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Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center images.

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Two people stand on the deck of a boat near a large cable winch.
Preparing the seismic streamer
Preparing the seismic streamer
Preparing the seismic streamer

USGS engineering tech Rachel Marcuson (left) and research geophysicist Nathan Miller prepare the seismic streamer for deployment offshore northern Cascadia.

USGS engineering tech Rachel Marcuson (left) and research geophysicist Nathan Miller prepare the seismic streamer for deployment offshore northern Cascadia.

View from the deck of a boat that has equipment sitting on the deck and a bridge in the background.
Chirp sub-bottom profiler in Newport, OR
Chirp sub-bottom profiler in Newport, OR
Chirp sub-bottom profiler in Newport, OR

USGS chirp sub-bottom profiler on the deck of the R/V Rachel Carson leaving Newport, OR.

View of a tropical beach.
Tres Palmas video webcam snapshot
Tres Palmas video webcam snapshot
Tres Palmas video webcam snapshot

Four video cameras look westward over the coast and the coral reef at Tres Palmas in Rincón, on the west coast of Puerto Rico. Two cameras look out at the horizon and over the ocean for the mid-field view; one camera offers a zoomed-in, far-field view overlooking the reef and out to the island of Desecheo, a U.S.

Four video cameras look westward over the coast and the coral reef at Tres Palmas in Rincón, on the west coast of Puerto Rico. Two cameras look out at the horizon and over the ocean for the mid-field view; one camera offers a zoomed-in, far-field view overlooking the reef and out to the island of Desecheo, a U.S.

View looks to a beach from a grassy area with palm trees and a tall pole secured with guy wires, cameras are mounted at the top.
Web video cameras mounted on pole in Puerto Rico
Web video cameras mounted on pole in Puerto Rico
Web video cameras mounted on pole in Puerto Rico

Four video cameras look westward over the coast and the coral reef at Tres Palmas in Rincón, on the west coast of Puerto Rico. Two cameras look out at the horizon and over the ocean for the mid-field view; one camera offers a zoomed-in, far-field view overlooking the reef and out to the island of Desecheo, a U.S.

Four video cameras look westward over the coast and the coral reef at Tres Palmas in Rincón, on the west coast of Puerto Rico. Two cameras look out at the horizon and over the ocean for the mid-field view; one camera offers a zoomed-in, far-field view overlooking the reef and out to the island of Desecheo, a U.S.

View from the sky of a tropical coastline and a beach with ocean water so clear the coral reef can be seen.
Tres Palmas, Rincon, Puerto Rico
Tres Palmas, Rincon, Puerto Rico
Tres Palmas, Rincon, Puerto Rico

Photograph collected from a UAS flown over the beach at Tres Palmas in Rincón, Puerto Rico.

Equipment attached to a metal frame floats in the water on two buoys while dolphins frolic nearby.
SQUID-5 in the water
SQUID-5 in the water
SQUID-5 in the water

The SQUID-5 is an acronym for a Structure-from-Motion (SfM) Quantitative Underwater Imaging Device with 5 cameras.

The SQUID-5 is an acronym for a Structure-from-Motion (SfM) Quantitative Underwater Imaging Device with 5 cameras.

Image shows two sea urchins with the ocean in the background
Red Sea Urchins
Red Sea Urchins
Red Sea Urchins

Two red sea urchins (Mesocentrotus franciscanus) sit on the deck of the R/V Falkor. These sea urchins were collected during the #HuntingBubbles research cruise led by the USGS and Schmidt Ocean Institute, which focused on exploring and understanding methane seeps and the communities that depend on them along the Cascadia Margin.

Two red sea urchins (Mesocentrotus franciscanus) sit on the deck of the R/V Falkor. These sea urchins were collected during the #HuntingBubbles research cruise led by the USGS and Schmidt Ocean Institute, which focused on exploring and understanding methane seeps and the communities that depend on them along the Cascadia Margin.

Photo taken close to the ground looking out at a shallow water inlet with a sand beach and grassy marsh area.
Napa River marsh
Napa River marsh
Napa River marsh

Photo looking north at the Napa River marsh where USGS scientists collected sediment in 2019.

Photo looking north at the Napa River marsh where USGS scientists collected sediment in 2019.

A woman kneels in a grassy area while taking a mud sample from the ground and placing it in a bag.
Wildfire history in the mud
Wildfire history in the mud
Wildfire history in the mud

Marine geochemist Renee Takesue collects a sample of exposed mud in a marsh near Sonoma Creek, California. She will look here and in nearby San Pablo Bay for chemicals from the 2017 Nuns Wildfire that can harm wildlife. The stormy winter of 2018 may have transported these contaminants from the Sonoma Creek watershed into San Pablo Bay National Wildlife Refuge.

Marine geochemist Renee Takesue collects a sample of exposed mud in a marsh near Sonoma Creek, California. She will look here and in nearby San Pablo Bay for chemicals from the 2017 Nuns Wildfire that can harm wildlife. The stormy winter of 2018 may have transported these contaminants from the Sonoma Creek watershed into San Pablo Bay National Wildlife Refuge.

A boat carrying lots of equipment motors out of a yacht harbor, waters are calm, engines churn up the water at the stern.
PCMSC research vessel Parke Snavely departs for deployment
PCMSC research vessel Parke Snavely departs for deployment
PCMSC research vessel Parke Snavely departs for deployment

The PCMSC research vessel R/V Parke Snavely heads out of the Vallejo Marina on June 11, 2019 to deploy instrument frames in Grizzly Bay for the ERO19 study.

A man wearing a straw hat checks the equipment mounted on a tripod frame.
Tripod preparation for ERO19
Tripod preparation for ERO19
Tripod preparation for ERO19

Lukas Winkler-Prins checks on the frame setup on June 10, 2019.  This tripod has an RBR CTD, an RBR bursting pressure sensor, an RBR optical backscatter sensor, a LISST-200X, an altimeter, and two Nortek ADVs + Seapoint optical backscatter sensors, which will reveal information about water temperature and salinity, wave height and period, total s

Lukas Winkler-Prins checks on the frame setup on June 10, 2019.  This tripod has an RBR CTD, an RBR bursting pressure sensor, an RBR optical backscatter sensor, a LISST-200X, an altimeter, and two Nortek ADVs + Seapoint optical backscatter sensors, which will reveal information about water temperature and salinity, wave height and period, total s

Two images that show an area of coastline, one is a photo and one shows heights of objects on land and in the water.
Intertidal Zone at Post Point in Bellingham Bay
Intertidal Zone at Post Point in Bellingham Bay
Intertidal Zone at Post Point in Bellingham Bay

Aerial imagery (top) and structure-from-motion data (bottom) from an unmanned aerial system survey of the intertidal zone at Post Point, Bellingham Bay, WA, June 6, 2019.

Aerial imagery (top) and structure-from-motion data (bottom) from an unmanned aerial system survey of the intertidal zone at Post Point, Bellingham Bay, WA, June 6, 2019.

Satellite view of a bay with islands, with markers plotted to show sample locations and instrument placement.
San Pablo Bay study area
San Pablo Bay study area
San Pablo Bay study area

The USGS Pacific and Coastal Marine Science Center collected data to investigate sediment dynamics in the shallows of San Pablo Bay in two deployments: February to March 2011 (ITX11) and May to June 2012 (ITX12). This data release includes time-series data and grain-size distributions from sediment grabs collected during the deployments.

The USGS Pacific and Coastal Marine Science Center collected data to investigate sediment dynamics in the shallows of San Pablo Bay in two deployments: February to March 2011 (ITX11) and May to June 2012 (ITX12). This data release includes time-series data and grain-size distributions from sediment grabs collected during the deployments.

Photo of a calm creek with a small sandbar in the middle, creek is surrounded by trees burned by a wildfire.
Whiskey Creek section of Whiskeytown Lake
Whiskey Creek section of Whiskeytown Lake
Whiskey Creek section of Whiskeytown Lake

In the aftermath of the 2018 Carr Fire, northern California, sediment has eroded from burned hillslopes and accumulated in some areas of Whiskeytown Lake. A recent sediment deposit is shown here in the Whiskey Creek section of the lake.

In the aftermath of the 2018 Carr Fire, northern California, sediment has eroded from burned hillslopes and accumulated in some areas of Whiskeytown Lake. A recent sediment deposit is shown here in the Whiskey Creek section of the lake.

A man wearing a baseball cap and badge around his neck is talking to other people about a piece of heavy machinery near him.
Giving a Tour of USGS Science Center
Giving a Tour of USGS Science Center
Giving a Tour of USGS Science Center

On March 25th, 2019, ocean engineer Rob Wyland of the Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center gave a tour and demonstration to roughly a dozen students from the engineering class he teaches at Cabrillo College, a local community college.

On March 25th, 2019, ocean engineer Rob Wyland of the Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center gave a tour and demonstration to roughly a dozen students from the engineering class he teaches at Cabrillo College, a local community college.

Photo of a frame with two long, tubular floats attached to trays in between them, supporting instruments with cables.
GeoPulse Boomer Plates
GeoPulse Boomer Plates
GeoPulse Boomer Plates

The boomer plate produces a repeatable pulse in the 1-6kHz frequency range using an electrodynamic transducer that can be powered by a capacitor discharge system.

The boomer plate produces a repeatable pulse in the 1-6kHz frequency range using an electrodynamic transducer that can be powered by a capacitor discharge system.

An illustration shows how aerial photographs are taken around a landslide in order to use them in computer models.
Mud Creek landslide flight path example
Mud Creek landslide flight path example
Mud Creek landslide flight path example

USGS photographs taken from a contracted small airplane are used to build three-dimensional representations of the hillslopes of Big Sur, California, as shown here for the Mud Creek landslide site in 2017.  Blue symbols show the locations of individual photos obtained on the flight, and the gray area shows the hillslope landscape created from the photos using S

USGS photographs taken from a contracted small airplane are used to build three-dimensional representations of the hillslopes of Big Sur, California, as shown here for the Mud Creek landslide site in 2017.  Blue symbols show the locations of individual photos obtained on the flight, and the gray area shows the hillslope landscape created from the photos using S

A shaded, colored illustration that shows how much movement occurred on a hillslope thorugh time.
Changes to Mud Creek digital surface models
Changes to Mud Creek digital surface models
Changes to Mud Creek digital surface models

Computer images showing the coastal cliff area of Mud Creek on the Big Sur coastline, central California, where on May 20, 2017 a catastrophic landslide destroyed over 400 meters of scenic California State Highway 1. These illustrations show the changes to the digital surface models of Mud Creek during the three primary phases of the landslide: (

Computer images showing the coastal cliff area of Mud Creek on the Big Sur coastline, central California, where on May 20, 2017 a catastrophic landslide destroyed over 400 meters of scenic California State Highway 1. These illustrations show the changes to the digital surface models of Mud Creek during the three primary phases of the landslide: (

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