Images

Three U.S. Geological Survey scientists in scuba gear work to install a wave buoy and pressure sensor 60 feet underwater to measure waves and water levels in Isla Verde, Puerto Rico. 

A team from the USGS St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center went to Puerto Rico to install new Coast Cams to monitor how the beach and shoreline change through time. These cameras will allow the team to make predictions of how the coast will respond during storms and hurricanes.

USGS summer intern, Sierra Rack points to the Gore Range fault during fieldwork near Frisco, Colorado, August, 2022.

USGS summer intern, Sierra Rack with Rich Briggs, Alex Hatem and Camille Collett enjoy views and geology near Mt. Sherman after a day of fieldwork in the Gore Range, Colorado.

USGS studies the growth rates of corals at a network of coral growth assessment stations throughout Buck Island National Monument in St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands. These data provide resource managers with information needed to understand how coral populations are doing in the park.

Two U.S. Geological Survey scientists set-up equipment to survey a beach in Dorado, Puerto Rico. This equipment will monitor how the beach and shoreline change through time. USGS Image. 

Photo of a precariously balanced rock by Noah Lindberg from the northeastern U.S. taken during field work in August, 2022.

Noah Lindberg and Thomas Pratt observe and measure features of a precariously balanced rock in the northeastern U.S.

Dos científicos del Servicio Geológico de los Estados Unidos instalando un equipo para sondeos de una costa en Dorado, Puerto Rico. Este equipo monitoreará como la playa y la línea costera cambian a través del tiempo. Imagen de USGS. 

Debris-flow deposits downstream of the 2022 Pipeline Fire burn scar, north of Flagstaff, Arizona.

The R/V Sallenger tows the structure-from-motion quantitative underwater imaging device with 5 cameras (SQUID-5) across the water over Looe Key Reef in the Florida Keys.

Mount Rainier (Washington) volcano hazard zones and estimated lahar (volcanic mudflow) arrival times for the Puyallup and Nisqually River valleys.

Studying Seafloor Erosion in the Florida Keys

The challenge:

Cover image for video featuring Curt Storlazzi, USGS titled, "Coral Reefs as National, Natural Infrastructure"

A map showing the epicenter of the M 3.5 quake that occurred 3.7 miles (6 km) east of Elgin, South Carolina on June 29, 2022. The quake is part of an ongoing sequence in central South Carolina. The sequence started on December 27, 2021, with an M3.3 earthquake near Lugoff, South Carolina.

Image showing NOAA research vessel with logos of NOAA, BOEM, USGS and MBARI. EXPRESS is a multi-year, multi-institution cooperative research campaign in deep sea areas of California, Oregon, and Washington, including the continental shelf and slope.

Illustration of NOAA research vessel conducting multibeam sonar survey of seafloor, courtesy of EXPRESS, or Expanding Pacific Research and Exploration of Submerged Systems.

Restored staghorn coral (Acropora cervicornis) at Looe Key reef in the lower Florida Keys outplanted by Mote Marine Laboratory's coral restoration program.

Debris flow deposit in the North Fork Feather River, Plumas County, CA near the Dixie burn area.  

Alex Hatem observes surface deformation from the 2020 Monte Cristo, Nevada, earthquake eroding away, June, 2022.

Our coasts, the most familiar part of the ocean are the gateway to the larger deeper ocean world. USGS studies processes and hazards in the coastal zone and how they affect people, wildlife, and ecosystems.