Images

The oxygen-regulated benthic flux chamber measures fluxes of water and chemical species across the sediment water interface. It is shown here deployed in the subtidal discharge zone in Indian River Bay, DE, USA

Here are shown two mustard hill corals (Porites astreoides) growing side-by-side, one (right) that has succumbed to heat stress and lost its symbiotic algae, and one (left) that has not.

A diver peeks from behind a badly bleached coral in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary in October 2015. Coral bleaching events caused by abnormally warm ocean temperatures continue to regularly claim the lives of coral populations around the globe. 

USGS oceanographer Kurt Rosenberger prepares a mooring for deployment from the research vessel Rachel Carson on October 6, 2015. The tan, cone-shaped instrument is a sediment trap. Near the far end of the trap is a CTD (with small red tag) for measuring seawater conductivity (related to salinity), temperature, and depth.

Scientists deploy a mooring holding current meters and other instruments on October 6, 2015.

A large wave crashes on the reef at Laysan Island, located in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands.

Color hillshade image of terrain model of Barnegat Bay, New Jersey

Science outreach at Waquoit Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve.

This flooded airport runway used to be the main lifeline for inhabitants of Barter Island, Alaska, before it was relocated in response to consistent flooding.

U.S. Geological Survey scientist walks on a coastal bluff in Alaska.

This bathymetric grid represents approximately 3900 kilometers of bathymetric data collected in 2014. These data were collected using a dual-head R2Sonic 2024 multibeam echosounder (MBES) by Alpine Ocean Seismic Survey, Inc., during USGS field activity 2014-072-FA.

Left, Cordell Johnson drilling and coring the interior of the bluff to ground-truth geophysical methods. Right, a core section filled mostly with ice.

Photograph of an eroding coastal bluff on Barter Island on the northern coast of Alaska.

A time-averaged image from Duck, North Carolina, on September 1, 2015. Dark bands extending offshore from the beach show the rip current channels.

Time-averaged image, or “timex,” created by averaging the intensity of light recorded at each spot, or “pixel,” during a video taken at Duck, North Carolina, on September 1, 2015. Blurred white zones show where waves are breaking. Light band paralleling the shore marks an offshore sandbar. Dark bands extending away from the beach indicate rip channels.

Divers prepare patterns of known targets for verification of sonar resolution.

Tidally restricted wetland in the Herring River Estuary, Cape Cod, MA

USGS scientists walk through a tern colony on the Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge (MA). Here, these scientists are using ecogeomorphological models to predict how this refuge will be impacted by sea-level rise and how that will ultimately effect shorebirds.

We collect terrestrial (barrier island) and marine (nearshore and estuarine) sediment cores to understand the history of barrier island formation and erosion.

Scientists collect soil cores in coastal wetland by removing a section of peat, the organic-rich material that makes up salt marshes. After the soil is removed, water quickly fills in the void. This water-logged environment underground is devoid of oxygen and is an important reason that salt marsh peat preserves a record of historical changes.

Meagan Eagle, Research Scientists at the U.S. Geological Survey, collects an elevation point along the edge of Quivett Creek in Brewster, MA. This salt marsh was restored in 2005 by replacing a narrow culvert to allow full tidal flow once again.