Images

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.

Visualization of hydrodynamics around seagrass patch.

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).

Preview image of multi-channel seismic data collected by the USGS off the US Seaboard Atlantic as part of the US Extended Continental Shelf project.

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.

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the bubbles appear to nearly reach the sea surface, the methane contained in the bubbles would have dissolved and been replaced by other gases by the time the bubbles rise several hundred meters.

Perspective view of coastal bathymetry looking onshore, St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands, mapped using lidar and depicted with false-color, showing detailed submerged features, including coral reefs.

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.

Photo from a time-lapse camera looking eastward along the north shore of Barter Island, Alaska, on June 15, 2014. A video-camera station would capture even more detail about the processes that shape this coast.

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?).

State-of-the-art multibeam and bathymetric sidescan sonar systems collect high-resolution bathymetry and acoustic backscatter data.

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.

Deployment of an instrumented quadrapod off Martha’s Vineyard, November 2014.