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News from the USGS Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center

Deep-Sea Studies

A map showing the ocean floor with shades of color to indicate changing depth, nd other demarkations to show various features

In 2022, the USGS and partners embarked on a research expedition to Escanaba Trough off the coast of northern California. The multidisciplinary crew collected samples with a remotely operated vehicle and tested new seafloor mapping techniques using an autonomous underwater vehicle.

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Sound Waves Newsletter

An animated GIF of a coral reef in American Samoa, showing colorful reef fish darting in and out of the coral

Read issues of the Sound Waves Newsletter, featuring “Coastal and Marine Research News from Across the USGS”

Sound Waves Newsletter
Filter Total Items: 621
Surprises from the Deadly September 29, 2009, Samoa Tsunami

Surprises from the Deadly September 29, 2009, Samoa Tsunami

The Samoa tsunami of September 29, 2009, was the fifth tsunami studied by U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) field teams in 15 years, and yet it presented...

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Catalina or Bust: USGS Group Maps Faults Offshore of Los Angeles

Catalina or Bust: USGS Group Maps Faults Offshore of Los Angeles

Mapping offshore faults near Santa Catalina Island in July of 2009.

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Erosion Doubles Along Part of Alaska's Arctic Coast, Cultural and Historical Sites Lost

Erosion Doubles Along Part of Alaska's Arctic Coast, Cultural and Historical Sites Lost

The rate of coastal erosion more than doubled in Alaska—to as much as 45 feet per year—within the 52-year period between 1955 and 2007 along a 37-mile...

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The Shrinking Beaufort Sea Coastline

The Shrinking Beaufort Sea Coastline

A USGS team is assessing changes along the North Slope coastline using historical and contemporary maps and aerial surveys.

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USGS Geologist Amy Draut Wins SEPM 2009 James Lee Wilson Award

USGS Geologist Amy Draut Wins SEPM 2009 James Lee Wilson Award

Amy wins award for “Excellence in Sedimentary Geology by a Young Scientist.”

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Reversing Coral Reef Decline in Hawai‛i—a New Look at a Critical Problem

Reversing Coral Reef Decline in Hawai‛i—a New Look at a Critical Problem

Coral reefs are in decline worldwide, and a leading cause of their decline is the runoff of sediment and pollutants from nearby land surfaces.

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USGS Current Drifter Ends Decades-Long Journey on Beach in San Pablo Bay

USGS Current Drifter Ends Decades-Long Journey on Beach in San Pablo Bay

A decades-old plastic USGS current drifter was recently found by a 5-year-old boy on the shore of San Pablo Bay, California, triggering a flurry of e...

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North to Alaska—an Aerial Shoreline Reconnaissance

North to Alaska—an Aerial Shoreline Reconnaissance

USGS Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center geologists Bruce Richmond and Ann Gibbs flew hundreds of kilometers along Alaska's Arctic Ocean coast...

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New USGS Fact Sheet About Landslides Delivering Slope Material to Nearshore Waters on California's Big Sur Coast

New USGS Fact Sheet About Landslides Delivering Slope Material to Nearshore Waters on California's Big Sur Coast

Landslides are common along the rugged Big Sur coast in central California

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Making Waves and Ripples in a Giant Flume in Japan

Making Waves and Ripples in a Giant Flume in Japan

Sand on the seafloor is rarely flat, particularly close to the shore. Currents and waves interact with bed sediment to produce bedforms: ripples...

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Ripples for Everyone!—Investigating How Sediment Moves on the Sea Floor

Ripples for Everyone!—Investigating How Sediment Moves on the Sea Floor

Researchers from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center recently conducted two cruises aboard research vessel Pel...

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