Images

Animated GIF of a clamshell dredge in operation in San Francisco Bay, California, as part of the Shallow Water Strategic Placement Pilot Project.

Mud Creek slide seen from the air on February 22 2024, as part of USGS remote sensing data to track Big Sur landslides in 2024.

Cover image for sediment core lab video, showing core-lab walk-in refrigerator at the Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center.

Photo of a delta smelt being measured during a fish survey. The delta smelt is a federally endangered fish species found only in turbid waters of the San Francisco Estuary. 

Aerial photo of Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, which covers 1,100 square miles and provides water to the San Francisco Bay Area and coastal and southern California and supports dozens of legally protected fish, plant and animal species.

Illustration showing written physics equations blended with a photograph of Delta smelt.

Satellite derived coastlines in western Alaska, collected as part of the USGS Typhoon Merbok Disaster Emergency Recovery Efforts.

Map search display filtered to show recently added three-dimensional (3D) surveys, acquired between 1996 and 1998 within the Gulf of America. These surveys were permitted over 25 years ago and are therefore eligible for public release. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management protraction areas are labeled.

Perspective view of horizon mapping and fault attribute detection on two combined three-dimensional (3D) volumes located in the Santa Barbara Channel, offshore southern California. The horizons show various marker beds mapped throughout the volumes, providing insights into the 3D deformation patterns.

Donya Frank-Gilchrist (SPCMSC) manages the USGS booth at the recent SCDRP annual meeting to share USGS data and tools with community resilience partners and stakeholders.

Map showing location of Milbanke Sound and offshore study site at McGregor Cone, from the study "Where ice gave way to fire: deglacial volcanic activity at the edge of the Coast Mountains in Milbanke Sound, BC".

Aerial view of Ucluelet, Vancouver Island, British Columbia, showing coastal mountains along the Queen Charlotte Fault zone.

Diagram of glaciation and glaciovolcanism at Milbanke Sound, from the study "Where ice gave way to fire: deglacial volcanic activity at the edge of the Coast Mountains in Milbanke Sound, BC".

Subsidence area exposure for counties on the US east coast. A) Percentage of county’s land area affected by VLM < 0 mm per year. B) Percentage of county’s land area affected by VLM < −1 mm per year. C) Percentage of county’s land area affected by VLM < −2 mm per year. D) Percentage of county’s land area affected by VLM < −3 mm per year.

As sea-level rise accelerates, vegetation transitions are increasingly observed and USGS scientists are busy assessing those changes. Shoreline at the Cape Cod National Seashore in Wellfleet, MA.

Scientists at the USGS are installing sensors in Wellfleet MA, part of the Cape Cod National Seashore to evaluate the long-term and short-term chemical and geomorphic changes within wetlands. 

Scientists at the USGS are installing sensors in Wellfleet MA, part of the Cape Cod National Seashore to evaluate the long-term and short-term chemical and geomorphic changes within wetlands. 

Animated GIF showing waves breaking over a coral reef from above, illustrating how reefs act as natural breakwaters that dissipate wave energy.

Cover of Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center General Information Product, released on December 1, 2023.

USGS Scientists Caitlin Reynolds and Rosalie Cruikshank are aboard the R/V Pelican in the northern Gulf of America. They are preparing two sediment traps for deployment. Sediments are caught in the large area at the top of the funnels, then collected in a bottle at the bottom.

Hydrothermal chimneys at the Eastern Galapágos Spreading Center, from the expedition Ultra-Fine Scale Seafloor Mapping in October-November 2023.