Images

USGS geologist Amy East was delighted to observe a Chinook salmon carcass upstream from two dams recently removed from the Elwha River in Washington State. River restoration has allowed salmon to reach upstream spawning grounds for the first time in more than a century.

Participants at the September 2016 Argus Workshop at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Field Research Facility in Duck, North Carolina. Labels provide names of four participants from USGS Coastal and Marine Geology Program (Long, Plant, Brown, Harrison) and two participants from Oregon State University (Holman, Stanley).

View from Hurricane Ridge in Olympic National Park, Washington, looking at the Elwha River basin.

Adult polar bear walking across a recently overwashed barrier island during a large Arctic storm in September 2016. The barrier island is offshore of Barter Island on Alaska’s north coast.

Two scientists on the Arctic coastal bluff preparing a study location with cameras that they hope will run continuously, collecting images.

Christie gears up to survey beach elevation in Santa Cruz, CA with a precise and accurate GPS unit mounted to her backpack. The GPS unit on her backpack communicates with a nearby "base station" to minimize errors in location.

A polar bear rests in a field on Barter Island, Alaska.

Polar bear lounging on Alaska’s north coast.

USGS scientists Jonathan Warrick and Jeff Duda receiving Riverprize recognition in New Delhi, India. Image courtesy of International Riverfoundation.

USGS coral reef scientists, from left to right: Jill Bourque, Cheryl Morrison, Nancy Prouty, Katharine Coykendall, Amanda Demopoulos, and Christina Kellogg. All women presented their research at the 6th International Symposium of Deep Sea Corals, September 11-16, 2016.

Aerial photograph of the mouth of the Elwha River showing sediment deposits from dam removal. Aerial assistance by LightHawk and plane piloted by Dr. Milton Bennett.

During the symposium, participants could tour the facilities at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, such as this radiocarbon lab. Here scientists analyze the amount of radiocarbon in such material as coral or wood to help determine their age. Photo credit: Amy West, USGS Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center

Time-lapse cameras on Barter Island, North Slope of Alaska, incurred damage from polar bears who used the camera pole as a scratching post.

Otter Rock, Oregon. The Oregon coast is one of the areas that could be affected by a large earthquake on the Cascadia subduction zone.

Resurrection Bay on August 8, 2016. The water appeared calm in the shelter of the inner bay, but closer to the entrance, swells coming in from the Gulf of Alaska were breaking on a small beach where the three boaters had capsized.

A diver examines the coral reef along Molokini Crater off of the island of Maui, Hawaii.

Phosphorite rock formed on the seafloor in Southern California.

The map on sheet 7 shows “potential” marine benthic habitats in the Monterey Canyon and Vicinity map area, representing a substrate type, geomorphology, seafloor process, or any other attribute that may provide a habitat for a specific species or assemblage of organisms.

Tripod deployed on the reef flat off Jurabi, Ningaloo World Heritage Site, Western Australia, with instrumentation designed to measure tides, waves, currents, and sediment being transported across the reef.

Cerulean damselfish dart around lettuce coral off the Cape Range National Park along the Ningaloo Coast in Western Australia. USGS researchers combined forces with Australian colleagues in this UNESCO World Heritage Site to conduct the most extensive study of how erosion of reefs contribute sand to the beaches—a coast’s natural armor.

Tripod holding instruments and cameras used to measure and study aspects of sediment movement in and around the reef.