Images

After 100 years of restricted tidal activity to support agricultural use and salt harvesting, the tidal marshes around San Francisco Bay, like this one at Bair Island, are steadily rebuilding, returning to a stunning mosaic of marsh, mudflat, and channels.

Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center's Aerial Imaging and Mapping rock stars preparing to fly Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) mission while a river of lava flows in the background

Relict Holocene coral-reef framework in the Florida Keys. Like many reefs in the western Atlantic, reefs here were just a few coral species: primary Acropora palmata and Orbicella spp. Recent disturbances have led to declines in the populations of those corals and relative increases in the abundance of more weedy taxa.

Acropora palmata coral-reef framework in the Dry Tortugas National Park, Florida Keys built more than 3000 years ago. That framework, which serves as the foundation for all of the critical ecosystem services reefs provide to society, is now rapidly eroding away.

Breaching of Fire Island, NY occurred during Hurricane Sandy in 2012 (Wilderness Breach). Wilderness Breach in 2018 as seen from a low angle, note the other side of breached island is in the distance.

A renourished dune with protective vegetation planted on the barrier island in Beach Haven, NJ

) R/V Petrel leaving the dock in Beach Haven, NJ to begin the geophysical survey in May 2018.

Chuck Worley (USGS) monitoring the real-time sonar data aboard the R/V Petrel during the geophysical survey in May 2018.

Nearshore geophysical mapping with sub-bottom sled (foreground), personal watercraft equipped with echosounders (background, water) and beach-based personnel (background, beach).

A pair of video cameras overlook the coast along a beach on Whidbey Island, Island County at the northern boundary of Puget Sound in western Washington. View looks west out into the Strait of Juan de Fuca.

Image from video camera overlooking the coast along a beach on Whidbey Island, WA. Every half hour during daylight hours, the camera shoots video for 10 minutes. This snapshot is the first frame in the 10-minute sequence.

Bright image: the brightest pixel values throughout the video, useful for identifying the position of maximum wave run-up on the beach, position of all breaking waves, and sea-state.

Subbottom profiler system towed on pontoons behind the R/V Petrel during the geophysical survey in May 2018

Timex (time-exposure) image: a time-averaged image of all frames, smoothing away surface waves and determining the location of persistent wave-breaking (indicative of shallow sandbars).

Dark image: the darkest pixel values throughout the video, useful for tracking sediment plumes, tracking floating debris, and filtering out breaking waves.

Captain Steve Evert (Stockton University) at the helm of the R/V Petrel during the geophysical survey in May 2018.  Captain Evert is also director of the Stockton University Marine Field Station and mentor to several students who joined the team for various parts of the geophysical and sampling surveys.

Variance image: the standard deviation of pixel intensity throughout the video, and it is useful for determining how much variation or movement is occurring at a given location.

Displays showing themultibeam-sonar data acquisition and the navigation system aboard the R/V Petrel during the geophysical survey in May 2018.

The Coastal Sediment Availability and Flux project conducts research and monitoring of sediment movement and coastal change at several barrier islands around the U.S.

USGS vessels and staff acquiring geophysical data in the nearshore. Collecting shoreface data in the water as close to the beach as possible is difficult with breaking waves. The USGS St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center adapted existing equipment for data collection in shallow water.

Container of mud from the Clarion-Clipperton Zone, an expanse of the deep Pacific seafloor rich in manganese nodules. Amy Gartman (USGS) and Phoebe Lam (University of California, Santa Cruz) will study chemical interactions between the mud and metals in seawater.