsoil contained therein. The USGS contributes to the ECS effort through membership and leadership on the interagency U.S. ECS Task Force, a group...
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Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program, Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center, Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center
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Delineating the U.S. Extended Continental Shelf

The United States has an interest in knowing the full extent of its continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles from shore (called the extended continental shelf, or ECS) so that it can better protect, manage and use the resources of the seabed and subsoil contained therein. The USGS contributes to the ECS effort through membership and leadership on the interagency U.S. ECS Task Force, a group...
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Photograph of four airgun arrays towed behind R/V Marcus G. Langseth.

USGS Law of the Sea

The USGS Law of the Sea project helps to determine the outer limits of the extended continental shelf (ECS) of the United States. The ECS is that portion of the continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles. It is an important maritime zone that holds many resources and vital habitats for marine life. Its size may exceed one million square kilometers, encompassing areas in the Arctic, Atlantic...
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Natural Hazards Mission Area, Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program, Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center, Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center
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USGS Law of the Sea

The USGS Law of the Sea project helps to determine the outer limits of the extended continental shelf (ECS) of the United States. The ECS is that portion of the continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles. It is an important maritime zone that holds many resources and vital habitats for marine life. Its size may exceed one million square kilometers, encompassing areas in the Arctic, Atlantic...
Learn More
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