Images

Animation of a computed tomography scan of a coral core.

The newly developed USGS Coral Core Archive, housed at the Santa Cruz and St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Centers, contains approximately 500 coral reef cores from U.S. jurisdictions worldwide.

Animation of a computed tomography scan of a coral core.

Example of the relationship between CT intensities and measured density of the coral standards used to calibrate data. The measured density of the coral standards are compared to the mean intensities of each standard. Linear regressions calculated from the standard values are then used to calibrate data.

Photo of coral carbonate standards, arranged from high to low density. To convert CT values to real-world densities and quantify the uncertainty in reconstructed density as a result of offsets, a set of carbonate standards are included in every CT scan that represent a range of coral species with different densities.

Orbicella spp. coral sample with no packing material. Center of image is darker than edges. Transect across image shows intensity values lower in the center creating a cupping effect.

Coral sample in aluminum tube being prepared for scanning. The use of a secondary aluminum filter reduces beam hardening artifacts (rings) while also avoiding attenuating the x-ray beam.

The Digital Shoreline Analysis System (DSAS) version 6 is a standalone application that calculates shoreline or boundary change over time. The GIS of a user’s choice is used to prepare the data for DSAS.  Like previous versions, DSAS v.6 enables a user to calculate rate-of-change statistics from multiple historical shoreline positions.

DSAS generates transects that are cast perpendicular to the reference baseline to intersect shorelines at a user-specified spacing alongshore. Please note that the figure above illustrates the placement of both onshore and offshore baselines as examples. In DSAS v6.0 all baselines in a file must be placed either offshore or onshore, not combined.

Donya Frank-Gilchrist (SPCMSC) manages the USGS booth at the recent SCDRP annual meeting to share USGS data and tools with community resilience partners and stakeholders.

On January 17-18, 2024, John Warner provided a two-day training for the COAWST (Coupled Ocean-Atmosphere-Waves-Sediment Transport) modeling system.

Shown here is a photograph taken on October 20, 2023, of a wild Elkhorn coral colony in Buck Island Reef National Monument, St. Croix, VI, showing the effects of heat stress caused by elevated ocean temperatures. The heat stress causes “coral bleaching,” or the loss of nutrient-giving microscopic algae that normally live within corals.

Prior to landfall on the Gulf coast of the Florida peninsula on August 30, 2023, the Coastal Change Hazards Team forecast that 95 percent of beaches were forecast to erode at the dunes’ base, 20 percent of dunes were forecast to be overwashed by storm waves, and 1 percent of dunes were expected to be inundated (completely submerged) by surge, tide, and waves. T

Shown here is a small colony of the threatened Elkhorn coral, Acropora palmata, that has become "bleached," that is, lost all its algal symbionts (also called zooxanthellae) because of the summer 2023 ocean-heat wave. The coral is attached to a cement block as part of the U.S.

Shown here is a colony of the threatened Elkhorn coral, Acropora palmata, that has succumbed to "bleaching," that is, lost all its algal symbionts (also called zooxanthellae) because of the summer 2023 ocean-heat wave. The coral is attached to a cement block as part of the U.S.

Shown here are three SCUBA divers installing shade structures over experimental Elkhorn corals (Acropora palmata) that have become "bleached," that is, lost all their algal symbionts (also called zooxanthellae) because of the summer 2023 ocean-heat wave. The corals are attached to cement blocks as part of the U.S.

Shown here is a colony of the threatened Elkhorn coral, Acropora palmata, in Dry Tortugas National Park that has become "bleached," that is, lost all its algal symbionts (also called zooxanthellae) because of the summer 2023 ocean-heat wave.

Shown here is a colony of the threatened Elkhorn coral, Acropora palmata, that has become "bleached," that is, lost all its algal symbionts (also called zooxanthellae) because of the summer 2023 ocean-heat wave. The coral is attached to a cement block as part of the U.S.

Shown here is a colony of the threatened Elkhorn coral, Acropora palmata, that has become "bleached," that is, lost all its algal symbionts (also called zooxanthellae) because of the summer 2023 ocean-heat wave. The coral is attached to a cement block as part of the U.S.

Coastal communities on the Great Lakes may experience coastal change, including dune erosion. The USGS and NOAA are developing the Total Water and Coastal Change Forecast at sites like this one in Ontanogan, Michigan to provide communities with real-time information for decision making.

Photograph of Caitlin Reynolds and the sediment traps from the Gulf of Mexico aboard the R/V Weatherbird. Scientists collect and redeploy the mooring every 6-9 months.