Images

Pacific sand lance captured in a beach seine. Sand lance are a forage fish that underpin Puget Sound food webs and are intimately connected to Puget Sound beaches. The fish spend a portion of their time buried in the sand and eggs are laid on the upper beach, making healthy beaches critical to the success of this species.

Macroalgae, seagrass, and litter in West Falmouth Harbor, MA

USGS scientist Collin Smith, aboard USGS research vessel Dogfish, sets out a sampling net—called a lampara net—to capture nearshore fishes in a subtidal eelgrass bed in Eagle Harbor, Bainbridge Island, Washington.

Partially submerged eelgrass bed at low tide in Fay Bainbridge Park on Bainbridge Island, Washington. Eelgrass is an underwater plant that is a common sight on Puget Sound beaches when the tide is out. Healthy eelgrass indicates that water clarity is high.

On Bainbridge Island, Washington, USGS scientists (left to right) Theresa "Marty" Liedtke, Lisa Gee, Ryan Tomka, and Collin Smith hauling a sampling net—called a beach seine—over an eelgrass (Zostera marina) bed. Surf smelt and sand lance spawn on the upper intertidal areas of beaches in Puget Sound.

Scientists used a core from this Massive Starlet (Siderastrea siderea) coral colony in Dry Tortugas National Park to reconstruct ocean temperatures going back to 1837. Photo: USGS

Oblique onshore view of sea floor characterization map off Puʻukoholā Heiau National Historic Site and Kawaihae Harbor, Hawaiʻi.

Anti-fouling treatment is applied to a sensor on a platform about to be deployed off Fire Island, NY in 2012.  The data collected is part of a study of the coastal processes that mobilize and transport sediment in the region

 Sunrise with a recently deployed buoy measuring meteorological data off Fire Island, NY in 2012.  The data collected is part of a study of the coastal processes that mobilize and transport sediment in the region

PCMSC scientists Amy Foxgrover (left) and Leticia Hallas collect mud from a Smith-McIntyre grab sampler aboard R/V Parke Snavely to study sediment sources and redistribution within San Francisco Bay.

Map showing the thickness of a relatively young Pleistocene outwash lobe in meters mapped using chirp seismic-reflection profiles collected in 2011, overlain on acoustic backscatter imagery. Regional bathymetric contours are in meters.

Numerical model grids showing downscaling from larger regional grid (far right) to more refined coastal grid (left). Colors are bathymetry (m).

Example of a rip current experiment. Colors show bathymetry and arrows show velocity vectors after 1 h of model simulation. Similar to results in Kumar and others, 2012.

Oblique aerial photographs of Ocracoke Island, NC, from May 6, 2008 (top, pre-storm) and August 30, 2011 (bottom, post-storm, acquired three days after landfall of Hurricane Irene). The yellow arrow in each image points to the same feature. Overwash deposits of sand extend over the road after the storm.

Upper image: Oblique aerial photograph near Rodanthe, NC, looking south along the coast on August 30, 2011, three days after landfall of Hurricane Irene. Center: Oblique aerial photograph of central part of upper image from May 6, 2008, pre-storm; and August 31, 2011, post-storm. The yellow arrow in each image points to the same cottage.

Upper image: Oblique aerial photograph of Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge, NC, looking north along the coast on August 30, 2011, three days after landfall of Hurricane Irene.

Map showing Holocene (modern) sediment thickness in meters overlain on bathymetry. Regional bathymetric contours are in meters. Note the shoreface-attached sand ridges west of Watch Hill.

Cape Hatteras, N.C.

Oceanographic equipment recovery 

Bird's-eye view map of a section of the seafloor off southern California, made with depth data. The map shows a channel wall that has been cut by the San Diego Trough fault and moved about 20 meters. This feature is about 1,000 meters below sea level.