Images

Enlarged from previous figure, this map shows a string of basins along the fault and offset of the south wall of the Yakobi Sea Valley. Line A–B marks the location of multichannel seismic-reflection profile.

Multichannel seismic-reflection profile showing sediment layers beneath the seafloor disrupted by the Queen Charlotte-Fairweather fault near Cross Sound. The profile is approximately 16 kilometers across, and it extends approximately 370 meters beneath the seafloor. See related multimedia below, for the location of this profile.

Relative seagrass biomass in West Falmouth Harbor, MA, under current and potential future nitrogen loading scenarios. Seagrass biomass increases in western (seaward) portions of the harbor while eastern (landward) areas see new colonization by seagrass.

Dr. Laura Brothers preparing to collect visual imagery aboard the RV Rafael as part of the launch of the MiniSEABOSS while doing work off of Nantucket. The MiniSEABOSS collects samples, photos and video of the seafloor.

USGS scientist Owen Brenner walks across the Fire Island wilderness breach carrying a GPS backpack that allows him to collect precise elevation data in the shallows.

The relatively new camera stations at Santa Cruz and Madeira Beach have not yet imaged many rip channels, so this is an example from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Field Research Facility in Duck, North Carolina. In this time-averaged image from video taken September 1, 2015, the dark horizontal bands perpendicular to the beach indicate rip channels.

Peter Swarzenski doing fieldwork on Alaska’s Barter Island, summer 2015 

 Scanning electron microscope image of gas hydrate crystals in a sediment sample. The scale is 50 micrometers (µm) or approximately 0.002 inches

Storm induced erosion of marsh shorelines can provide significant quantities of sediment to the bay altering the deposition patterns.

Measuring seagrass biomass in Chincoteague Bay, Maryland to constrain numerical models.

Flood tidal shoal at Barnegat Inlet, New Jersey (courtesy USGS EROS NAIP orthophotography)

Box-cores provide a relatively undistributed look into the recent past to help better understand the processes contributing to sediment deposition and erosion.

Flood maps from Our Coast, Our Future showing Stinson Beach today (slide 1); with a 50-centimeter sea-level rise (slide 2); and when an annual storm strikes in addition to 50-centimeter sea-level rise (slide 3). Green patches are low-lying areas prone to flooding.

Near vertical (top, middle) and low angle oblique (bottom) aerial photographs of Rodanthe, North Carolina. View looking west along the North Carolina shore. High waves and storm surge from Hurricane Joaquin eroded the beach, exposing the pilings of the homes to wave attack (green and orange arrows).

Near vertical (top, middle) and low angle oblique (bottom) aerial photographs of Salvo, North Carolina. View looking west along the North Carolina shore. Waves and surge from Hurricane Joaquin eroded the beach, causing significant shoreline retreat and a narrower beach, leaving deposits of darker sand at the base of the dune (green arrow).

USGS pilot Sandy Brosnahan and Senate Pro Tempore Marc Pacheco discuss the use of Umanned Aerial Systems (UASs, also known as drones) to collect data in coastal environments. Photo credit: Dann Blackwood, USGS.

Conceptual diagram showing the structure of the Bayesian network used to assess potential sea-level rise impacts on the coastal landscape.

Problem statement, objectives, and alternative actions defined by Department of Interior  collaborators using structured decision making framework

Illustration of the NIMBBLE (New instrument for making bottom boundary layer evaluations). The NIMBBLE is a low-profile platform with two acoustic Doppler velocimeters and an upward-looking acoustic Doppler profilers.

USGS staff and the ship's crew of the R/V Sharp prepare to deploy a deep-water multibeam echosounder during a mapping program in the mid-Atlantic in 2015.

Science crew aboard R/V Marcus G. Langseth. Ray Sliter (Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center) and Deb Hutchison (Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center) shown at far left.