Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program
Maps
The Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program creates geologic maps of coastal and submarine areas as well as complementary geospatial data products that can be used to assess resources, hazard potential, and support a wide range of model applications.
Expanding Pacific Exploration and Research
Less than 20% of the world's oceans have been explored. A global initiative seeks to change that, by pledging to complete detailed mapping of 10% of the seafloor by the year 2030. The United States is contributing to this effort in part through a collaborative team of federal, state, and nongovernment organizations to map, explore, and characterize waters along the US Pacific coast...
National UVVR Map
This map shows the unvegetated and vegetated area of coastal wetlands and adjacent land (inland and shorelines) for the Conterminous United States computed from 2014-2018 Landsat imagery at ~30 meter horizontal resolution.
Future Coastal Flooding
Prediction of Flooding Now and Into the Future: a geonarrative on coastal storms
Coastal Change in Alaska
Alaska's north coast has been home to indigenous communities for centuries. Changing coastlines threaten important infrastructure and historic sites that support indigenous communities. Changing coastlines also can potentially reduce habitat for Arctic wildlife, such as polar bears, shorebirds, and walruses. Oil- and gas-related development sites and U.S. Department of Defense installations
The Role of U.S. Coral Reefs in Coastal Protection
U.S. Geological Survey research on flood protection provided by coral reefs. This is a story map that introduces research to understand the role of US coral reefs in coastal protection.
Coastal Storms
U.S. Geological Survey scientists study our coasts to understand how they respond to storms today. But rising sea levels and a changing climate will alter these natural cycles in the future. This geonarrative features research used to predict flooding now and into the future.
National Shoreline Change
Exploring Shoreline Positions of the United States From the 1800s To The Present. Beach erosion is a chronic problem for many coastal areas of the United States. This geonarrative explains how the USGS derives shorelines from various data
sources, and how shoreline change rates are generated from these data.
Real-Time Forecasts of Coastal Change
U.S. Geological Survey researchers develop tools to forecast coastal change hazards. This geonarrative features research and tools developed to forecast real-time coastal change.
Barrier Islands
U.S. Geological Survey Researchers Monitor Barrier Islands. This geonarrative features research used to monitor Barrier islands which are narrow stretches of sand deposited parallel to the shoreline, are inherently valuable ecosystems. They protect estuaries and lagoons that help reduce coastal erosion, purify the water, and provide habitat for fish and birds.
Our Coasts
USGS Coastal Change Hazards research provides scientific tools to protect lives, property, and the economic well being of the Nation. The mission of the USGS Coastal Change Hazards Program is to provide research and tools to protect lives, property, and the economic well-being of the Nation. This is a story map that introduces the value of our coasts and the threats they face with global change.
Coastal Wetlands: The State and Future of a Precious Resource
Coastal wetlands, and salt marshes specifically, are simultaneously geomorphic and biologic systems. They proliferate across a narrow range of elevation, water level, and salinity conditions. Salt marshes rely on their own growth and sediment input to maintain or increase their extent, whereas physical forces such as waves and sea-level rise tend to reduce it.
California Seafloor Mapping Program
The California Seafloor Mapping Program (CSMP) is a cooperative program to create a comprehensive coastal and marine geologic and habitat base map series for California's State waters. Initiated in 2008, the CSMP has collected bathymetry and backscatter data that are being turned into habitat and geologic base maps.