Waves crashing onshore in Woods Hole, Mass., during the 1938 hurricane. Large waves associated with intense hurricanes can erode and transport coastal sediments, as well as destroy infrastructure and threaten lives. Sediment transported by storm surge and waves can be washed into coastal ponds and marshes preserving a record of the storms passage. (Photo courtesy of the WHOI Archives)

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Waves crashing onshore in Woods Hole, Mass., during the 1938 hurricane. Large waves associated with intense hurricanes can erode and transport coastal sediments, as well as destroy infrastructure and threaten lives. Sediment transported by storm surge and waves can be washed into coastal ponds and marshes preserving a record of the storms passage. (Photo courtesy of the WHOI Archives)