Images

USGS oceanographer Li Erikson speaks at a community outreach event on Barter Island, Alaska, to present results from earlier USGS studies and to discuss ongoing USGS research.

For a short study period, two video cameras overlooked the coast from atop the coastal bluff of Barter Island in northern Alaska. The purpose was to observe and quantify coastal processes such as wave run-up, development of rip channels, bluff erosion, and movement of sandbars and ice floes.

USGS scientist Cordell Johnson points to the Raspberry Shake, a sensitive instrument used to detect ground shaking. Johnson mounted the Raspberry Shake to an aluminum pole which he will then drive into the ground to bury the instrument beneath the tundra. This process will help isolate it from the wind.

This device, called a Raspberry Shake, is a sensitive instrument used to detect ground shaking. It is being carefully buried in this shallow hole in the tundra, to isolate it from wind.

Photograph of the actively eroding coastal permafrost bluff on Barter Island, located on the northern coast of Alaska.

Scientists Cordell Johnson, left, and Li Erikson stand atop the coastal bluff of Barter Island in northern Alaska, a coastal area that is experiencing very high rates of erosion.

View looking east of the actively eroding coastal permafrost bluff on Barter Island, which is located on the northern coast of Alaska.

USGS PCMSC vessel Jewell, shown on its towing trailer in the wareyard of MarFac in Santa Cruz, CA.

A winding strip of rainbow colors shows the bathymetry (depth) of the bed of the Mokelumne River just above its confluence with the San Joaquin in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta east of San Francisco Bay.

Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center's Aerial Imaging and Mapping Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) pilots, Emily Sturdivant (left) and Elizabeth Pendleton (right) working the night shift in Hawaii at the Kileaua volcano site.  

The Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center’s Samples Repository provides space and services for processing and sampling of materials and collections. Sample photography uses a Nikon¹ D90 SLR camera mounted to the ceiling directly above the layout table in the sample preparation area.

The Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center’s Samples Repository provides space and services for processing and sampling of materials and collections.

Providing situational awareness at night, Elizabeth Pendleton, Sandy Brosnahan, and Emily Sturdivant prepare for a UAS take-off

Underwater view of a loggerhead turtle being released with newly installed popoff ADL package (orange item on turtle’s back).

A loggerhead sea turtle is outfitted with a popoff ADL package (orange item affixed to turtle’s back) waiting in the boat to be released.

After 100 years of restricted tidal activity to support agricultural use and salt harvesting, the tidal marshes around San Francisco Bay, like this one at Bair Island, are steadily rebuilding, returning to a stunning mosaic of marsh, mudflat, and channels.

Lower Tubbs Island is a tidal marsh near Midshipman Point in northern San Pablo Bay, California, and is part of the San Pablo Bay National Wildlife Refuge. Historically, Tubbs Island was used as a club for duck hunters, protected by levees that could be opened with the tides to release salt water into the sloughs. In 1969, it was purchased by the Natu

A modern coral reef in Dry Tortugas National Park. There is little living coral and high rates of bioerosion. Photo taken under research permit number DRTO-2018-SCI-0005. Credit: Lauren Toth, USGS

Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center's Aerial Imaging and Mapping rock stars preparing to fly Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) mission while a river of lava flows in the background

Acropora palmata coral-reef framework in the Dry Tortugas National Park, Florida Keys built more than 3000 years ago. That framework, which serves as the foundation for all of the critical ecosystem services reefs provide to society, is now rapidly eroding away.

Relict Holocene coral-reef framework in the Florida Keys. Like many reefs in the western Atlantic, reefs here were just a few coral species: primary Acropora palmata and Orbicella spp. Recent disturbances have led to declines in the populations of those corals and relative increases in the abundance of more weedy taxa.