Images

You have to be able to have a little fun when in the field. A colleague from the Washington State Department of Ecology hams it up while prepping for a beach survey with scientists from the USGS Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center.

Photo of surf zone offshore of Fort Stevens State Park taken from the Columbia River South Jetty observation deck.

A map series showing a subset of the Puerto Rico bathymetric study area. Panels compare a “simple mosaic” formed by overlaying the most recent dataset on top of the older dataset (left panel) with the same dataset processed with the DEM fusion method (right panel).

A view looking north on Cocoa beach towards Kennedy Space Station. Coastal infrastructure and natural resources such as sediment and beach vegetation can all be affected by coastal change processes.

Strong storms such as hurricanes can cause drastic changes to coastal environments. For example, this large washover fan was created on Fire Island, New York in 2012 after Hurricane Sandy by waves moving sediment from the dunes and beach towards the back-barrier environment. 

Safety is a top priority. USGS staff recently improved access to field sites at the Herring River estuary within the Cape Cod National Seashore to provide safer paths through a phragmites wetland.

The west coast of the United States showing locations of EXPRESS ship-based multibeam surveys, ROV dives, AUV dives, and sediment samples. Red boxes show locations of close-up views of multibeam bathymetry in Figures 2 and 3.

Colored shaded-relief bathymetry including pockmarks offshore Morro Bay, California. Map generated from AUV-based multibeam bathymetry data collected by MBARI.

Colored, shaded-relief bathymetry of Trinidad Submarine Canyon northwest of Humboldt Bay in northern California. Area is in the vicinity of a potential offshore renewable energy development. See larger map for location.

Colored shaded-relief bathymetry including submarine channels and pockmarks offshore Morro Bay, California. Map generated from AUV-based multibeam bathymetry data collected by MBARI both prior to and as a part of EXPRESS.

Colored, shaded-relief bathymetry offshore central California. Data supported management of National Marine Sanctuaries and prospective renewable energy decisions. Black ovals are locations of AUV-based multibeam surveys. Close-up views of two AUV surveys are shown in Figures 4 and 5.

Instruments continue to collect vital data during workplace closures. Here staff perform maintenance on an eddy flux tower located within a phragmites wetland at the Cape Cod National Seashore. The instruments on this tower measure methane and CO2 fluxes related to plant and soil processes day in and day out for the entire year.

Image showing the distribution of usSEABED data output files US9_EXT (blue triangles) and US9_PRS (pink circles) around the continental United States, Hawai'i, and Puerto Rico.

Map of gas hydrate locations, known and inferred.  Browse graphic for ScienceBase data release, Preliminary global database of known and inferred gas hydrate locations. 

Marine technician Dan Powers, from the Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center's Marine Facility (PCMSC MarFac), wears all the required personal protective equipment: bib waders, personal floatation device, and mask.

When wetland plants in the northeast emerged this spring, USGS scientists were working from home and unable to start many planned research activities. However, many instruments were already deployed and continued to collect information critical to USGS research.

Section of a sediment core collected from the deepest basin of Lake Enriquillo in the Dominican Republic. USGS scientists are analyzing cores from the lake to reconstruct past changes in rainfall.

Cedar Island, Virginia is an uninhabited barrier that has migrated landward approximately 15-30 meters per year since 1984 due to its low sediment supply. The shoreface slope is gradual but almost entirely devoid of island sediment - both responses to its recent, rapid retreat. USGS scientists collect geologic and morphologic data from this island’s shoreface.

Rockaway Beach, New York is heavily developed, has seawalls and groins and is regularly nourished. It hasn’t changed much over 20 years. The shoreface is steep and sediment cover doesn’t extend far from shore—likely the result of being fixed in place for decades. USGS scientists collect geologic and morphologic data from this island’s shoreface.

Animation displays modeled beach profile elevation as it has evolved at Parramore Island, Virginia. These data are based on geomorphic investigation and measure distance (in kilometers) of cross-shore accretion. Q_S is the flux of sand to the beach, and Q_D is the flux of sand from the beach to the active dune.

Fire Island, New York is sparsely populated and regularly nourished, but has few modifications that impede natural sediment exchanges. Shoreface geomorphology reflects past periods of seaward progradation and alongshore extension resulting in a relatively sediment-rich shoreface. USGS scientists collect geologic and morphologic data from this island’s shoreface.