Images

Legna Torres-Garcia deploys oceanographic instrumentation to measure waves, currents, water temperature and water levels in Dorado, Puerto Rico in October 2022. This deployment will improve computer model accuracy related to total water level forecast. USGS Photo by David Thompson.

A map of the United States showing the regions and river basins that formed the focus groups of the study titled "Stakeholder Engagement to Guide Decision-Relevant Water Data Delivery".

A microscopic photo of the invasive foraminifer Trochammina hadai with a U.S. penny for scale. Native to Asia, T. hadai arrived to the U.S. West Coast in the 1980s and has displaced native foraminifers.

Cover image for Cascadia Subduction Zone coring video, depicting researchers labeling a sediment core aboard a research vessel.

Hurricane Ian made landfall in Southwest Florida as a Category 4 hurricane in September 2022 and impacted both the Gulf of America and Atlantic coasts. In Flagler County, Florida, large waves caused by the storm (on top of storm surge and tides) caused damage to coastal structures, dunes to erode, and roads to be overwashed with sand.

The M/V Bold Horizon, operated by Eclipse Group, Inc., was contracted by the USGS to support the collection of piston cores and geophysical survey data along the Cascadia margin.  

Jason Padgett and Pete Dal Ferro deploy a piston core from the aft deck of the M/V Bold Horizon in rough seas.

On the M/V Bold Horizon, Pete Dal Ferro and Jason Padgett deploy the piston core at sunset. 

USGS Ocean Science

The USGS Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program is the only federal science program focused on the geology and processes of coastal and marine landscapes.

Research command center on the vessel with live feed of the stern and the ship’s position projected on a bathymetric map.

USGS Coastal Science

The USGS Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program is the only federal science program focused on the geology and processes of coastal and marine landscapes.

Pete Dal Ferro and Chief Scientist Jenna Hill deploy a chirp sub-bottom profiler from the starboard deck of the M/V Bold Horizon.

On a whiteboard on the R/V Bold Horizon, researchers taped a vertical map showing the length of the Cascadia Subduction Zone in bathymetric detail. Many data gaps were filled by the cores collected during the research expedition.

George Snyder aboard the R/V Bold Horizon sits at the research command center, with monitors displaying the ship's aft deck and a bathymetric map of the seafloor

Sunset with the jumbo piston core on its track system on the aft deck of the M/V Bold Horizon.

Dan Powers, aboard the Bold Horizon, prepares to deploy a piston core over the Cascadia Subduction Zone, off the northern California coast.

USGS scientists Jin-Si Over and Sandy Brosnahan do final checks on UAS before taking off.

Potential coastal change impacts during a direct landfall of Hurricane Ian as of 11:00 am, Friday, September 30, 2022.

A six-image collage depicting various benefits of coastal areas: recreation and tourism; carbon storage; wave and flood protection; wildlife habitat; communities and commerce; and sustainable industries.

Potential coastal change impacts during a direct landfall of Hurricane Ian as of 8:00 am, Wednesday, September 28, 2022.

As part of the National Oceanographic Partnership Program (NOPP), USGS works with several partner agencies to increase our knowledge of how storms impact and shape our coasts.