Images

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.

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

Aerial shot of Nauset Beach in Orleans, Massachusetts.

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

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

Tribal GIS Workshop participanats.

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

 An instrumented bottom lander is deployed south of Martha's Vineyard, MA in 2014 as part of the “Bottom Stress and the Generation of Vertical Vorticity Over the Inner Shelf” project.

PCMSC scientists maneuver the camera sled for deployment off R/V Parke Snavely in Monterey Bay. They will navigate the camera sled just above the seafloor to get a close-up view. Video, photographs, and real-time observations of seafloor geology and biological cover help develop and verify the maps created from sonar data.

USGS Pacific Ocastal and Marine Science Center's research vessel R/V Parke Snavely motors into Santa Cruz Harbor. The lighthouse, also known as the Santa Cruz Breakwater Lighthouse, was remodeled and renamed the Walton Lighthouse on June 9, 2002.

Jenny White driving the USGS research vessel (R/V) Parke Snavely in November 2014 near the entrance to the Santa Cruz Harbor in Santa Cruz, California.

View looks down from a bridge as USGS research vessel R/V Parke Snavely passes beneath.

USGS Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center's research vessel Parke Snavely motors slowly up into the Santa Cruz Yacht Harbor where she docks.

The USGS research vessel, R/V Parke Snavely, passes under a bridge near the Santa Cruz Harbor where she docks. Snavely is owned and operated by the USGS Pacific Coastal and Mairne Science Center in Santa Cruz, California.

Photograph shows a USGS scientist navigating an all-terrain vehicle equipped with GPS, collecting topographic data on Rio Del Mar State Beach in Aptos, California. Gathering this type of information helps USGS scientists to document the changes in beach and nearshore morphology (or form and structure), caused by seasonal variations and storms.

A USGS scientist guides a personal watercraft toward Seabright Beach near the Santa Cruz Harbor entrance during bathymetric surveys.

Panoramic view from the cliffs above the San Lorenzo River and east of the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk and Main Beach. Santa Cruz municipal pier and other buildings are visible in the background.