Global Marine 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
News Briefs: February-March 2025
News Briefs: February-March 2025
Sound Waves Newsletter: February-March 2025
Sound Waves Newsletter: February-March 2025
Photo Roundup: February-March 2025
Photo Roundup: February-March 2025
Publications
Geologic framework and Holocene sand thickness offshore of Seven Mile Island, New Jersey
The U.S. Geological Survey assessed the Quaternary evolution of Seven Mile Island, New Jersey, to quantify coastal sediment availability, which is crucial for establishing sediment budgets, understanding sediment dispersal, and managing coastlines. This report presents preliminary interpretations of seismic profiles, maps of Holocene sand thickness from the shoreline to 2 kilometers...
Shoreline seasonality of California’s beaches
We report on remote sensing techniques developed to characterize seasonal shoreline cycles from satellite-derived shoreline measurements. These techniques are applied to 22-yr of shoreline measurements for over 777 km of beach along California's 1,700-km coast, for which the general understanding is that shorelines exhibit winter-narrow and summer-recovery seasonality. We find that...
Coral reef restoration can reduce coastal contamination and pollution hazards
Coral reef restoration can reduce the wave-driven flooding for coastal communities. However, this protection has yet to be assessed in terms of the reduced risk of flood-driven environmental contamination. Here we provide the first high-resolution valuation of the reduction of flood-related land-based environmental pollution provided by potential coral reef restoration. Along Florida’s...
Science
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.
Information Sheet: Marine Mineral Resources and USGS Studies
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) provides science and data on offshore mineral resources and ecosystems, as well as any potential hazards associated with extraction. Society relies on minerals for infrastructure, technology, manufacturing, and energy production; critical minerals are essential to the economic or national security of the United States and have a supply chain vulnerable to...
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...