Images

Tsunami wave field in the Bay of Bengal one hour after the M=9.1 Sumatra-Andaman earthquake on December 26, 2004. View looks to the northwest.

A field of giant sand waves, among the largest in the world, at the mouth of San Francisco Bay in California.

In the top image, taken in 1998, notice the pier, pier house, and the antebellum house. The bottom image shows the same location on August 31, 2005, two days after Hurricane Katrina made landfall. This photo shows the complete destruction of these landmarks.

Looking south over the coral reef surrounding Loggerhead Key, Dry Tortugas National Park. Dry Tortugas Lighthouse stands on Loggerhead Key. To the right in the background is Garden Key, where civil-war era Fort Jefferson is located.

Homes along the edge of the coast in Isla Vista, California, Santa Barbara County, face a short lifespan because of eroding bluffs that support them.

The Dungeness crab (Metacarcinus magister), whose range extends from the Aleutian Islands to the coast of California, is one of the species whose populations in San Francisco Bay have increased with a large-scale climatic shift that began in 1999. Photograph courtesy of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Stromatolites growing in Hamelin Pool Marine Nature Reserve, Shark Bay in Western Australia. Photo by Paul Harrison, Reading, UK, CC BY-SA 3.0

An International Tsunami Survey Team studying the effects of the December 26, 2004 tsunami on Indonesia“‘’’s island of Sumatra documented wave heights of 20 to 30 m (65 to 100 ft) at the island's northwest end and found evidence suggesting that wave heights may have ranged from 15 to 30 m (50 to 100 ft) along at least a 100-km (60 mi) stretch of the northwest coast.

As part of an international tsunami survey team, Andy Moore of Kent State University takes measurement of a snapped-off tree trunk in Leupueng, Aceh in 2005, shortly after the deadly tsunami struck the island of Sumatra.

In Leupueng, Indonesia, on the island of Sumatra, Dr. Guy Gelfenbaum measures the height of snapped-off tree trunks and sea level changes shortly after the December 26, 2004 earthquake and tsunami in the Indian Ocean.

A severely damaged home, or a portion of one, sits atop debris in Banda Aceh on the island of Sumatra. Damage was caused by a massive, highly destructive tsunami, triggered by a magnitude 9.1 earthquake just offshore of Sumatra, on December 26, 2004.

Boat carried inland by tsunami that struck Sumatra on December 26, 2004.

Photo taken about 100 meters inland at Kalmunai on Sri Lanka's east coast.

Tsunami sand deposit at Nilaveli Beach on the northeastern coast of Sri Lanka following the December 26th, 2004 earthquake and tsunami in the Indian Ocean. The sand deposited by the tsunami is light colored and overlies a pre-tsunami darker sandy soil.

Diagram of deep-seated landslide, from USGS Fact Sheet 3004–3072, “Landslide Types and Processes.”

Photograph of the Florida coastline shows storm damage after Hurricane Jeanne's passage.

Large-scale poster describing USGS work.

The USGS, in cooperation with Moss Landing Marine Laboratory, mapped the slopes of the Santa Barbara Channel using sonar. We combined this with deep sea drilling records and seismic records to make these maps.

Large-scale poster describing USGS work.

Large-scale poster describing USGS work.

The USGS studied air photos of the Big Sur coast taken in 1942 and 1994, in cooperation with the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) and the University of California at Santa Cruz (UCSC).

The Weedon Island Preserve is a 3,190-acre coastal system in Tampa Bay, Florida that is comprised of aquatic and upland ecosystems.

Dr. Christina Kellogg emerges from the submersible Delta after collecting coral samples in the Aleutian Islands in 2004.