Coasts

All combined, the United States coastline is almost 100,000 miles long. Coastal areas are home to more than 40% of the population and support critical habitat for wildlife. USGS scientists work to better understand these dynamic ecosystems to help safeguard coastal communities and conserve valuable resources.

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Our Nation’s coastlines are almost 100,000 miles long. These extensive coastal areas stretch from Maine’s Atlantic shores in the northeast, south along the shores of the Gulf of Mexico and insular areas in the Caribbean. Toward the west, Pacific coastal areas include the shores of California, Oregon and Washington as well as Alaska, Hawai’i and insular areas in the Pacific Islands. The Nation’s coasts also include areas surrounding the Great Lakes, one of the largest freshwater ecosystems in the world. Altogether, our coasts are home to more than 40 percent of the population and support critical habitat for wildlife. USGS coastal scientists work to better understand these dynamic ecosystems to help safeguard coastal communities and conserve valuable resources. View Media.

At the Department of the Interior, our mission is to ensure that our coasts are healthy and resilient, valued and prosperous, safe and accessible for current and future generations.

USGS science supports resilient coastal areas by providing information and tools that can be used by decision makers to conserve and sustainably use our coastal landscapes and resources, as well as to develop collaborative science-based management plans to manage activities responsibly.

Stats about USGS coastal science over a blue tinted aerial image of a mountainous coastline. Full text in caption. — The USGS Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program is the only federal science program focused on the geology and processes of coastal and marine landscapes. View Media.

Coasts are productive and diverse landscapes that link land and ocean and support critical ecosystems, local communities and economies. Much of our population lives near and relies upon coastal environments for commerce through shipping and navigation, offshore energy, fisheries and other food sources, tourism, recreation and more. These areas also provide places for national security infrastructure such as naval bases, protection from storms, and carbon sequestration.

Panoramic view of Weedon Island Preserve in Florida, showing the wide range of aquatic and upland ecosystems on the coast — Coastal environments like Weedon Island Preserve in Tampa Bay, Florida help protect rich natural and cultural resources for current and future generations.

With climate change, sea-level rise, and more frequent and intense storms, there is an increasing need for trusted USGS coastal research and tools. Our scientists provide the knowledge and understanding needed to sustain our coastal areas and ensure they will continue to be safe, accessible, and productive into the future.

To address our constantly changing and adapting coastal landscapes, the USGS conducts a wide range of research and monitoring along our coasts. A few examples include:

Using satellite imagery to track changing shorelines,
Conducting mapping efforts to characterize the shoreface and sediment supply, and
Monitoring ecosystems, animal movement, water quantity and quality, and coastal change processes.

This work helps to understand and predict coastal change and associated hazards so our Nation’s coastal communities, infrastructure, plants and wildlife can adapt to a changing world along with the coastal ecosystems on which they rely.

Coasts

Explore Coastal Topics:

COASTS 101

CLIMATE

COASTAL CHANGE

COASTAL ECOSYSTEMS

COASTAL HAZARDS AND RESILIENCE

WETLANDS AND ESTUARIES

U.S. Geological Survey

U.S. Department of the Interior