Search CMGP

Coastal and Marine Geology Program > Online Science Resource Locator > Beaches

Beaches

Online Science Resource Locator

Topic:

Region:

Content Type:

Help!
how to use this

Have an Earth Science question?

Ask-A-Geologist!

about this Topic

Beaches provide a valued source of recreation and are essential habitats to many species. The redistribution of sediment or the associated transport of contaminants and waste products may threaten fragile and economically important coastal areas such as beaches. To effectively manage and maintain our Nation's beaches we must understand the processes at work that shape and change our beaches over time.

Project Information

Educational Materials

What
are
these?

Photographs

Movies

Maps

Publications

Data Sets

Items below are listed from most recently updated to least recently updated.

These are results 1 through 25 of 155 matches.

Research Project
USGS Coral Reef Studies

Description: Coral Reef Studies conducted in Hawaii, Florida and California.
updated: 2009-06-24 pages include:

Research Project
USGS Northern Gulf of Mexico (NGOM)

Description: The goal of the USGS Northern Gulf of Mexico project is to understand the evolution of coastal ecosystems on the Northern Gulf Coast, the impact of human activities on these ecosystems, and the vulnerability of ecosystems and human communities to more frequent and more intense hurricanes in the future.
updated: 2009-05-28 pages include:

Publication
Open-File Report 2009-1073: The Framework of a Coastal Hazards Model�A Tool for Predicting the Impact of Severe Storms

Description: The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Multi-Hazards Demonstration Project in Southern California (Jones and others, 2007) is a five-year project (FY2007-FY2011) integrating multiple USGS research activities with the needs of external partners, such as emergency managers and land-use planners, to produce products and information that can be used to create more disaster-resilient communities. The hazards being evaluated include earthquakes, landslides, floods, tsunamis, wildfires, and coastal hazards. For the Coastal Hazards Task of the Multi-Hazards Demonstration Project in Southern California, the USGS is leading the development of a modeling system for forecasting the impact of winter storms threatening the entire Southern California shoreline from Pt. Conception to the Mexican border. The modeling system, run in real-time or with prescribed scenarios, will incorporate atmospheric information (that is, wind and pressure fields) with a suite of state-of-the-art physical process models (that is, tide, surge, and wave) to enable detailed prediction of currents, wave height, wave runup, and total water levels. Additional research-grade predictions of coastal flooding, inundation, erosion, and cliff failure will also be performed. Initial model testing, performance evaluation, and product development will be focused on a severe winter-storm scenario developed in collaboration with the Winter Storm Working Group of the USGS Multi-Hazards Demonstration Project in Southern California. Additional offline model runs and products will include coastal-hazard hindcasts of selected historical winter storms, as well as additional severe winter-storm simulations based on statistical analyses of historical wave and water-level data. The coastal-hazards model design will also be appropriate for simulating the impact of storms under various sea level rise and climate-change scenarios. The operational capabilities of this modeling system are designed to provide emergency planners with the critical information they need to respond quickly and efficiently and to increase public safety and mitigate damage associated with powerful coastal storms. For instance, high resolution local models will predict detailed wave heights, breaking patterns, and current strengths for use in warning systems for harbor-mouth navigation and densely populated coastal regions where beach safety is threatened. The offline applications are intended to equip coastal managers with the information needed to manage and allocate their resources effectively to protect sections of coast that may be most vulnerable to future severe storms.
updated: 2009-05-26 pages include:

Publication
Data Series 436: Oblique Aerial Photography of the Arctic Coast of Alaska, Nulavik to Demarcation Point, August 7�10, 2006

Description: The Arctic Coastal Plain of northern Alaska, an area of strategic economic importance to the United States, is home to remote Native American communities and encompasses unique habitats of global significance. Coastal erosion along the Arctic coast is chronic and widespread; recent evidence suggests that erosion rates are among the highest in the world (up to ~16 m/yr) and may be accelerating. Coastal erosion adversely impacts energy-related infrastructure, natural shoreline habitats, and Native American communities. Climate change is thought to be a key component of recent environmental changes in the Arctic. Reduced sea-ice cover in the Arctic Ocean is one of the probable mechanisms responsible for increasing coastal exposure to wave attack and the resulting increase in erosion. Extended periods of permafrost melting and associated decrease in bluff cohesion and stability are another possible source of the increase in erosion. Several studies of selected areas on the Alaska coast document past shoreline positions and coastal change, but none have examined the entire North coast systematically. Results from these studies indicate high rates of coastal retreat that vary spatially along the coast. To address the need for a comprehensive and regionally consistent evaluation of shoreline change along the North coast of Alaska, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), as part of their Coastal and Marine Geology Program�s (CMGP) National Assessment of Shoreline Change Study, is evaluating shoreline change from Peard Bay to the United States/Canadian border, using historical maps and photography and a standardized methodology that is consistent with other shoreline-change studies along the Nation�s coastlines (for example, URL http://coastal.er.usgs.gov/shoreline-change/ (last accessed March 2, 2009). This report contains photographs collected during an aerial-reconnaissance survey conducted in support of this study. An accompanying ESRI ArcGIS shape file (and plain-text copy) indicates the position of the aircraft and time when each photograph was taken.
updated: 2009-05-05 pages include:

Research Project
Coastal Change Hazards: Hurricanes and Extreme Storms

Description: This project investigates the coastal impacts of hurricanes and extreme storms, such as Hurricanes Isabel (2003), Dennis (1999), Bonnie & Georges (1998), and winter storms, such as those associated with the 1997-98 El Ni�o.
updated: 2009-04-28 pages include:

Publication
Hurricane Ike: Observations and Analysis of Coastal Change

Description: Understanding storm-induced coastal change and forecasting these changes require knowledge of the physical processes associated with the storm and the geomorphology of the impacted coastline. The primary physical processes of interest are the wind field, storm surge, and wave climate. Not only does wind cause direct damage to structures along the coast, but it is ultimately responsible for much of the energy that is transferred to the ocean and expressed as storm surge, mean currents, and large waves. Waves and currents are the processes most responsible for moving sediments in the coastal zone during extreme storm events. Storm surge, the rise in water level due to the wind, barometric pressure, and other factors, allows both waves and currents to attack parts of the coast not normally exposed to those processes.
updated: 2009-04-07 pages include:

Publication
Coastal Change During Hurricane Dennis 2005

Description: Hurricane Dennis made landfall as a Category 3 storm on Santa Rosa Island in the Florida Panhandle on July 10, 2005. Exposed to some of the strongest winds, Santa Rosa Island suffered erosion, as well as severe overwash. A storm surge of 2 m was recorded near Navarre Beach. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) are collaborating in a research project investigating coastal change that occurred as a result of Hurricane Dennis. The USGS acquired still oblique aerial photography both before and after hurricane landfall to better understand the impacts of extreme storms on coastal environments. On Tuesday, July 12, 2005, scientists conducted an aerial photographic survey of Santa Rosa Island, Florida, that was impacted by Hurricane Dennis. The photographs were compared to pre-Dennis photographs taken in July 2001 and after the landfall of Hurricane Ivan in September 2004 to illustrate extreme coastal change. On Santa Rosa Island, the storm eroded dunes and beaches, and overwashed roads. In Navarre Beach, parking lots and roads were covered with sand and dune walkovers damaged or destroyed.
updated: 2009-04-07 pages include:

Publication
Coastal Change During Hurricane Isabel 2003

Description: Hurricane Isabel caused extensive erosion and overwash along the Outer Banks near Cape Hatteras, including the destruction of houses, the erosion of protective sand dunes, and the creation of island breaches. The storm eroded beaches and dunes in Frisco and Hatteras Village, southwest of the Cape. Overwash deposits covered roads and filled homes with sand. The most extensive beach changes were associated with the opening of a new breach about 500 m wide that divided into three separate channels that completely severed the island southwest of Cape Hatteras. The main breach, and a smaller one several kilometers to the south (not shown), occurred at minima in both island elevation and island width.
updated: 2009-04-07 pages include:

Publication
Open-File Report 2009-1029: Coastal processes study of Santa Barbara and Ventura Counties, California

Description: By Patrick L. Barnard, David L. Revell, Dan Hoover, Jon Warrick, John Brocatus, Amy E. Draut, Pete Dartnell, Edwin Elias, Neomi Mustain, Pat E. Hart, and Holly F. Ryan. The Santa Barbara littoral cell (SBLC) is a complex coastal system with significant management challenges. The coastline ranges broadly in exposure to wave energy, fluvial inputs, hard structures, and urbanization. Geologic influence (structural control) on coastline orientation exerts an important control on local beach behavior, with anthropogenic alterations and the episodic nature of sediment supply and transport also playing important roles.
updated: 2009-03-27 pages include:

Publication
Open-File Report 2008-1191: Geologic Resource Evaluation of Kaloko-Honokōhau National Historical Park, Hawai�i; Geology and Coastal Landforms

Description: Geologic resource inventories of lands managed by the National Park Service (NPS) are important products for the parks and are designed to provide scientific information to better manage park resources. Park-specific geologic reports are used to identify geologic features and processes that are relevant to park ecosystems, evaluate the impact of human activities on geologic features and processes, identify geologic research and monitoring needs, and enhance opportunities for education and interpretation. These geologic reports are planned to provide a brief geologic history of the park and address specific geologic issues that link the park geology and the resource manager...
updated: 2009-02-19 pages include:

Publication
Open-File Report 2008-1192: Geologic Resource Evaluation of Pu�uhonua O Hōnaunau National Historical Park, Hawai�i; Part I, Geology and Coastal Landforms

Description: Geologic resource inventories of lands managed by the National Park Service (NPS) are important products for the parks and are designed to provide scientific information to better manage park resources. Park-specific geologic reports are used to identify geologic features and processes that are relevant to park ecosystems, evaluate the impact of human activities on geologic features and processes, identify geologic research and monitoring needs, and enhance opportunities for education and interpretation. These geologic reports are planned to provide a brief geologic history of the park and address specific geologic issues forming a link between the park geology and the resource manager...
updated: 2009-02-17 pages include:

Publication
USGS Gulf Coast Science Conference and Florida Integrated Science Center Meeting: Proceedings with Abstracts, October 20-23, 2008, Orlando, Florida

Description: Talks, posters, and abstracts from the USGS Gulf Coast Science Conference and Florida Integrated Science Center Meeting.
updated: 2009-01-29 pages include:

Publication
EAARL Topography-Colonial National Historical Park

Description: These Lidar-derived topography maps were produced as a collaborative effort between the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Coastal and Marine Geology Program, Florida Integrated Science Center (FISC) St. Petersburg, the National Park Service (NPS) Inventory and Monitoring Program, Northeast Coastal and Barrier Network, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Wallops Flight Facility. One objective of this research is to create techniques to survey coral reefs, barrier islands, and various nearshore coastal environments for the purposes of geomorphic change studies, habitat mapping, ecological monitoring, change detection, and event assessment. As part of this project, data from an innovative instrument under development at the NASA Wallops Flight Facility, the NASA Experimental Airborne Advanced Research Lidar (EAARL) are being used. This sensor has the potential to make significant contributions in this realm for measuring subaerial and submarine topography wthin cross-environment surveys. High spectral resolution, water-column correction, and low costs were found to be key factors in providing accurate and affordable imagery to coastal resource managers.
updated: 2009-01-01 pages include:

Publication
Scientific Investigations Report 2007-5101: The Coral Reef of South Moloka�i, Hawai�i�Portrait of a Sediment-Threatened Fringing Reef

Description: In this landmark volume, U.S. Geological Survey researchers and their colleagues have developed and applied a remarkably integrated approach to the reefs of Moloka�i, combining geology, oceanography, and biology to provide an in-depth understanding of the processes that have made these reefs grow and that now limit them. They have joined old fashioned natural history of marine animals and plants with study of the geological evolution of the island, hydrology, meteorology, and land-use history, to an arsenal of new methods of remote sensing, including aerial photography, laser ranging, infrared thermal mapping, seismic reflection, in-situ instrumentation to measure chemical parameters of water quality, and direct measurements of the physical driving forces affecting them�such as wave energy, currents, sedimentation, and sediment transport. They provide a level of documentation and insight that has never been available for any reef before.
updated: 2008-11-19 pages include:

Research Project
WCMG Coastal Processes Studies

Description: California's beaches and nearshore regions are valuable economic and recreational resources but also provide habitats for numerous sensitive species. During winter storms, the coast represents a potentially dangerous interface between ocean and land, nature and humans. Storms produce high waves, strong currents, and elevated sea level that can rapidly erode beaches and inundate low-lying coastal regions, damaging and/or destroying public and private infrastructure as well as stressing coastal ecosystems. Over longer-time scales (e.g. decadal), persistent erosion exacerbated by the pressures of coastal development, reduction in sediment availability and climate change, can result in severely depleted beaches. The USGS performs research along the California coast to understand the physical processes that control coastal change on time scales from individual storms to decades to support the efforts of local, state and government agencies to make informed coastal management decisions to most effectively preserve and protect this valuable resource.
updated: 2008-09-23 pages include:

Research Project
Research Projects - USGS WCMG, Applied Sediment Transport

Description: There is an increasing need to understand, model, and predict, sediment transport and how it is impacted by dam construction, dam removal, dredging, beach nourishment, and other human and natural activities along the river/sea interface. This understanding of sediment routing from source to sink is necessary in order to remove obsolete or unsafe dams, change dam operations, or implement efforts to restore habitat in streams, rivers, and estuaries at the river/sea interface.
updated: 2008-09-23 pages include:

Research Project
Southern California Coastal Hazards - USGS WCMG

Description: Southern California Coastal Hazards Study of the USGS Western Coastal and Marine Geology Team
updated: 2008-09-23 pages include:

Research Project
Coastal Processes: San Francisco Bight Coastal Processes Study - USGS WCMG

Description: San Francisco Bight Coastal Processes Study of the USGS Western Coastal and Marine Geology Team. The USGS is conducting a study that documents and analyzes the processes that control the sand transport and sedimentation patterns of Ocean Beach, a National Park site within the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. This area encompasses a complicated coastal setting that is impacted by the tidal influence of San Francisco Bay, as well as the southwest and northwest Pacific swell. High-energy conditions at this site have restricted comprehensive field surveys in the past, but recent innovations in field techniques now make it possible to perform detailed analysis of the physical processes operating on high energy coastlines, such as Ocean Beach.
updated: 2008-08-12 pages include:

Research Project
Santa Barbara-Ventura Coastal Processes Study - USGS WCMG

Description: Santa Barbara/Ventura Coastal Processes Study of the USGS Western Coastal and Marine Geology Team. Whereas coastal urban development and infrastructure are largely fixed with respect to location, shoreline and bluff positions can change substantially over time in response to natural processes. These natural coastal changes can damage or undermine urban structures, resulting in substantial property loss for federal, state, local and individual land owners. Urban development can also indirectly influence coastal change by interrupting natural supplies or transport of sediment in littoral cells. Thus, it is important to evaluate the rates, patterns and causes of coastal change to better manage sediment resources and predict change hazards in coastal urban settings. The Santa Barbara and Ventura County coast represents a littoral cell along the California coast extending from (at least) Point Conception to the Mugu submarine canyon. The beaches along this littoral cell are an important economic resource to the region, and there is evidence that shoreline and bluff erosion are impacting these beaches. Coastal change in the Santa Barbara/Ventura region is complicated, however, by the irregular coastline (there are numerous rocky headlands, river deltas and offshore reefs), variability in wave forcing, structures such as harbors, groins, piers, dams and landscape urbanization, variability in tectonic uplift, and limited information on littoral sediment sources. In response to the potential for coastal change, BEACON (Beach Erosion Authority for Clean Oceans and Nourishment) and the City of Carpinteria have provided a combined $700K in funding for USGS WCMG to evaluate the coastal change patterns and processes along the Santa Barbara/Ventura County coast until the end of 2008.
updated: 2008-08-12 pages include:

Research Project
Decision Support for Coastal Science and Management

Description: The Decision Support for Coastal Science and Management project, sponsored by the USGS Coastal and Marine Geology Program (CMGP) is supporting the creation of new capabilities for the synoptic remote sensing of coastal-marine and terrestrial environments based on aircraft and satellite sensors. These coastal remote-sensing, mapping, and point-monitoring tools constitute a unique integrated package of instrumentation and software that may be deployed in support of appropriately timed and scaled zoning decisions by management authorities in order to conserve and sensibly exploit nearshore coastal and marine ecosystems.
updated: 2008-07-15 pages include:

Publication
Data Series 288: Beach Morphology Monitoring in the Elwha River Littoral Cell, 2004-2006

Description: his report describes the methods used, data collected, and results of the Beach Morphology Monitoring Program in the Elwha River Littoral Cell, starting in 2004. The U.S. Geological Survey and the Washington State Department of Ecology collaborated in the data collection with the support of the local Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe. Beach monitoring efforts consisted of collecting topographic and bathymetric horizontal and vertical position data by using a Real Time Kinematic Differential Global Positioning System (RTK-DGPS). The monitoring program was designed to characterize the littoral system of the Elwha River before the scheduled removal of two large dams in 2012. A primary objective of this work is to quantitatively describe the topography and bathymetry of the Elwha River littoral system so that the effects of dam removal may be quantified. Sediment inputs following dam removal are hypothesized to result in (A) larger amounts of fine sediment grain-sizes entering the littoral system and, (B) a reduction or reversal of coastal erosion.
updated: 2008-07-11 pages include:

Publication
Open-File Report 2008-1215: Winds, Waves, Tides, and the Resulting Flow Patterns and Fluxes of Water, Sediment, and Coral Larvae off West Maui, Hawaii

Description: A series of recent studies has focused on the flow patterns and particle fluxes along the coast of West Maui, Hawaii, USA, from Honolua south to Puumana. From those studies a relatively good understanding has emerged of the physical processes that influence the relative amount of suspended sediment in nearshore waters and the circulation patterns that transport sediment and coral larvae along the coast and between islands. This report is a synthesis of our existing knowledge on the nature of flow and transport off West Maui.
updated: 2008-07-02 pages include:

Publication
USGS-NPS-NASA EAARL Submarine Topography-Northern Florida Keys

Description: Digital map atlas of lidar-derived submarine topography maps for the Northern Florida Keys Reef Tract
updated: 2008-04-25 pages include:

Publication
EAARL Topography-Sagamore Hill National Historic Site (SAHI)

Description: Digital atlas of lidar-derived topography maps for Sagamore Hill National Historic Site
updated: 2008-04-24 pages include:

Publication
EAARL Topography-Gateway National Recreation Area-Home

Description: Digital map atlas of lidar-derived topography maps for the Gateway National Recreation Area
updated: 2008-04-23 pages include:

These are results 1 through 25 of 155 matches.

Coastal and Marine Geology Program > Online Science Resource Locator > Beaches