USGS Coastal Landscape Change Products Help the U.S. Department of Defense Safeguard Military Infrastructure Along the Coast
We Make Treasure Maps: USGS Charts the Seafloor to Help Locate Critical Minerals, Precious Metals, and Other Vital Resources
Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center Newsletter: January-March 2025
Sharing science stories, popular social media posts, recent publications, fieldwork activities, and more center happenings.
Sharing science stories, popular social media posts, recent publications, fieldwork activities, and more center happenings.
Sound Waves Newsletter
Explore coastal and marine science from across the USGS in Sound Waves.
Explore coastal and marine science from across the USGS in Sound Waves.
Valuable Data Collected on M7.0 Earthquake Offshore Cape Mendocino, California
Successful deployment and retrieval of Rapid Response Ocean Bottom Seismographs represents significant advancement in natural hazards research
Successful deployment and retrieval of Rapid Response Ocean Bottom Seismographs represents significant advancement in natural hazards research
Get Ready to Explore the Deep Sea: SEABOSS 3.0 is Coming
Approaching Storms
Discover USGS tools that forecast storms and report coastal conditions for emergency management
Discover USGS tools that forecast storms and report coastal conditions for emergency management
Traversing the Sea for Science
How USGS Uses the Federal Fleet to Study Natural Hazards, Resources, and More
How USGS Uses the Federal Fleet to Study Natural Hazards, Resources, and More
Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center
Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center is one of three centers serving the mission of the USGS Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program—the primary Federal marine geology and physical science research program responsible for the Nation’s entire coastal and marine landscape.
Research
Research
Read about our science projects, find out where we are working and why it matters
News
Ecological Thresholds, Abiotic Stress, and Climate Change: A Conceptual Framework
Ecological Thresholds, Abiotic Stress, and Climate Change: A Conceptual Framework
Photo Roundup: April-May 2025
Photo Roundup: April-May 2025
Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center Newsletter: April-May 2025
Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center Newsletter: April-May 2025
Publications
Outwash events inhibit vegetation recovery and prolong coastal vulnerability Outwash events inhibit vegetation recovery and prolong coastal vulnerability
Overwash, when high ocean water levels and waves flood a coastline, is a common phenomenon that can lead to washover deposits and barrier rollover. Outwash, by contrast, involves seaward flow, often driven by high back-barrier water levels, and can produce washout channels and nearshore deposition. Our observations show that washout channels were quickly (days to weeks) filled and...
The δ13C signature of dissolved organic and inorganic carbon reveals complex carbon transformations within a salt marsh The δ13C signature of dissolved organic and inorganic carbon reveals complex carbon transformations within a salt marsh
Coastal wetlands have high rates of atmospheric CO2 uptake, which is subsequently respired back to the atmosphere, stored as organic matter within flooded, anoxic soils, or exported to the coastal ocean. Transformation of fixed carbon occurs through a variety of subsurface aerobic and anaerobic microbial processes, and results in a large inventory of dissolved carbon. Carbon source and...
Evidence of mineral alteration in a salt marsh subterranean estuary: Implications for carbon and trace element cycling Evidence of mineral alteration in a salt marsh subterranean estuary: Implications for carbon and trace element cycling
Subterranean estuaries (STE) in salt marshes are biogeochemically active zones where interactions between terrestrial groundwater and seawater drive complex cycling of carbon and trace elements, influenced by mineral dissolution. These systems, characterized by fine-grained organic-rich peat overlying permeable coastal aquifers, play a crucial role as a blue carbon sink, yet their...
Science
Seafloor Benthic Mapping and Characterization: Enhancing our Understanding of Aleutian Islands’ Hazards, Potential Seabed Minerals and Deep Corals
A USGS-led expedition in the Aleutian Arc off Alaska will provide critical information on energy resources, underwater earthquakes and other hazards, seafloor habitats, and biological resources, including key fisheries, as well as potential seabed minerals.
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Natural Hazards Mission Area, Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program, Land Management Research Program, Species Management Research Program, Eastern Ecological Science Center, Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center, St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center, Wetland and Aquatic Research Center , Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center, Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, Deep Sea Exploration, Mapping and Characterization
Coastal Wetland Vulnerability to Climate Change and Sea-Level Rise: Understanding Ecological Thresholds and Ecosystem Transformations
Eighteen USGS coastal scientists from all four coasts of the conterminous United States are working together to advance the understanding of climate change and sea-level rise impacts to coastal wetlands.
By
California Water Science Center, Chesapeake Bay Activities, Eastern Ecological Science Center, Florence Bascom Geoscience Center, Great Lakes Science Center, Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center, St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center, Western Ecological Research Center (WERC), Western Geographic Science Center, Wetland and Aquatic Research Center , Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center
Environmental Impacts following the 1970 Testing of Seabed Mining Equipment on the Blake Plateau- Quantification of Benthic Communities Across Disturbance Gradients
USGS researchers will characterize the ecology of benthic communities associated with deep-sea environments, including hardground features and adjacent soft sediments, and will build upon previous work conducted in areas off the U.S. east coast under consideration for oil and gas leases.