Images

These Elkhorn corals (Acropora palmata) near Buck Island, U.S. Virgin Islands have died and collapsed into rubble. As coral reef structure degrades, valuable habitat for marine life is lost and nearby coastlines become more susceptible to storms, waves and erosion.

The relatively new camera stations at Santa Cruz and Madeira Beach have not yet imaged many rip channels, so this is an example from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Field Research Facility in Duck, North Carolina. In this time-averaged image from video taken September 1, 2015, the dark horizontal bands perpendicular to the beach indicate rip channels.

Photo showing the complex geomorphology of the marsh landscape of the Grand Bay National Wildlife Refuge/Grand Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve in coastal Alabama and Mississippi. (1) Geology—a tidal creek that at lower sea level than present served as a distributary channel of a river-delta system. (2) Hydrodynamics—wave erosion of the marsh edge.

USGS scientist Lisa Robbins next to the research vessel (R/V) Atlantis, which is owned by the U.S. Navy and operated by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.

The advanced circulation (ADCIRC) model unstructured finite element mesh spans the western North Atlantic Tidal domain to the 60-degree west meridian, including the Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea and Gulf of America.

USGS employee Owen Brenner walks across the Fire Island wilderness breach carrying a GPS backpack that allows him to collect precise elevation data in the shallows.

Near vertical (top, middle) and low angle oblique (bottom) aerial photographs of Rodanthe, North Carolina. View looking west along the North Carolina shore. High waves and storm surge from Hurricane Joaquin eroded the beach, exposing the pilings of the homes to wave attack (green and orange arrows).

Near vertical (top, middle) and low angle oblique (bottom) aerial photographs of Hatteras, North Carolina. View looking north along the North Carolina shore. Waves and surge from Hurricane Joaquin eroded the beach, causing significant shoreline retreat and a narrower beach at the location of the Hurricane Isabel breach in 2003 (green arrow).

Near vertical (top, middle) and low angle oblique (bottom) aerial photographs of New Drum Inlet, Core Banks, North Carolina. View looking northwest along the North Carolina shore.

Near vertical (top, middle) and low angle oblique (bottom) aerial photographs of Bear Inlet, North Carolina. View looking northwest along the North Carolina shore. High waves and storm surge from Hurricane Joaquin eroded the beaches, moving sand inland (green arrow) and reshaping the flood-tidal shoals.

Aerial images of the wilderness breach: a) Aerial photograph taken several days after Hurricane Sandy (photo credit: NOAA); b) Aerial mosaic of the breach in June 2015 showing the location of erosion on the ocean side of the breach and deposition that results in the seasonal formation of a spit (photo credit: Stonybrook University).

A diver uses an underwater drill to take a core sample from a massive brain coral (Diploria strigosa) in Dry Tortugas National Park. 

Healthy Elkhorn coral (Acropora palmata) near unpopulated Buck Island, U.S. Virgin Islands. Elkhorn coral is one of many important reef-building species that create 3D structure on the seafloor. Coral reef structure provides habitat for marine life and helps break up waves as they approach the coastline.

Graphics and photos showing the overwash characteristics of 3 locations at Fire Island, NY

Photo showing multiple geomorphic environments including from left to right: the Atlantic Ocean, beach, dunes, and island interior.

Personal watercraft were utilized to collect bathymetry in the surf zone and shore face (top left), setup on the beach (top right), instrument configuration (bottom left) and Pelican case hardware configuration (bottom right).

Waves breaking over offshore reefs on Kwajalein Atoll, in the Marshall Islands, where reefs are protecting developed land from flooding.

Aerial image showing beach and offshore reef

View of Hanauma Bay Nature Preserve in Hawaii. Hanauma is located along the southeast coast of the Island of Oʻahu. It is known for its abundance of marine life and is a popular snorkeling location.

Aerial image showing beach and offshore reef

Two colonies of the mustard hill coral, Porites astreoides, one apparently healthy (left) and one visibly bleached (right) during a coral-bleaching event at Hen and Chickens Sanctuary Preservation Area, Plantation Key, FL, USA. When ocean temperatures were unusually warm in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary in October 2015, coral ble