Images

Area map of National Seafloor and Habitat Mapping Studies-Atlantic

Photo collage of the shoreline, beaches, and dunes at Fire Island

Children measure water salinity to learn about climate warming and how it affects wetlands. 

From left to right: Associate Director for Core Science Systems Kevin Gallagher, Research Oceanographer Rich Signel, and Chief, Office of Enterprise Information/Associate Chief Information Officer Tim Quinn.

Marine geology enthusiasts at the Council for Geoscience (CGS) conference.

Elkhorn corals (Acropora palmata) on the seafloor along the northeastern coast of Buck Island, U.S. Virgin Islands, have died and collapsed into rubble. As coral reef structure degrades, habitat for marine life is lost and nearby coastlines become more susceptible to storms, waves, and erosion.

Healthy elkhorn coral (Acropora palmata) on the seafloor along the southeastern coast of Buck Island, U.S. Virgin Islands. Elkhorn coral is one of many important reef-building species that create 3D structure on the seafloor. Coral reef structure provides habitat for marine life and helps break up waves as they approach the coastline.

Gas hydrate (white material) binding together coarse-grained sediments made up of pebble-sized rocks. This sample was recovered during a project to explore permafrost-associated gas hydrates in Canada’s Mackenzie Delta.

Eroding bluffs on Moss Landing State Beach, California, March 2016

Perspective views of multibeam bathymetry data acquired by the USGS aboard the R/V Medeia. Shallower depths in red. Arrows point to the distinct line in the seafloor associated with the Queen Charlotte-Fairweather fault.

Resurrection Bay on August 8, 2016. The water appeared calm in the shelter of the inner bay, but closer to the entrance, swells coming in from the Gulf of Alaska were breaking on a small beach where the three boaters had capsized.

Left: Key features in and around the Gulf of Alaska. A black rectangle outlines our 2016 study area along the Queen Charlotte-Fairweather fault. Red arrows indicate relative tectonic plate motions. Right: A shaded relief map of the 2016 study area. Rainbow colors show seafloor depths acquired by the USGS in 2015 and 2016. Red indicates shallower depths.

USGS Wetland and Aquatic Research Center's Coastal Wetlands Planning, Protection and Restoration Act (CWPPRA) outreach office staff were on hand at the World Wetlands Day celebration hosted by the Bayou Terrebonne Waterlife Museum and South Louisiana Wetlands Discovery Center as local students learned about the different types of wetlands in Louisiana.

Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center Oceanographer, Neil Ganju, sharing science at the 2017 Woods Hole Science Stroll outreach event

Gerry Hatcher (left) and Shawn Harrison work on their video-camera station atop a hotel in Santa Cruz, California.

Map of Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, N.J., marsh shoreline change rates.

Basemap of the United States with an overview image of elevation models

Authigenic carbonate supplies the foundation for deep-sea corals, including colonies of bubblegum corals (Paragorgia) seen here. 
 

(A) Maximum Likelihood Classification (MLC) with two inputs, slope, and ISO-classified backscatter for the whole survey area. (B) MLC with five inputs, slope, ISO-classified backscatter, bathymetry, hillshaded-relief, and curvature.

USGS research oceanographer Neil Ganju shares a time-lapse video showing salt marsh erosion.

Gerry Hatcher with the system he designed to record the precise time and geographic location of each air photo Van Wagenen shoots.