Images

Lab technicians create written descriptions of sediment cores, referencing Munsell chart colors and standard phrases.

Sediment cores may be subsampled for further processing and analysis in other labs, like the Sediment Lab which is across the hall from the Core Lab.

The first stop for many sediment cores is the Geotek MSCL or multi-sensor core logger. The logger automatically measures P-wave velocity, magnetic susceptibility, electrical resistivity, and gamma density at intervals from 1 millimeter to 1 centimeter along cores up to 1.5 meters long.

This is the Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center's Sediment Prep Lab, where sediment samples and core subsamples are prepared for analyses.

Our fume hood lab allows for sample preparation in safe conditions.

In the core lab, the Geotek core splitter cuts sediment cores in half lengthwise using oscillating saws and a wire cutter.

We spin down a sample of sediment that's mixed with distilled water in a centrifuge. This separates the sediment from the water at the bottom of the sample bottle, and we pour off most of the water. This process removes dissolved salts.

For some projects, scientists want to calculate sediment settling velocity and need to measure particle size using gravity. We use custom-built settling tubes filled with water – three at 2 meters tall (like the one shown here) and one 3 meters tall.

In the carbon analysis laboratory, these three instruments (the UIC CM250) automatically analyze the total carbon, total organic carbon, and total inorganic carbon content of multiple dried sediment samples. 

This Dionex ASE 350 accelerated solvent extractor automatically extracts hydrocarbons for further analysis. We also have a Zymark TurboVap II for sample preparation (not shown).

Andrew Stevens runs a personal watercraft rigged with sonar and precision GPS to survey northern Monterey Bay, California.

Alex Snyder (left) and SeanPaul La Selle stay in radio contact with a personal watercraft operator offshore in order to provide supplies and safety near Moss Landing, California. 

The refrigerated sample repository of the USGS Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center in Santa Cruz, CA includes easily accessible shelving space which can store thousands of samples.

Gerry Hatcher (left) and Shawn Harrison adjust a computer controlling video cameras on the roof of the Dream Inn, a 10-story hotel overlooking Monterey Bay in Santa Cruz, California. Harrison uses the images to improve understanding and computer modeling of beach processes. 

Dan Hoover takes a break near Moss Landing, California. Dan drives the all-terrain vehicle seen behind him to rapidly survey long sections of beach using precision GPS. 

Shawn Harrison surveys beach topography using a backpack equipped with precision GPS at Zmudowski State Beach, California. The fog-shrouded Moss Landing Power Plant looms in the background. 

Dann Blackwood, Jon Borden, and Steve Suttles of USGS ready to install moorings in Wellfleet, Massachusetts. USGS scientists measure water velocity, water quality, suspended sediment, and many other values to improve computer models of wetland changes in coastal National Park Service units, including Cape Cod National Seashore.

Jackson Currie maps ocean depths using a personal watercraft equipped with precision GPS and sonar near Capitola, California

Shawn Harrison surveys beach topography using a precision GPS backpack on Twin Lakes State Beach, California. USGS researchers have measured coastal sediment supply and transport patterns in northern Monterey Bay for five years. Twice each year they survey the coast from Santa Cruz to Moss Landing with a variety of devices.

University of Washington's research vessel R/V Barnes is loaded with the USGS multichannel seismic system components GeoEel, Chirp, and boom plates.

High-resolution (10-meter per pixel) digital elevation model (DEM) of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, using both bathymetry and topography data relative to current modern datum of North American Vertical Datum of 1988 (NAVD88). This DEM is the result of collaborative efforts of the U.S.