Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center

Learn more about the recent field activities completed by scientists in the Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program at the USGS, and explore the Science Projects that guide this fieldwork.

USGS scientists share brief thoughts about why they have focused their careers on studying our oceans and coasts. Here’s why they study the ocean:

A selection of coastal and marine images and videos from across the USGS

USGS Introduces a National Approach to Coastal Change Hazards (CCH) Science

A new model that combines sea-level rise scenarios and information about associated groundwater level responses shows that coastal water tables will rise as groundwater levels are pushed up by landward intrusions of seawater due to sea-level rise.

USGS Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program (CMHRP) scientists were able to safely venture out to collect beach elevations, geochemistry samples for wildfire contamination, water, soil, and meteorological data, offshore bathymetric and seismic data, ocean, lake, and bay sediment samples, and more, from Alaska, Washington, Oregon, and California, to Massachusetts, New York, and...

A selection of coastal and marine images and videos from across the USGS

We pay tribute to a dear friend and colleague, collect data on hurricanes, tsunamis, and earthquakes, train students with disabilities who in turn learn how to help us in a data rescue effort, and more, in this August-September 2020 issue of Sound Waves.

Quantifying coastal change caused by hurricanes is essential in helping communities better plan for such coastal hazards.

We pay tribute to friend and colleague Bruce Richmond, who passed away in May surrounded by his family near his home in Las Lomas, CA. A group of us put together this remembrance of Bruce, AKA “BR.”

Natural hazards have the potential to impact a majority of Americans every year.  USGS science provides part of the foundation for emergency preparedness whenever and wherever disaster strikes.