Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center
Coastal Ecosystems
The USGS studies geologic and oceanographic processes that create and maintain habitats for coral, clams, crabs, salmon, and other ocean and estuary inhabitants. USGS studies of currents, suspended sediment, and groundwater chemistry, for example, help assess natural and human influences on the health of coral reefs. High-resolution seafloor mapping characterizes the seabed as rocky, sandy, or muddy; and bottom photos help identify the organisms that occupy those habitats.
Browse Coastal Ecosystems science related to:
Using Video Imagery to Study Sediment Transport and Wave Dynamics: Nuvuk (Point Barrow)
Two coastal observing video cameras are installed atop a utility pole near the northernmost point of land in the United States, at Nuvuk (Point Barrow), Alaska. The cameras point northwest toward the Arctic Ocean and the boundary between the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas, and will be used to observe and quantify coastal processes such as wave run-up, bluff erosion, movement of sandbars and ice...
Coastal Habitats in Puget Sound
A Pacific Northwest icon, Puget Sound is the second-largest estuary in the United States. Its unique geology, climate, and nutrient-rich waters produce and sustain biologically productive coastal habitats. These same natural characteristics also contribute to a high quality of life that has led to growth in human population and urbanization. This growth has played a role in degrading the Sound...
Sediment transport between estuarine habitats in San Francisco Bay
This research is part of the project “Sediment Transport in Coastal Environments”
Sediment Transport in Coastal Environments
Our research goals are to provide the scientific information, knowledge, and tools required to ensure that decisions about land and resource use, management practices, and future development in the coastal zone and adjacent watersheds can be evaluated with a complete understanding of the probable effects on coastal ecosystems and communities, and a full assessment of their vulnerability to...
Drag and sediment transport: conditions at the bottom boundary
Research on bed sediment grain size, bedform morphology, vegetation characteristics, and sediment resuspension and transport is part of the Sediment Transport in Coastal Environments project.
Quantifying Flood Risk and Reef Risk Reduction Benefits in Florida and Puerto Rico: The Consequences of Hurricane Damage, Long-term Degradation, and Restoration Opportunities
Coastal flooding and erosion from extreme weather events affect thousands of vulnerable coastal communities; the impacts of coastal flooding are predicted to worsen during this century because of population growth and climate change. Hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017 were particularly devasting to humans and natural communities. The coral reefs off the State of Florida and the Commonwealth of...
Coral Reef Project
Explore the fascinating undersea world of coral reefs. Learn how we map, monitor, and model coral reefs so we can better understand, protect, and preserve our Nation's reefs.
The Value of U.S. Coral Reefs for Risk Reduction
Summary of the report, “Rigorously valuing the role of U.S. coral reefs in coastal hazard risk reduction”
Climate Change and Land-use Histories
We are developing new and unique oceanographic and environmental archives from coral skeleton records to better understand the compounding effects of land-use and environmental change on coral reef health.
Reef Resource Assessments - Planning for the Future
We are mapping and assessing all of the important geologic and oceanographic factors to identify those coral reefs most at risk and those reefs that are potentially the most resilient and the most likely to recover from natural and human-driven impacts.
USGS DUNEX Operations on the Outer Banks
DUring Nearshore Event eXperiment (DUNEX) is a multi-agency, academic, and non-governmental organization (NGO) collaborative community experiment designed to study nearshore coastal processes during storm events. The experiment began in 2019 and is scheduled for completion in the fall of 2021. USGS participation in DUNEX will contribute new measurements and models that will increase our...
San Francisco Bay geomorphology
This research is part of the project “Sediment Transport in Coastal Environments”