Two red sea urchins (Mesocentrotus franciscanus) sit on the deck of the R/V Falkor. These sea urchins were collected during the #HuntingBubbles research cruise led by the USGS and Schmidt Ocean Institute, which focused on exploring and understanding methane seeps and the communities that depend on them along the Cascadia Margin.
Images
Two red sea urchins (Mesocentrotus franciscanus) sit on the deck of the R/V Falkor. These sea urchins were collected during the #HuntingBubbles research cruise led by the USGS and Schmidt Ocean Institute, which focused on exploring and understanding methane seeps and the communities that depend on them along the Cascadia Margin.
Marine geochemist Renee Takesue collects a sample of exposed mud in a marsh near Sonoma Creek, California. She will look here and in nearby San Pablo Bay for chemicals from the 2017 Nuns Wildfire that can harm wildlife. The stormy winter of 2018 may have transported these contaminants from the Sonoma Creek watershed into San Pablo Bay National Wildlife Refuge.
Marine geochemist Renee Takesue collects a sample of exposed mud in a marsh near Sonoma Creek, California. She will look here and in nearby San Pablo Bay for chemicals from the 2017 Nuns Wildfire that can harm wildlife. The stormy winter of 2018 may have transported these contaminants from the Sonoma Creek watershed into San Pablo Bay National Wildlife Refuge.
Photo looking north at the Napa River marsh where USGS scientists collected sediment in 2019.
Photo looking north at the Napa River marsh where USGS scientists collected sediment in 2019.
![A boat carrying lots of equipment motors out of a yacht harbor, waters are calm, engines churn up the water at the stern.](https://d9-wret.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/assets/palladium/production/s3fs-public/styles/masonry/public/thumbnails/image/IMG_20190611_080836.jpg?itok=m3YjIsje)
The PCMSC research vessel R/V Parke Snavely heads out of the Vallejo Marina on June 11, 2019 to deploy instrument frames in Grizzly Bay for the ERO19 study.
The PCMSC research vessel R/V Parke Snavely heads out of the Vallejo Marina on June 11, 2019 to deploy instrument frames in Grizzly Bay for the ERO19 study.
Lukas Winkler-Prins checks on the frame setup on June 10, 2019. This tripod has an RBR CTD, an RBR bursting pressure sensor, an RBR optical backscatter sensor, a LISST-200X, an altimeter, and two Nortek ADVs + Seapoint optical backscatter sensors, which will reveal information about water temperature and salinity, wave height and period, total s
Lukas Winkler-Prins checks on the frame setup on June 10, 2019. This tripod has an RBR CTD, an RBR bursting pressure sensor, an RBR optical backscatter sensor, a LISST-200X, an altimeter, and two Nortek ADVs + Seapoint optical backscatter sensors, which will reveal information about water temperature and salinity, wave height and period, total s
Aerial imagery (top) and structure-from-motion data (bottom) from an unmanned aerial system survey of the intertidal zone at Post Point, Bellingham Bay, WA, June 6, 2019.
Aerial imagery (top) and structure-from-motion data (bottom) from an unmanned aerial system survey of the intertidal zone at Post Point, Bellingham Bay, WA, June 6, 2019.
View of Capitola, California. Capitola is a city in Santa Cruz County, California on the coast of Monterey Bay.
View of Capitola, California. Capitola is a city in Santa Cruz County, California on the coast of Monterey Bay.
The USGS Pacific and Coastal Marine Science Center collected data to investigate sediment dynamics in the shallows of San Pablo Bay in two deployments: February to March 2011 (ITX11) and May to June 2012 (ITX12). This data release includes time-series data and grain-size distributions from sediment grabs collected during the deployments.
The USGS Pacific and Coastal Marine Science Center collected data to investigate sediment dynamics in the shallows of San Pablo Bay in two deployments: February to March 2011 (ITX11) and May to June 2012 (ITX12). This data release includes time-series data and grain-size distributions from sediment grabs collected during the deployments.
In the aftermath of the 2018 Carr Fire, northern California, sediment has eroded from burned hillslopes and accumulated in some areas of Whiskeytown Lake. A recent sediment deposit is shown here in the Whiskey Creek section of the lake.
In the aftermath of the 2018 Carr Fire, northern California, sediment has eroded from burned hillslopes and accumulated in some areas of Whiskeytown Lake. A recent sediment deposit is shown here in the Whiskey Creek section of the lake.
On March 25th, 2019, ocean engineer Rob Wyland of the Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center gave a tour and demonstration to roughly a dozen students from the engineering class he teaches at Cabrillo College, a local community college.
On March 25th, 2019, ocean engineer Rob Wyland of the Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center gave a tour and demonstration to roughly a dozen students from the engineering class he teaches at Cabrillo College, a local community college.
The boomer plate produces a repeatable pulse in the 1-6kHz frequency range using an electrodynamic transducer that can be powered by a capacitor discharge system.
The boomer plate produces a repeatable pulse in the 1-6kHz frequency range using an electrodynamic transducer that can be powered by a capacitor discharge system.
Computer images showing the coastal cliff area of Mud Creek on the Big Sur coastline, central California, where on May 20, 2017 a catastrophic landslide destroyed over 400 meters of scenic California State Highway 1. These illustrations show the changes to the digital surface models of Mud Creek during the three primary phases of the landslide: (
Computer images showing the coastal cliff area of Mud Creek on the Big Sur coastline, central California, where on May 20, 2017 a catastrophic landslide destroyed over 400 meters of scenic California State Highway 1. These illustrations show the changes to the digital surface models of Mud Creek during the three primary phases of the landslide: (
USGS photographs taken from a contracted small airplane are used to build three-dimensional representations of the hillslopes of Big Sur, California, as shown here for the Mud Creek landslide site in 2017. Blue symbols show the locations of individual photos obtained on the flight, and the gray area shows the hillslope landscape created from the photos using S
USGS photographs taken from a contracted small airplane are used to build three-dimensional representations of the hillslopes of Big Sur, California, as shown here for the Mud Creek landslide site in 2017. Blue symbols show the locations of individual photos obtained on the flight, and the gray area shows the hillslope landscape created from the photos using S
![A photo from the sky of a coastline showing areas of sediment and water as well as land features like roads.](https://d9-wret.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/assets/palladium/production/s3fs-public/styles/masonry/public/thumbnails/image/BarterIsOrthophoto20140701.jpg?itok=z3qiN4cj)
Aerial photographs were collected from a small, fixed-wing aircraft over the coast of Barter Island, Alaska on July 01 2014, September 07 2014. Precise aircraft position information and structure-from-motion photogrammetric methods were combined to derive a high-resolution orthophotomosaic.
Aerial photographs were collected from a small, fixed-wing aircraft over the coast of Barter Island, Alaska on July 01 2014, September 07 2014. Precise aircraft position information and structure-from-motion photogrammetric methods were combined to derive a high-resolution orthophotomosaic.
![Underwater map illustration shows a canyon carved into the seafloor and labeled with the location of instrument installations.](https://d9-wret.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/assets/palladium/production/s3fs-public/styles/masonry/public/thumbnails/image/MontCanyon2015Basemap.jpg?itok=utLXg5Jb)
Map of locations of instrument moorings where we collected time-series oceanographic data from the Monterey Canyon, offshore of Montery, California, from October 2015 - March 2017
Map of locations of instrument moorings where we collected time-series oceanographic data from the Monterey Canyon, offshore of Montery, California, from October 2015 - March 2017
![Maps of a waterway show eelgrass abundance and the tracklines followed to collect eelgrass data.](https://d9-wret.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/assets/palladium/production/s3fs-public/styles/masonry/public/media/images/bbay19_bathy_eelgrass_tracklines.jpg?itok=8bhQOyXj)
Maps show eelgrass distribution (left) along the tracklines followed by the boat (right).
Maps show eelgrass distribution (left) along the tracklines followed by the boat (right).
The USGS Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center's (PCMSC) small utility boat named Fast Eddy, shown here on the Mokelumne River in northern California.
The USGS Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center's (PCMSC) small utility boat named Fast Eddy, shown here on the Mokelumne River in northern California.
Topography and bathymetry of southern Cascadia, which includes southern Oregon and northern California (seafloor depths between 200 and 3000 m are shown in the spectrum color scale from red (shallower) to purple (deeper). The land and continental shelf are shown in grayscale slope shading where darker colors represent steeper slopes.
Topography and bathymetry of southern Cascadia, which includes southern Oregon and northern California (seafloor depths between 200 and 3000 m are shown in the spectrum color scale from red (shallower) to purple (deeper). The land and continental shelf are shown in grayscale slope shading where darker colors represent steeper slopes.
![simulation model of wave driven flooding and island overwash](https://d9-wret.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/assets/palladium/production/s3fs-public/styles/masonry/public/media/images/coral_reefs_simulation_ab.jpg?itok=P4dW8RTN)
Reefs provide protection from waves and wave-driven flooding. A snapshot from the simulation of wave-driven flooding and island overwash for an annual storm at the Republic of the Marshall Islands is shown.
Reefs provide protection from waves and wave-driven flooding. A snapshot from the simulation of wave-driven flooding and island overwash for an annual storm at the Republic of the Marshall Islands is shown.
![Black smoke billows out of a crusty vent on the ocean floor.](https://d9-wret.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/assets/palladium/production/s3fs-public/styles/masonry/public/thumbnails/image/Mining1_Niua_sweet_footage2des.jpg?itok=B8gHHvic)
Mineral-laden water emerging from a hydrothermal vent on the Niua underwater volcano in the Lau Basin, southwest Pacific Ocean. As the water cools, minerals precipitate to form tower-like “chimneys.” Image taken during 2016 cruise “Virtual Vents.”
Mineral-laden water emerging from a hydrothermal vent on the Niua underwater volcano in the Lau Basin, southwest Pacific Ocean. As the water cools, minerals precipitate to form tower-like “chimneys.” Image taken during 2016 cruise “Virtual Vents.”