Images

USGS studies the growth rates of corals at a network of coral growth assessment stations throughout Buck Island National Monument in St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands. These data provide resource managers with information needed to understand how coral populations are doing in the park.

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) recently installed camera systems and wave buoys in Dorado and Isla Verde, Puerto Rico to assist scientists with monitoring and predicting coastal change. The cameras provide near-real time images that can be viewed online.

Two U.S. Geological Survey scientists set-up equipment to survey a beach in Dorado, Puerto Rico. This equipment will monitor how the beach and shoreline change through time. USGS Image. 

Dos científicos del Servicio Geológico de los Estados Unidos instalando un equipo para sondeos de una costa en Dorado, Puerto Rico. Este equipo monitoreará como la playa y la línea costera cambian a través del tiempo. Imagen de USGS. 

The SQUID-5 system sits on the deck of the R/V Sallenger USGS research vessel. It is being used to image the seafloor off of Looe Key, FL.

The R/V Sallenger tows the structure-from-motion quantitative underwater imaging device with 5 cameras (SQUID-5) across the water over Looe Key Reef in the Florida Keys.

Two divers from the CREST research team float underwater near Looe Key, FL to survey fish, urchins, and sponges. 

The SQUID-5 system is pulled behind the USGS research vessel the R/V Sallenger near Looe Key. The SQUID-5 is taking images of the seafloor which will be made into 3-dimensional models.

Studying Seafloor Erosion in the Florida Keys

The challenge:

Coverage area for the topo-bathy profiles and their morphologic characteristics across the Atlantic and Gulf coastlines.

When carbonate production is high, coral reefs grow, providing more habitat for biodiversity and additional coastal protection. When carbonate production is too low, bioerosion becomes dominant and the reef is eroded, decreasing the amount of habitat available.

Hurricane tracks for Hugo (1989), Georges (1998), Irma (2017) and Maria (2017). Data provided by NOAA. Base image is intellectual property of Esri and is used herein under license. Copyright Esri and its creator. 

Dr. Christopher G. Smith pumps water from a submarine groundwater well on the seafloor through tubing to the R/V Halimeda and uses an instrument called a YSI to measure salinity and ensure the wells are working properly and producing groundwater.

Dr. Christopher G. Smith pumps water from a submarine groundwater well on the seafloor through tubing to the R/V Halimeda and uses an instrument called a YSI to measure salinity and ensure the wells are working properly and producing groundwater.

USGS scientific diver BJ Reynolds examines a submarine groundwater well on the seafloor before hooking up the well to a pump on the surface to ensure the wells are working properly and producing groundwater.

USGS scientific diver BJ Reynolds next to a submarine groundwater well on the seafloor. Tubing was hooked up the well to pump groundwater to the surface to ensure the wells are working properly and producing groundwater.

Dr. Christopher G. Smith pumps water from a submarine groundwater well on the seafloor through tubing to the R/V Halimeda and uses an instrument called a YSI to measure salinity and ensure the wells are working properly and producing groundwater.

Restored staghorn coral (Acropora cervicornis) at Looe Key reef in the lower Florida Keys outplanted by Mote Marine Laboratory's coral restoration program.

Our coasts, the most familiar part of the ocean are the gateway to the larger deeper ocean world. USGS studies processes and hazards in the coastal zone and how they affect people, wildlife, and ecosystems.

Photograph of the SPCMSC Core Laboratory’s storage stacks. The SPCMSC Core Laboratory is an archive that houses a collection of nearly 3,000 cores collected by the center and Federal, State, and university partners. These cores have been sampled from diverse study areas including coral reefs, wetlands, beaches, and marine environments from around the world.

The U.S. Geological Survey is conducting research to guide the restoration and recovery of threatened corals in Dry Tortugas National Park and throughout the western Atlantic. Shown here are two colonies of the threatened elkhorn coral, Acropora palmata, with a colony of staghorn coral, Acropora cervicornis, in the center.