Images

Study region along the Queen Charlotte-Fairweather fault offshore southeastern Alaska. Rectangles show locations of the two USGS-led marine geophysical surveys in May and August 2015. The third cruise was offshore Haida Gwaii, British Columbia, and southern Alaska in September 2015.

USGS scientist Lisa Robbins next to the research vessel (R/V) Atlantis, which is owned by the U.S. Navy and operated by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.

Picture shows United States Geological Survey scientist Beth Middleton and a lake in China. 

Peter Swarzenski doing fieldwork on Alaska’s Barter Island, summer 2015 

USGS research geologist Cheryl Hapke (center) explains to National Park Service manager Mike Bilecki (right) how instruments mounted on personal watercraft will measure depths in shallow water. USGS engineering technician BJ Reynolds is beside the watercraft.

The research vessel (R/V) Arcticus at its homeport, the Cheboygan Vessel Base in Cheboygan, Michigan.

USGS scientists collect sediment samples in a gas hydrates area during a cruise on the U.S. Atlantic margin in 2015.

Pamela Swarzenski from the USGS Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center sampling gas released by gas hydrate breakdown during a quantitative degassing aboard the drilling vessel Chikyu during the Indian Government’s National Gas Hydrates Program (NGHP-02) drilling expedition offshore from eastern India.

Junbong Jang of the USGS Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center measures index properties on sediment collected during the Indian Government’s National Gas Hydrates Program (NGHP-02) drilling expedition offshore from eastern India in the summer of 2015.

Engineering technician Tim Elfers of the USGS Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center navigates a personal watercraft (PWC) through waves offshore of central California. The PWC is equipped with sonar and GPS in order to map the nearshore seafloor.

Aerial images of the wilderness breach: a) Aerial photograph taken several days after Hurricane Sandy (photo credit: NOAA); b) Aerial mosaic of the breach in June 2015 showing the location of erosion on the ocean side of the breach and deposition that results in the seasonal formation of a spit (photo credit: Stonybrook University).

The effects of sea-level rise will vary by differences in the geomorphology and ecology of the landscape.  Images show marsh (top left) rocky coast (top right), barrier beach (bottom left), and coastal bluff (bottom right)

Map showing extent and coverage of coastal response type predictions; insets display different prediction types and geospatial variability through time. Predictions of coastal response likelihood for the four prediction time steps at Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge, VA.

Coastal area within the North Atlantic Landscape Conservation Cooperative region for which predictions have been generated.

Conceptual diagram showing the structure of the Bayesian network used to assess potential sea-level rise impacts on the coastal landscape.

Problem statement, objectives, and alternative actions defined by Department of Interior  collaborators using structured decision making framework

Healthy Elkhorn coral (Acropora palmata) near unpopulated Buck Island, U.S. Virgin Islands. Elkhorn coral is one of many important reef-building species that create 3D structure on the seafloor. Coral reef structure provides habitat for marine life and helps break up waves as they approach the coastline.

These Elkhorn corals (Acropora palmata) near Buck Island, U.S. Virgin Islands have died and collapsed into rubble. As coral reef structure degrades, valuable habitat for marine life is lost and nearby coastlines become more susceptible to storms, waves and erosion.

Cliff erosion is a common storm-induced hazard along the West Coast. Two condemned apartment buildings along Esplanade Avenue in Pacifica, California are shown here before their demolition in 2016 and 2017.

Near vertical (top, middle) and low angle oblique (bottom) aerial photographs of Oregon Inlet, North Carolina. View looking west along the North Carolina shore. High waves and storm surge from Hurricane Joaquin eroded the beach and inundated the low area in the backshore at Oregon Inlet (A, green box, blue arrows).

Near vertical (top, middle) and low angle oblique (bottom) aerial photographs of Rodanthe, North Carolina. View looking west along the North Carolina shore. High waves and storm surge from Hurricane Joaquin eroded the beach, exposing the pilings of the homes to wave attack (green and orange arrows).