Photos: Alaska's magnificent coastline

ExpandAutoplay

Image 1 of 17

Grewingk Glacier River, Kachemak Bay, Cook Inlet June 24, 2009 Rivers emanating from retreating glaciers carry large volumes of sediment, producing braided river patterns with multiple channels. Braided channels are variable and dynamic. Storm-driven waves erode them. Surging and retreating glaciers then deposit sediments, building them up. During periods of relative stability, opportunistic animals such as the blue mussel (Mytilus trossulus) and marine algae such as the rockweed (Fucus distichus) may colonize the beach face, creating the beautiful colored patterns seen here.

Three sides of Alaska — north, west and south — are bordered by ocean. By some measures, we have more than 49,000 miles of coastline, more than the Lower 48 states combined. The closer you look, the longer the shore gets. With the new ShoreZone project online, it's possible to zoom in until every barnacle and pebble stands out in sharp relief.

No one zooms in quite that far. But ShoreZone gets close. Cobbling together funding from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and more than two dozen other organizations, ShoreZone has mapped and imaged more than 38,000 miles of Alaska coastline — at a cost of $10 million. Another $2 million will be needed to complete Alaska's shoreline.

ShoreZone was initially developed for oil spill response. For example, when the Shell oil rig Kulluk ran aground on an island off Kodiak Island in late 2012, incident managers brought in ShoreZone images to plan for a potential spill (which fortunately never happened).

But once a tool exists, it tends to get used for other things. Huge swaths of remote and inaccessible Alaska land make it a perfect target for mapping projects. ShoreZone's mapping of driftwood logs has helped cleanup crews search for debris from the 2011 tsunami in Japan.

Read the full story here.