Images

USGS oceanographer Kurt Rosenberger prepares a mooring for deployment from the research vessel Rachel Carson on October 6, 2015. The tan, cone-shaped instrument is a sediment trap. Near the far end of the trap is a CTD (with small red tag) for measuring seawater conductivity (related to salinity), temperature, and depth.

Scientists deploy a mooring holding current meters and other instruments on October 6, 2015.

A large wave crashes on the reef at Laysan Island, located in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands.

Color hillshade image of terrain model of Barnegat Bay, New Jersey

Science outreach at Waquoit Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve.

U.S. Geological Survey scientist walks on a coastal bluff in Alaska.

This flooded airport runway used to be the main lifeline for inhabitants of Barter Island, Alaska, before it was relocated in response to consistent flooding.

This bathymetric grid represents approximately 3900 kilometers of bathymetric data collected in 2014. These data were collected using a dual-head R2Sonic 2024 multibeam echosounder (MBES) by Alpine Ocean Seismic Survey, Inc., during USGS field activity 2014-072-FA.

Photograph of an eroding coastal bluff on Barter Island on the northern coast of Alaska.

A time-averaged image from Duck, North Carolina, on September 1, 2015. Dark bands extending offshore from the beach show the rip current channels.

Left, Cordell Johnson drilling and coring the interior of the bluff to ground-truth geophysical methods. Right, a core section filled mostly with ice.

Time-averaged image, or “timex,” created by averaging the intensity of light recorded at each spot, or “pixel,” during a video taken at Duck, North Carolina, on September 1, 2015. Blurred white zones show where waves are breaking. Light band paralleling the shore marks an offshore sandbar. Dark bands extending away from the beach indicate rip channels.

Divers prepare patterns of known targets for verification of sonar resolution.

Tidally restricted wetland in the Herring River Estuary, Cape Cod, MA

USGS scientists walk through a tern colony on the Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge (MA). Here, these scientists are using ecogeomorphological models to predict how this refuge will be impacted by sea-level rise and how that will ultimately effect shorebirds.

We collect terrestrial (barrier island) and marine (nearshore and estuarine) sediment cores to understand the history of barrier island formation and erosion.

Scientists collect soil cores in coastal wetland by removing a section of peat, the organic-rich material that makes up salt marshes. After the soil is removed, water quickly fills in the void. This water-logged environment underground is devoid of oxygen and is an important reason that salt marsh peat preserves a record of historical changes.

Meagan Eagle, Research Scientists at the U.S. Geological Survey, collects an elevation point along the edge of Quivett Creek in Brewster, MA. This salt marsh was restored in 2005 by replacing a narrow culvert to allow full tidal flow once again.

Geophysicist Sam Johnson explaining details of the San Andreas fault zone at USGS offices in Santa Cruz.

Sam Johnson explaining details of the Hosgri fault zone at USGS offices in Santa Cruz.

Salt marsh grass grows in the restored marsh at Bass Creek, Yarmouth, MA.