Images

Bluff erosion during the 2009–10 El Niño undermined the Great Highway guardrail at the southern end of Ocean Beach, San Francisco, California. The shoreline eroded, on average, 55 meters that winter, leading to lane closures on the highway and an emergency $5-million revetment along the base of this bluff. Photo taken by Jeff Hansen, USGS, 20 January 2010.

Severe bluff erosion, along the southern end of Ocean Beach, San Francisco, California, including damage to the guard rail of the Great Highway (Calif. Hwy.1). The severe winter erosion led to lane closures of the highway and an emergency, $5 million revetment along the base of this bluff.

Severe coastal bluff erosion, along the southern end of Ocean Beach, San Francisco, California. This storm damage occurred during the 2009-2010 El Niño, which, on average, eroded the shoreline 55 meters that winter.

Severe coastal bluff erosion, along the southern end of Ocean Beach, San Francisco, California. This storm damage occurred during the 2009-2010 El Niño, which, on average, eroded the shoreline 55 meters that winter.

Top left: Seafloor photograph of a boulder, cobbles, and shell debris taken during the northern California ground-truthing cruise. Image is about 2 m (7 ft) across. Top right: Seafloor photograph of a rock outcrop covered with strawberry anemones, taken near Reading Rock in northern California.

 U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Healy breaks ice ahead of the Canadian Coast Guard Ship Louis S. St-Laurent on September 1, 2009. The two ships were part of a multi-year, multi-agency Arctic survey that will help define the North American continental shelf.

Canadian Coast Guard Ship Louis S. St. Laurent alongside U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Healy in the Arctic Ocean. The United States and Canada are mapping the Arctic seafloor and gathering data to help define the outer limits of the continental shelf in this region. 

The USGS Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center, located in Santa Cruz, California, owns and operates the research vessel R/V Parke Snavely to collect data and run surveys.

Aluminum roofs and debris transported behind the village of Tula on the east shore of American Samoa following the Tsunami that hit the island on Sept. 29, 2009. The tsunami runup was 16-26 feet in Tula.

Tsunami flow depth at Alofau, American Samoa following the tsunami that hit the island on Sept. 29, 2009.

Tsunami flow depth indicator at Fagasa, American Samoa following the tsunami that hit the island on Sept. 29, 2009. Vegetation is brown where it was submerged by the tsunami and green above.

Car thrown into building in Pago Pago, American Samoa during the tsunami that struck the island on Sept. 29, 2009.

Boat thrown onto fish pond in Maloata, American Samoa following the tsunami that hit the island on Sept. 29, 2009.

Tsunami sand deposit at Alao, American Samoa following the tsunami on Sept. 29, 2009. Light colored sand deposited during the tsunami overlies darker soil that was there before the tsunami.

Marie Chan Kau, a staff member at American Samoa Community College and a member of the International Tsunami Survey Team, points to the maximum water level reached by the tsunami that struck American Samoa on Sept. 29, 2009. This spot, found in Fagasa, American Samoa, is about about 10 meters above sea level.

Sediment inundated a building in Pago Pago, American Samoa as a result of a Tsunami that struck the coast on Sept. 29, 2009.

Cars damaged by the tsunami in Fagasa, American Samoa. The tsunami hit the island on Sept. 29, 2009.

USGS oceanographer Bruce Jaffe standing next to a boat thrown ashore in Pago Pago, American Samoa by the tsunami that hit the island on Sept. 29, 2009.

The water from the tsunami that hit American Samoa on September 29, 2009 was strong enough to destroy homes and move large objects, such as the boulder pictured here.

Roof moved into the ocean in Fagasa, American Samoa following the tsunami that hit the island on Sept. 29, 2009.

Only the foundation of a house in Fagasa, American Samoa remains after the tsunami hit on Sept. 29, 2009.