Images

Split-beam (EK60) sonar image of bubbles (green) in the water column at a seep site overlooking Baltimore Canyon on the U.S. Atlantic margin. Although the bubbles appear to nearly reach the sea surface, the methane contained in the bubbles would have dissolved and been replaced by other gases by the time the bubbles rise several hundred meters.

Map of the four ecoregions that make up the polar bear's range, plus a depiction of seasonal patterns of ice motion and distribution.

USGS researcher drills an instrument mount into a reef flat on Roi-Namur Island, Kwajalein Atoll, Republic of the Marshall Islands, in the Pacific Ocean. Photo by USGS.

Inundated marsh at Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, New Jersey.

R/V Marcus G. Langseth entering NY Harbor

State-of-the-art multibeam and bathymetric sidescan sonar systems collect high-resolution bathymetry and acoustic backscatter data.

Perspective view of coastal bathymetry looking onshore, St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands, mapped using lidar and depicted with false-color, showing detailed submerged features, including coral reefs.

Photo from a time-lapse camera looking eastward along the north shore of Barter Island, Alaska, on June 15, 2014. A video-camera station would capture even more detail about the processes that shape this coast.

Tidepool scenes of vibrantly colored sea stars could become a rarity as the Sea Star Wasting Disease spreads.

Bottom simulating reflector imaged in 2014 by the USGS along a seismic line acquired south of Hudson Canyon during the Extended Continental Shelf cruise.  Image provided by D. Hutchinson and reproduced from USGS Fact Sheet 3080.

Since Hurricane Sandy, we have developed techniques to monitor short-term changes to the upper beach where both storm impacts and subsequent beach recovery are easily observed and measured.

Rob Thieler (left), Laura Brothers, and David Foster pull in a cable containing underwater microphones after completing a seismic survey in 2014.

Jenny driving R/V Parke Snavely from the rear of the vessel in order to deploy an underwater towed camera sled.

Photograph shows a USGS ATV equipped with GPS, ready to collect topographic data on Seacliff Beach in Aptos, California.

Map view. Colored shaded-relief bathymetry map of Offshore of Half Moon Bay map area, generated from multibeam echosounder data. Colors show depth: reds and oranges indicate shallower areas; light blues, deeper areas. Illumination azimuth is 300°, from 45° above horizon.

Map showing the distribution of physiographic zones within the Buzzards Bay study area. The physiographic zone classification is adapted from Kelley and others (1998), and the zones are delineated on the basis of sea-floor morphology and the dominant texture of surficial material.

A flow tripod (taller, right) and sonar tripod (smaller, left) at the dock before being loaded onto a ship and taken to a site off Fire Island for deployment.

Acoustic backscatter data show the intensity of an acoustic pulse off the seafloor and back to a ship. Brighter tones indicate a strong intensity (possibly harder seafloor?), while darker ones indicate a weaker intensity (possibly softer seafloor?).

Example of a high-resolution seismic-reflection profile collected by the USGS offshore of Point Sal. The profile shows a cross-section of the earth's crust down to about 240 meters. The dashed red lines show the Hosgri Fault Zone, part of a strike-slip fault system that extends for about 400 kilometers along the California coast from Point Arguello to Bolinas.

Visualization of hydrodynamics around seagrass patch.

Preview image of multi-channel seismic data collected by the USGS off the US Seaboard Atlantic as part of the US Extended Continental Shelf project.