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USGS is forecasting Ian could cause significant coastal change in South Carolina, Georgia

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Hurricane Ian expected to cause significant change along Florida's Gulf Coast

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USGS prepares for Hurricane Ian

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Program Coordinator for Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Progam

Now Accepting Applications

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Coastal and Marine Mendenhall Postdoctoral Research Opportunities

Now Accepting Applications

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Deep-Sea Expedition with USGS, NOAA, and BOEM Explores West Coast Wind Sites

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Hurricane Florence Numerical Modeling

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USGS scientists publish a database of lidar derived topo-bathy cross-shore profiles and characteristics

U.S. Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico sandy coastlines

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Coral Reefs as National, Natural Infrastructure

USGS Research Geologist Curt Storlazzi explains how healthy coral reefs in places like the Caribbean and Pacific Islands serve as national, natural infrastructure

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Can coral restoration reverse long-term declines in coral reef growth?

New USGS-led research shows restoration could bring coral reef growth back to historic levels.

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Assembling a Seismic History of the southern San Andreas Fault beneath Salton Sea

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Featured Story: Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai Eruption

Massive Volcanic Eruption and Tsunami Informs Plan for Future Eruptions, Sea-level Rise

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Surprising tsunamis caused by explosive eruption in Tonga

An in-depth article on the unique event in the South Pacific

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Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program

Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program scientists and staff study coastal and ocean resources and processes from shorelines and estuaries to the continental shelf and deep sea.

Science Strategy

Coral reef and Loggerhead Key in Dry Tortugas National Park

CMHRP’s decadal science strategy for 2020-2030

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Science Data Catalog

Perspective view of northeast Channel Islands

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Sound Waves Newsletter

Four people on a boat with a metal frame.

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News

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USGS is forecasting Ian could cause significant coastal change in South Carolina, Georgia

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Hydrologic Restoration in Coastal Wetlands Enhances Climate Change Mitigation Benefits

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Coastal Resilience Project with USGS, Partners Receives Nearly $1 Million in Funds From NOAA

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Publications

Categorizing active marine acoustic sources based on their potential to affect marine animals

Marine acoustic sources are widely used for geophysical imaging, oceanographic sensing, and communicating with and tracking objects or robotic vehicles in the water column. Under the U.S. Marine Mammal Protection Act and similar regulations in several other countries, the impact of controlled acoustic sources is assessed based on whether the sound levels received by marine mammals meet the criteri
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Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program, Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center, Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center

Integrated modeling of dynamic marsh feedbacks and evolution under sea-level rise in a mesotidal estuary (Plum Island, MA, USA)

Around the world, wetland vulnerability to sea-level rise (SLR) depends on different factors including tidal regimes, topography, creeks and estuary geometry, sediment availability, vegetation type, etc. The Plum Island estuary (PIE) is a mesotidal wetland system on the east coast of the United States. This research applied a newly updated Hydro-MEM (integrated hydrodynamic-marsh) model to assess
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Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program, St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center

A machine learning approach to predicting equilibrium ripple wavelength

Sand ripples are geomorphic features on the seafloor that affect bottom boundary layer dynamics including wave attenuation and sediment transport. We present a new equilibrium ripple predictor using a machine learning approach that outputs a probability distribution of wave-generated equilibrium wavelengths and statistics including an estimate of ripple height, the most probable ripple wavelength,
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Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program, St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center
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Science

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Image: USCGC Healy in Heavy Ice Passing CCGS Louis S. St-Laurent

Delineating the U.S. Extended Continental Shelf

The United States has an interest in knowing the full extent of its continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles from shore (called the extended continental shelf, or ECS) so that it can better protect, manage and use the resources of the seabed and subsoil contained therein. The USGS contributes to the ECS effort through membership and leadership on the interagency U.S. ECS Task Force, a group...
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Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program, Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center, Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center
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Delineating the U.S. Extended Continental Shelf

The United States has an interest in knowing the full extent of its continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles from shore (called the extended continental shelf, or ECS) so that it can better protect, manage and use the resources of the seabed and subsoil contained therein. The USGS contributes to the ECS effort through membership and leadership on the interagency U.S. ECS Task Force, a group...
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Photograph of four airgun arrays towed behind R/V Marcus G. Langseth.

USGS Law of the Sea

The USGS Law of the Sea project helps to determine the outer limits of the extended continental shelf (ECS) of the United States. The ECS is that portion of the continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles. It is an important maritime zone that holds many resources and vital habitats for marine life. Its size may exceed one million square kilometers, encompassing areas in the Arctic, Atlantic...
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Natural Hazards, Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program, Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center, Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center
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USGS Law of the Sea

The USGS Law of the Sea project helps to determine the outer limits of the extended continental shelf (ECS) of the United States. The ECS is that portion of the continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles. It is an important maritime zone that holds many resources and vital habitats for marine life. Its size may exceed one million square kilometers, encompassing areas in the Arctic, Atlantic...
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View of beach from roof top, edge of roof in foreground, pier extending from beach out over water in center, park in background.

Remote Sensing Coastal Change

We use remote-sensing technologies—such as aerial photography, satellite imagery, structure-from-motion (SfM) photogrammetry, and lidar (laser-based surveying)—to measure coastal change along U.S. shorelines.
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Natural Hazards, Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program, Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center
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Remote Sensing Coastal Change

We use remote-sensing technologies—such as aerial photography, satellite imagery, structure-from-motion (SfM) photogrammetry, and lidar (laser-based surveying)—to measure coastal change along U.S. shorelines.
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