Hazards
Hazards
Ocean hazard events like tsunamis, triggered by earthquakes and landslides, storm surges associated with hurricanes and extreme storms, oil and gas spills, floods and associated watershed contaminants, affect the health and safety of our Nation's ocean and coastal communities and ecosystems. USGS scientists study the causes, distribution and hazard potential of coastal and submarine hazard events.
Coastal Change
Coastal Change
Through observation and modeling, the Coastal Change Hazards project develops robust and accessible coastal change assessments that help improve the lives, property, and economic prosperity of the Nation’s coastal communities, habitats, and natural resources.
Sea-Level Rise
Sea-Level Rise
The Sea-Level Rise Hazards and Decision-Support project assesses present and future coastal vulnerability to provide actionable information for management of our Nation’s coasts.
Filter Total Items: 46
Relative Coastal Vulnerability Assessment of National Park Units to Sea-Level Rise
The National Park Service (NPS) is responsible for managing nearly 12,000 km (7,500 miles) of shoreline along oceans and lakes. In 2001 the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in partnership with the NPS Geologic Resources Division, began conducting hazard assessments of future sea-level change by creating maps to assist NPS in managing its valuable resources. This website contains results of the...
Glacier Studies Project
This project is complete and the website is archived and no longer updated. The Glacier Studies Project included two active tasks: Satellite Image Atlas of Glaciers of the World Task and a Coastal-Change and Glaciological Maps of Antarctica Task. The two tasks were inter-discipline, inter-agency, and international in scope and institutional involvement. Glaciers are one of the four subelements of...
Marine Aggregate Resources and Processes (MARP)
This project is complete and the website is archived and no longer updated. The Marine Aggregates (Sand and Gravel Assessment) Project has developed and is implementing a scientifically rigorous series of regional studies mapping the seafloor sedimentary character and assessing marine sand and gravel resources around the United States . Results of the regional assessments will ultimately comprise...
Peace and Science in the Middle East
This project is complete and the website is archived and no longer updated. The ancient cultures of the Middle East and the modern political conflicts there are shaped by a surprisingly diverse and youthful landscape. The landscape of the region is dominated by a narrow elongate (20-30 km wide) valley, that is surrounded by the western highlands of Israel and the Palestinian Territories, and the...
Boston Sewage Outfall: The Fate of Sediments and Contaminants in Massachusetts Bay
This project is complete and the website is archived and no longer updated. Boston Harbor, once one of the most polluted waterways in the nation, is in the final stages of a major cleanup. A $3.8 billion cleanup program, begun in 1985 by the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (MWRA) was designed to address more than 300 years of metropolitan waste disposal. The cleanup has significantly...
USGS Sediment Studies in Lake Mead
This project is complete and the website is archived and no longer updated. Lake Mead is one of the world's largest man-made reservoirs at about 600 sq km, roughly the size of Chicago. Lake Mead started to form on the Colorado River in 1935, upon completion of the Hoover Dam. Since then, the lake has supplied water to agricultural, industrial, recreational, and municipal users in the southwestern...
North Carolina Regional Coastal Erosion Studies
This project is complete and the website is archived and no longer updated. The USGS, the State of North Carolina and university researchers, mapped the regional sedimentary framework of the inner shelf of northern North Carolina to understand coastal processes, including erosion and the impacts of shoreline change. The study area includes communities along the Outer Banks, several national and...
U.S. Geological Survey Studies in Long Island Sound: Geology, Contaminants, and Environmental Issues
This project is complete and the website is archived and no longer updated. Long Island Sound is a major coastal estuary near the New York-Connecticut metropolitan area. More than eight million people live in its watershed. Due to the enormous population, the Sound is used heavily and its sea floor has been impacted by human activities. There are many benthic habitats in the Sound that support...
Marine Nuisance Species
This project is complete and the website is archived and no longer updated. This archived website assembles and communicates information on the distribution, ecology, and marine habitat impacts of the invasive colonial ascidian invader Didemnum vexillum Colonies of Didemnum vexillum exhibit a wide variety of morphological variants. Where current velocity is low, they form long, ropey or beard-like...
U.S. Geological Survey Studies in the New York Bight
This project is complete and the website is archived and no longer updated. The New York-New Jersey metropolitan area is the most populated region of the United States. New York city, with a population of about 8 million, is the largest city in the United States and the New York & New Jersey metropolitan area, with a population of about 20 million, is the second largest in the world. The harbor...