Global Seabed Mineral Resources
Providing stakeholders with best available science regarding potential resources and environmental impacts associated with accessing those resources
Providing stakeholders with best available science regarding potential resources and environmental impacts associated with accessing those resources
Major Update to Satellite-Based Datasets Used to Assess Salt Marsh Vulnerability Nationwide
Seafloor Seismographs Rapidly Deployed Following Major Earthquake Offshore Northern California
Coral reef restoration
Cost-benefit study confirms coral reef restoration could be a cost-effective way to save lives and money
Cost-benefit study confirms coral reef restoration could be a cost-effective way to save lives and money
Ocean
USGS science improves our understanding of ocean processes, marine resources and submarine geohazards.
USGS science improves our understanding of ocean processes, marine resources and submarine geohazards.
Coasts
USGS provides critical science that informs risk reduction, protecting people, businesses, infrastructure, and resources along our coastlines, where 40% of our population lives.
USGS provides critical science that informs risk reduction, protecting people, businesses, infrastructure, and resources along our coastlines, where 40% of our population lives.
Meet the Coastal Science Navigator
Learn more about this new product to help you find useful USGS coastal data and tools
Learn more about this new product to help you find useful USGS coastal data and tools
Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program
Scientists and staff study coastal and ocean processes, from shorelines to the deep sea, to identify hazards and provide critical information on our nation's resources. This work supports preparedness, emergency response, and the protection of people and resources in coastal and ocean environments.
Sound Waves Newsletter
Sound Waves Newsletter
Coastal and marine news from across the U.S. Geological Survey
News
Modeling Flood-Mitigation Strategies in San Francisco Bay
Modeling Flood-Mitigation Strategies in San Francisco Bay
Meet the Autonomous MAPping CATaraft, or Autonomous MAPCAT
Meet the Autonomous MAPping CATaraft, or Autonomous MAPCAT
Sediment contaminants in Puget Sound: Implications for ecosystem health and remediation
Sediment contaminants in Puget Sound: Implications for ecosystem health and remediation
Publications
A simple predictive model for salt marsh internal deterioration under sea-level rise and sediment deficits: Application to Chesapeake Bay A simple predictive model for salt marsh internal deterioration under sea-level rise and sediment deficits: Application to Chesapeake Bay
Salt marshes are dynamic biogeomorphic systems reliant on autochthonous and allochthonous input to maintain their three-dimensional configuration. Sea-level rise, subsidence, and sediment deficits can lead to submergence, open-water expansion, and ultimately loss of the vegetated marsh plain and associated ecosystem services. Widely used management-focused models focus on vegetation...
Comparison of creek and bay influences on salt marsh sediment budget and deposition patterns Comparison of creek and bay influences on salt marsh sediment budget and deposition patterns
The resilience of salt marshes with low organic production depends on their effective capture and retention of mineral sediment from adjacent waters. Little prior work has directly compared mechanisms of sediment import from wave-influenced marsh boundaries against those of tidal creeks. We used simultaneous deployment of net-deposition tiles and oceanographic sensors to identify the...
Land-based nutrient flux to a fringing reef: Insights from Ofu Island, American Samoa Land-based nutrient flux to a fringing reef: Insights from Ofu Island, American Samoa
Submarine groundwater discharge (SGD) is a critical driver of nutrient transport in coral reef ecosystems, shaping water quality, primary productivity, and overall reef health. This study quantifies SGD fluxes and associated nutrient dynamics in two reef flat pools within the Ofu Unit of the National Park of American Samoa: Papaloloa and Fatuana. A multi-method approach integrating...
Science
Seafloor Benthic Mapping and Characterization: Enhancing our Understanding of Aleutian Islands’ Hazards, Potential Seabed Minerals and Deep Corals
A USGS-led expedition in the Aleutian Arc off Alaska will provide critical information on energy resources, underwater earthquakes and other hazards, seafloor habitats, and biological resources, including key fisheries, as well as potential seabed minerals.
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Natural Hazards Mission Area, Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program, Land Management Research Program, Species Management Research Program, Eastern Ecological Science Center, Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center, St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center, Wetland and Aquatic Research Center , Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center, Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, Deep Sea Exploration, Mapping and Characterization
APPROACH (APplying Proxy-based Reconstruction Of Atlantic Climate CHange)
USGS scientists use marine geological archives to investigate how ocean temperature, salinity and circulation patterns changed over the past few centuries to millennia. This is done by analyzing the geochemical and physical clues about past environments that are preserved in fossil coral skeletons, clam shells, foraminifera and marine sediments.
Cultural Heritage at Risk Tool (CHART) Project
Coastal erosion threatens the loss of Native American cultural heritage and archaeological sites located along our coastlines, reducing opportunities to increase knowledge of past communities and environments. This project leverages an advisory team of ancestral Tribes, coastal managers, and archaeologists to strengthen the effectiveness of coastal hazard data, focusing on assessing the...