Images

Image of ripples in sand, next to a rocky surface on the seafloor 2.5 km (1.5 miles) offshore San Mateo County, California at a depth of 24.6 meters (81 feet). The two red dots in the image (from lasers mounted on the camera and used as reference points) are 15 cm (6 inches) apart.

Aerial photograph of the mouth of the Elwha River where it meets the Strait of Juan de Fuca during the removal of the Elwha and Glines Canyon dams, Washington State, USA. Aerial assistance by LightHawk and plane piloted by Dr. Hunter Handsfield.

Loading the research vessel (R/V) Centennial at its home port, Friday Harbor Laboratories, University of Washington, on San Juan Island, Washington.

USGS scientists Peter Swarzenski and Cordell Johnson deploying a 3-meter (10 foot) kasten corer off R/V Centennial.

View toward the Olympic Mountains from the R/V Centennial in Hood Canal, Washington.

Two thermal infrared (TIR) images of a submarine groundwater vent site off west Maui showing the influence of tides on the spatial extent of submarine groundwater discharge. Top, Image taken at high tide. Bottom, Image taken a low tide.

PCMSC research vessel Karluk

Estuarine salt marsh at China Camp State Park looking towards San Pablo Bay, northern San Francisco, California.

A restored coral reef off Kota Kinabalu, Borneo, showing a mix of both concrete “Reef Balls” to rebuild reef topographic complexity and a variety of out-planted natural corals to increase coral coverage and species diversity.

Seismic equipment is craned off research vessel Pelican at the dock in Cocodrie, Louisiana, after a 15-day expedition to explore gas hydrates in the deepwater Gulf of America.

USGS technicians Eric Moore (left) and Jenny White deploy air guns (silver cylinders), compressor hose (black), and orange buoys at the start of a seismic survey to explore gas hydrates in the deepwater Gulf of America.

The San Clemente Dam, built in the 1920s on the Carmel River in Monterey County, California, was removed during 2014 and 2015.

Screen capture of a video collected March 8, 2013, on the west side of the Elwha River delta in the Strait of Juan de Fuca, Washington. Seafloor is about 30 meters (100 feet) deep. This area has strong currents and a lot of material (suspended sediment) in the water. Two red laser dots near the bottom of the video are 10 centimeters (nearly 4 inches) apart.

Snapshot from a video collected February 12, 2013, off the Olowalu area on the northwest side of the Hawaiian island of Maui. Seafloor is about 10 meters (30 feet) deep. This setting provides an example of extremely clear tropical water and ambient light. The sea turtle's shell is approximately 1 meter (3 feet) long.

New USGS deepwater tripod, called the free-ascending tripod, or FAT. Here, it sits on the Santa Cruz Municipal Wharf in Santa Cruz, California.

New USGS deepwater tripod, called the free-ascending tripod, or FAT, suspended from a crane before being lowered into water. Some of the instruments mounted on the tripod have been labeled. 

USGS personnel adding pieces of syntactic foam (composed of glass microspheres embedded in resin) that will provide buoyancy to raise the tripod to the surface for recovery. Left to right: Jingping Xu, Hank Chezar, Kurt Rosenberger, and Peter Harkins.

A red crab trying to crack open a seep mussel, seen during the Deepwater Canyons 2012 Expedition.

Lidar data collected in 2010 and 2012 showing a change in the beach profile. Spot marked by vertical arrow was about 1 meter (3 feet) higher after two years.

USGS research team set out instrumentation for a coastal groundwater exchange study in Lynch Cove, Hood Canal, Washington. Left to right are Peter Swarzenski, Wally Brooks, Christopher G. Smith, Sandy Baldwin, Marci Marot, Cordell Johnson, and Kevin Kroeger.

Hurricane Sandy struck the New Jersey shore October 29–31, 2012. Houses, cars, and a street in Seaside Heights, New Jersey, were covered in beach sand after the hurricane's storm tide receded