Images

Map view. Colored shaded-relief bathymetry map of Offshore of Half Moon Bay map area, generated from multibeam echosounder data. Colors show depth: reds and oranges indicate shallower areas; light blues, deeper areas. Illumination azimuth is 300°, from 45° above horizon.

Map showing the distribution of physiographic zones within the Buzzards Bay study area. The physiographic zone classification is adapted from Kelley and others (1998), and the zones are delineated on the basis of sea-floor morphology and the dominant texture of surficial material.

A flow tripod (taller, right) and sonar tripod (smaller, left) at the dock before being loaded onto a ship and taken to a site off Fire Island for deployment.

Acoustic backscatter data show the intensity of an acoustic pulse off the seafloor and back to a ship. Brighter tones indicate a strong intensity (possibly harder seafloor?), while darker ones indicate a weaker intensity (possibly softer seafloor?).

Example of a high-resolution seismic-reflection profile collected by the USGS offshore of Point Sal. The profile shows a cross-section of the earth's crust down to about 240 meters. The dashed red lines show the Hosgri Fault Zone, part of a strike-slip fault system that extends for about 400 kilometers along the California coast from Point Arguello to Bolinas.

USGS scientist Tim Elfers conducts a bathymetric (depth) survey from a personal watercraft with onboard GPS and echo sounder equipment, in Santa Cruz, California.

Locations of the 97 beaches and barrier islands where our partners used the iPlover app to collect and record information on landcover characteristics at piping plover nesting locations during the breeding seasons of 2014-2016.

A peat auger core collected from the back-barrier marsh of Assateague Island, Maryland. An inorganic-rich layer found at the top of the core was delivered to the marsh via Hurricane Sandy. Visual contrast in sediment down-core reveal similar layers as that observed at the top of the core (i.e., Hurricane Sandy layer).

Split-beam (EK60) sonar image of bubbles (green) in the water column at a seep site overlooking Baltimore Canyon on the U.S. Atlantic margin. Although the bubbles appear to nearly reach the sea surface, the methane contained in the bubbles would have dissolved and been replaced by other gases by the time the bubbles rise several hundred meters.

Tidepool scenes of vibrantly colored sea stars could become a rarity as the Sea Star Wasting Disease spreads.

Bottom simulating reflector imaged in 2014 by the USGS along a seismic line acquired south of Hudson Canyon during the Extended Continental Shelf cruise.  Image provided by D. Hutchinson and reproduced from USGS Fact Sheet 3080.

Since Hurricane Sandy, we have developed techniques to monitor short-term changes to the upper beach where both storm impacts and subsequent beach recovery are easily observed and measured.

Rob Thieler (left), Laura Brothers, and David Foster pull in a cable containing underwater microphones after completing a seismic survey in 2014.

This is an example of a lidar image created from the “point cloud” that shows objects’ reflectivity near the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk and the mouth of the San Lorenzo River.

Santa Cruz Main Beach and Boardwalk two days after a "Super Soaker" winter storm hit with 2.5 inches of rain in just a few hours' time.

Santa Cruz Main Beach and Boardwalk just before a "Super Soaker" winter storm hit with 2.5 inches of rain in just a few hours' time.

Offshore Sediment texture and Geomorphology

USGS Geographer Josh Logan sets up the lidar scanner near Capitola before the December 11, 2014 "Super Soaker" storm.

A digital still image can be overlaid onto the lidar “point cloud” data to give it a realistic 3D look.

Aerial shot of Nauset Beach in Orleans, Massachusetts.

Tribal GIS Workshop participanats.