Images

Cross section of a hydrothermal vent chimney from East Diamante Caldera in the Mariana volcanic arc, west Pacific Ocean, collected during a 2010 research cruise. Most of the sample is zinc sulfide.

Cross section of a hydrothermal vent chimney from East Diamante Caldera in the Mariana volcanic arc, west Pacific Ocean, collected during a 2010 research cruise. Most of the sample is zinc sulfide.

Sandra Brosnahan (USGS) collecting water samples (Long Island, NY).

Photo of researchers starting to take subcores from the giant box core

John Pohlman (USGS, left) and colleagues from the University of Alaska Fairbanks examine a sediment core retrieved through winter ice from the bottom of a lake in northern Alaska. Such cores are used to reconstruct methane emissions and climate history over the past 20,000 years.

Photograph of 6" and 4" subcores sampled from a giant box core.

Photo of researchers opening hoist, showing giant box core, on deck of the research vessel

Photo of subcore tubes inserted into mud before they are removed.

Photo of researchers positioning giant box core in hoist on deck of the research vessel

Photo of researchers looking at mud in the giant box core before beginning to take subcores

Photo of researchers looking at mud in the giant box core before beginning to take subcores

Photograph of planktic foraminifers collected from the sediment trap. Magnified 255x.

Bluff erosion during the 2009–10 El Niño undermined the Great Highway guardrail at Ocean Beach, San Francisco, California. The shoreline eroded, on average, 55 meters that winter, leading to lane closures on the highway and an emergency \$5-million revetment along the base of this bluff.

Bluff erosion during the 2009–10 El Niño undermined the Great Highway guardrail at the southern end of Ocean Beach, San Francisco, California. The shoreline eroded, on average, 55 meters that winter, leading to lane closures on the highway and an emergency \$5-million revetment along the base of this bluff. Photo taken by Jeff Hansen, USGS, 20 January 2010.

Map of the North American - Caribbean tectonic plate boundary. Colors denote depth below sea level and elevation on land. Bold numbers are the years of moderately large (larger than about M7) historical earthquakes written next to their approximate location. Asterisk - Location of the January 12, 2010 earthquake.

Severe coastal bluff erosion, along the southern end of Ocean Beach, San Francisco, California. This storm damage occurred during the 2009-2010 El Niño, which, on average, eroded the shoreline 55 meters that winter.

Severe bluff erosion, along the southern end of Ocean Beach, San Francisco, California, including damage to the guard rail of the Great Highway (Calif. Hwy.1). The severe winter erosion led to lane closures of the highway and an emergency, $5 million revetment along the base of this bluff.

We collect terrestrial (barrier island) and marine (nearshore and estuarine) sediment cores to ground-truth geophysical observations. These cores are used to understand the history of barrier island formation and erosion.

A methane seep in shallow Lake Qalluuraq on the Alaskan North Slope near the Native Village of Atqasuk breaks the water's surface during 2009 geophysical surveys

 U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Healy breaks ice ahead of the Canadian Coast Guard Ship Louis S. St-Laurent on September 1, 2009. The two ships were part of a multi-year, multi-agency Arctic survey that will help define the North American continental shelf.

Canadian Coast Guard Ship Louis S. St. Laurent alongside U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Healy in the Arctic Ocean. The United States and Canada are mapping the Arctic seafloor and gathering data to help define the outer limits of the continental shelf in this region.