Images

Path left by debris flow moving down a channel. The debris flow was generated in response to a rainstorm on November 12, 2009 in Arroyo Seco, southern California.

Aluminum roofs and debris transported behind the village of Tula on the east shore of American Samoa following the Tsunami that hit the island on Sept. 29, 2009. The tsunami runup was 16-26 feet in Tula.

Tsunami flow depth at Alofau, American Samoa following the tsunami that hit the island on Sept. 29, 2009.

Tsunami flow depth indicator at Fagasa, American Samoa following the tsunami that hit the island on Sept. 29, 2009. Vegetation is brown where it was submerged by the tsunami and green above.

Car thrown into building in Pago Pago, American Samoa during the tsunami that struck the island on Sept. 29, 2009.

Boat thrown onto fish pond in Maloata, American Samoa following the tsunami that hit the island on Sept. 29, 2009.

Tsunami sand deposit at Alao, American Samoa following the tsunami on Sept. 29, 2009. Light colored sand deposited during the tsunami overlies darker soil that was there before the tsunami.

Mount Baker's Carmelo Crater at the summit is breached by Roosevelt Glacier, view to the southeast, Washington.

Cars damaged by the tsunami in Fagasa, American Samoa. The tsunami hit the island on Sept. 29, 2009.

The water from the tsunami that hit American Samoa on September 29, 2009 was strong enough to destroy homes and move large objects, such as the boulder pictured here.

Roof moved into the ocean in Fagasa, American Samoa following the tsunami that hit the island on Sept. 29, 2009.

Sediment inundated a building in Pago Pago, American Samoa as a result of a Tsunami that struck the coast on Sept. 29, 2009.

Only the foundation of a house in Fagasa, American Samoa remains after the tsunami hit on Sept. 29, 2009.

USGS oceanographer Bruce Jaffe standing next to a boat thrown ashore in Pago Pago, American Samoa by the tsunami that hit the island on Sept. 29, 2009.

Marie Chan Kau, a staff member at American Samoa Community College and a member of the International Tsunami Survey Team, points to the maximum water level reached by the tsunami that struck American Samoa on Sept. 29, 2009. This spot, found in Fagasa, American Samoa, is about about 10 meters above sea level.

Zeiss Jena 010B Theodolite for making absolute measurements at Boulder magnetic observatory.

Zeiss Jena 010B Theodolite for making absolute measurements at Boulder magnetic observatory.

Collected from more than 1000 feet below the surface of the Gulf of Mexico, this fragile brittle star clings to a soft coral.  These deep-sea coral ecosystems ar biodiversity hot-spots in the deep ocean, but they are also vulnerable to climate change issues such as increased temperature and ocean acidification.

Fire Island, NY sand dunes with protective sand fencing

A myriad of plants can be seen from above in this photograph taken at the Kahuku Unit of Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park. Acquired in 2009, the Kahuku Unit of Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park has been an area that multiple USGS PIERC researchers study in, including Dr. Steven C.

Shorebirds on the shoreline on a Fire Island, NY beach