Images

Geologic sections (C-C', D-D', and E-E') illustrating the general distributions and thicknesses of seismic stratigraphic units and major unconformities in the Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket study areas.

Coastal wetland ecosystems in Jamaica Bay, New York, provide important ecosystem services along the highly urbanized Atlantic coast.

RV Petrel towing subbottom profiler (yellow raft) parallel to the beach to measure the thickness of sand offshore.

A WHCMSC and WHOI team recovered six intermediate period ocean bottom seismographs from the continental slope offshore New England in Georges Bank. The instruments had been deployed for about ten months to record background, ambient seismic noise.

Part of the Akumal coastline in Quintana Roo, Mexico, near where the Ox Bel Ha cave system is located.

SEABed Observation and Sampling System (SEABOSS) (center image) and the MiniSEABOSS (right) designed for rapid, inexpensive, and effective collection of seabed imagery (photographs and video) as well sediment samples from the coastal/inner-continental shelf regions.

Department of Interior UAS pilots from left to right – Elizabeth Pendleton (USGS, Woods Hole, MA), Colin Milone (Office of Aviation Services, AK), John Vogel (USGS; Flagstaff, AZ), Sandy Brosnahan (USGS, Woods Hole, MA), Brandon Forbes (USGS; Tucson, AZ), Chris Holmquist-Johnson (USGS; Fort Collins, CO),&nb

The distribution of sediment textures within the study area. The bottom-type classification is from Barnhardt and others (1998) and is based on 16 sediment classes. The classification is based on four sediment units that include gravel (G), mud (M), rock (R), and sand (S). If the texture is greater than 90 percent, it is labeled with a single letter.

Scientist surveying the presence and behavior of birds at Pelican Island, Alabama. The CMHRP is working with personnel within the Ecosystems Mission Area on this project to identify how physical characteristics of barrier islands influence use by wintering shorebirds.

Reefs provide protection from waves and wave-driven flooding. A snapshot from the simulation of wave-driven flooding and island overwash for an annual storm at the Republic of the Marshall Islands is shown.

First arrival times of contaminants at each location (lighter colors indicate longer time since the storm) for conditions observed during Hurricane Florence (top), and two hypothetical events: one with smaller rainfall (middle) and another with a different post-storm wind pattern (bottom).

 Coastal storms can severely alter the topography and ecosystems along heavily populated coastal regions. Seamless integrated elevation data for both land and submerged areas in Barnegat Bay, New Jersey, are fundamental to coastal planning of the northeastern U.S. Atlantic coast.

Cave passage and diver (Bil Philips, cave explorer) in Ox Bel Ha Cave System of the northeastern Yucatan Peninsula.

Storm and sea level rise scenario models, like the one shown here, can be used to explore the future. This model shows what Dauphin Island may look like 10 years from now if storms become stronger and more frequent (Passeri and others, 2018).

Gas hydrate (orange material) and gas bubbles near the seafloor in the northern Gulf of America. As the methane bubbles are emitted, a rind of gas hydrate immediately forms around some of them. If more bubbles continue to feed from below, gas hydrate forms.

USGS unmanned aerial system (uas) mapping team on the beach in Dauphin Island, Alabama

USGS personnel preparing to dive in Yucatan Peninsula.

Collecting water samples in Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico.

Tulum, Mexico jungle panorama 

Hike through the jungle in Tulum, Mexico

The Herring River in Wellfleet, MA is a tidally-restricted estuary system. Management options including potential restoration of unrestricted tidal flows require an understanding of pre-restoration sediment conditions.