Sediments

Research on bed sediment grain size, bedform morphology, vegetation characteristics, and sediment resuspension and transport.

USGS scientists installed two video cameras atop a windmill tower in Unalakleet, Alaska, pointing westward over Norton Sound, to observe and quantify coastal processes such as wave run-up, development of rip channels, bluff erosion, and movement of sandbars and ice floes.

Two video cameras overlook the coast at Sunset State Beach in Watsonville, California. Camera 1 looks northwest while Camera 2 looks north. The cameras are part of the Remote Sensing Coastal Change project.

Basic research to develop the geologic record of paleotsunamis and improve the ability to interpret that record is needed to mitigate tsunami risk in the U.S.

Large, collaborative field experiments such as DUNEX leverage observations of the coastal ocean made by multiple academic, agency, and NGO teams, providing the opportunity to grasp a broader picture of the forces responsible for coastal change. Despite deployment of many instruments, it’s impossible to measure everything, everywhere, at all times. Numerical models that represent the physical...

Bathymetry of a dynamic tidal estuary, such as San Francisco Bay, provides the observable linkage between anthropogenic modifications of the landscape—such as evolving land use practices, flood control, and water diversions—and natural forces of climate-driven river flow, sea level change, tides, and wind. By examining our record of hydrographic surveys, spanning over 150 years, we can gain...

Puget Sound Priority Ecosystem Science (PES) supports interdisciplinary ecological research in the Puget Sound, Washington, watershed and nearshore.

The USGS is working in partnership with the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) and the State of California Ocean Protection Council (OPC) to evaluate sand and gravel resources in Federal and State waters for potential use in future beach nourishment projects. Prior to the leasing and development of outer continental shelf (OCS) sand resources for use in beach restoration or coastal...

As part of the Coral Reef Project, the USGS is working closely with other local groups to investigate poor water quality issues in Maunalua Bay on the southeast coast of Oʻahu.

The Geospace Navigator bird is a streamer depth control device, used with a high-resolution seismic system to regulate and record the depth of the streamer.

The USGS Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center’s Marine Facility recently acquired this floating coring rig that features a motorized piston coring unit and is capable of collecting 20-meter sediment cores in calm waters.

The Elwha River Restoration Project has reconnected the water, salmon, and sediment of a pristine river and coast of the Olympic Peninsula of Washington.