Interior Highlights Critical Mineral Prospectivity on the Seafloor
USGS factsheet shows potential in the nation’s seabed, an area larger than U.S. lands
USGS factsheet shows potential in the nation’s seabed, an area larger than U.S. lands
Multibeam bathymetric data offer high-resolution imagery of the entire Cascadia Subduction Zone
Linking tidal-creek sediment fluxes to vertical sediment accretion in a restored salty marsh
USGS Coastal and Marine Field Operations
USGS Research Links Weather Extremes to Coastal Sediment Supply in California
Study focuses on San Lorenzo River in Santa Cruz
Study focuses on San Lorenzo River in Santa Cruz
Study: How Coral Reefs Shielded Hawaiian Coastlines Against 2018 Hurricanes
Forecasting Coastal Retreat Along U.S. South Atlantic Coast by Year 2100
Faults Beneath the Salton Sea: Assessing Past and Future Earthquake Behavior along Southern San Andreas Fault
What are Key Conditions for Marsh Survival Amid Rising Seas?
USGS Scientists Use 3D Modeling to Understand Sediment Dynamics in Coastal Marshes
USGS Scientists Use 3D Modeling to Understand Sediment Dynamics in Coastal Marshes
USGS assists in post-storm seafloor survey following partial collapse of Santa Cruz wharf
USGS CoSMoS web tool preferred by coastal practitioners in California Coastal Adaptation Needs Assessment
Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center
PCMSC is one of three centers serving the mission of the USGS Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program—the primary Federal marine geology and physical science research program responsible for the Nation’s entire coastal and marine landscape.
What We Do: Coastal and Marine Science at USGS Santa Cruz
What We Do: Coastal and Marine Science at USGS Santa Cruz
Get an overview of the coastal and marine research conducted by the USGS in Santa Cruz, California in our downloadable booklet.
Research Projects
Research Projects
Read about our science projects, find out where we are working, and discover the reasons why our research matters.
News
Permafrost thaw and subsidence, sea-level rise, and erosion are transforming Alaska’s Arctic coastal zone
Permafrost thaw and subsidence, sea-level rise, and erosion are transforming Alaska’s Arctic coastal zone
Interior Highlights Critical Mineral Prospectivity on the Seafloor
Interior Highlights Critical Mineral Prospectivity on the Seafloor
Multibeam bathymetric data offer high-resolution imagery of the entire Cascadia Subduction Zone
Multibeam bathymetric data offer high-resolution imagery of the entire Cascadia Subduction Zone
Publications
Ecological thresholds and transformations due to climate change: The role of abiotic stress
An ecological threshold is the point at which a comparatively small environmental change triggers an abrupt and disproportionately large ecological response. In the face of accelerating climate change, there is concern that abrupt ecosystem transformations will become more widespread as critical ecological thresholds are crossed. There has been ongoing debate, however, regarding the...
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, California Water Science Center, Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center, Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center, Southwest Biological Science Center, St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center, Western Ecological Research Center (WERC), Western Geographic Science Center, Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center, Wetland and Aquatic Research Center , Florence Bascom Geoscience Center, Eastern Ecological Science Center
River floods under wetter antecedent conditions deliver coarser sediment to the coast
Increasing hydrologic volatility—more extreme rain, and larger variations between wet and dry years—has become apparent in some regions, but few data exist to determine how intensifying hydrologic extremes affect sedimentary systems. Using uniquely high-resolution records of fluvial suspended sediment and coastal morphology, we quantify sedimentary responses from a steep, 357-km2...
Benthic habitat map of Olowalu Reef, Maui, Hawaii—Geomorphological structure, biological cover, and geologic zonation determined with spectral, lidar, and acoustic data
The fringing coral reef off Olowalu, Maui, Hawaii, has been identified as a local conservation priority site. In 2007, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) produced a benthic habitat map of the Hawaiian Islands that was used as a foundation for this study. To support place-based management of the reef in the future, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) mapped the...
Science
Coastal Wetland Vulnerability to Climate Change and Sea-Level Rise: Understanding Ecological Thresholds and Ecosystem Transformations
Eighteen USGS coastal scientists from all four coasts of the conterminous United States are working together to advance the understanding of climate change and sea-level rise impacts to coastal wetlands.
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California Water Science Center, Chesapeake Bay Activities, Eastern Ecological Science Center, Florence Bascom Geoscience Center, Great Lakes Science Center, Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center, St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center, Western Ecological Research Center (WERC), Western Geographic Science Center, Wetland and Aquatic Research Center , Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center
Habitat Vulnerability to Climate Change: Identifying Climate Change Induced Mass Mortality Events Across Large Landscapes of the United States
USGS researchers will characterize extreme climatic events across U.S. following a review of case studies of mass mortality events associated with climate extremes including drought, precipitation, freeze, heat waves, and storm events.
Eyes on Earth Episode 120 – Mapping the California Coastline
Coastline erosion can change your favorite beach. But it can also affect highways and buildings. Landsat, along with high-resolution data, can be used to model the past and predict the future of changes caused by sea level rise and coastal erosion.