FAQ's about Education

A rock is an aggregate of one or more minerals; or a body of undifferentiated mineral matter.

Bats are among the world's least appreciated and most endangered animals. The USGS Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center's pages on bats can be found at http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/mammals/okbats/ and include links to other sources of information. A delightful educational site, "Echo the Bat," can be accessed at http://imagers.gsfc.nasa.gov/. The Teachers' Guide contains links to bat conservation organizations and other sources of information.

Bat Conservation International has an extensive site at http://www.batcon.org and provides a wealth of information, including volunteer opportunities and bat workshop schedules.

Restless volcanoes can be very dangerous places, but it's possible to work safely around them if you're properly prepared. First and foremost, scientists protect themselves by working as a team to create a "safety net" in which all the important bases are covered. Like a professional driving team, a volcano-response team includes key staff who know the monitoring equipment extremely well, experts in several scientific disciplines who can interpret data coming back from the field, a spokesperson to communicate warnings and other information to public officials and the media, and a scientist-in-charge, or "driver," who assumes overall responsibility for team performance. As part of an experienced scientific team capable of quickly assessing the past behavior of a restless volcano, installing instruments to take its pulse, and analyzing all available information to understand what the volcano is doing, a modern volcanologist is prepared to work safely even in the hazardous environment of a restless volcano.

The USGS poster Geologic Hazards of Volcanoes depicts many of the hazards associated with a volcanic eruption

The USGS Educational Resources page provides links to online information on biology, geology, hydrology, and geography, as well as ordering information for additional materials -- many of which are available at no cost. Another excellent site is the National Biological Information Infrastructure (NBII).

All these links have volcano information:

• Volcano Hazards Program
• Cascades Volcano Observatory
• Alaska Volcano Observatory
• Hawaiian Volcano Observatory
• Long Valley Volcano Observatory

• Volcanoes
• Eruptions of Hawaiian Volcanoes: Past, Present, and Future
• Eruptions of Mount St. Helens: Past, Present, and Future
• Monitoring Active Volcanoes
• Volcanic and Seismic Hazards on the Island of Hawaii
• Volcanoes of the United States

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) recently completed an assessment of our Nation's geothermal resources. Geothermal power plants are currently operating in six states: Alaska, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Nevada, and Utah. See Fact Sheet 2008-3082 "Assessment of Moderate- and High-Temperature Geothermal Resources of the United States".

Iceland also makes great use of its geothermal resources.

The Gap Analysis Program (GAP) is a state-based cooperative effort to map major indicators of biodiversity over states, along with the existing network of conservation lands. The indicators of biodiversity that the GAP state projects map using geographic information system (GIS) technology are dominant vegetation types (e.g., oak-hickory-hemlock forest) and distributions of each native vertebrate species.

Although coordinated by the BRD, the program is made up of over 400 cooperating organizations nationwide, including businesses, governments, and universities.

Ground water, which is in aquifers below the surface of the Earth, is one of the Nation's most important natural resources. Ground water is the source of about 37 percent of the water that county and city water departments supply to households and businesses (public supply). It provides drinking water for more than 90 percent of the rural population who do not get their water delivered to them from a county/city water department or private water company. Even some major cities, such as San Antonio, Texas, rely solely on ground water for all their needs. About 42 percent of the water used for irrigation comes from ground water. Withdrawals of ground water are expected to rise as the population increases and available sites for surface reservoirs become more limited.

Saline water has some uses. In 2000, the U.S. used about 62 billion gallons per day of saline water, which was about 15 percent of all water used. But saline water can only be used for certain purposes. The main use was for thermoelectric power-plant cooling. As for the other uses, about 8 percent of water used for industrial purposes was saline, and about 43 percent of all water used for mining purposes was saline. Also, saline water can be desalinated for use as drinking water by putting it through a process to remove the salt from the water. The process costs so much that it isn't used very much right now.

So, what is a zebra mussel? They are a type of mollusk, which also include a wide variety of organisms such as squids, octopuses, snails, oysters, scallops, and clams. Generally, zebra mussels live for four to five years and average about an inch in length. Mussels are also called "bivalves," which means they have two shells or valves. The zebra mussel gets its name because of the dark, striped pattern on each valve. Usually the shell is a light color, either tan or beige, with zig-zag stripes.

Yes. There is evidence that some animals, probably most notably sea turtles, have the ability to sense the Earth's magnetic field (although probably not consciously) and to use this sense, along with their several other senses, for purposes of orientation. We acknowledge that this is an interesting subject, and inquisitive acquaintances have posed this question to us on many occasions. However, the issue of magnetic orientation by animals is really more a matter of biophysics rather than geophysics, and we will, therefore, refer the curious reader to the following authoritative articles:

• Lohmann, K. J., Hester, J. T. & Lohmann, C. M. F., 1999. Long-distance navigation in sea turtles, Ethology Ecology & Evolution, 11, 1-23.
• Skiles, D. D., 1985. The geomagnetic field: Its nature, history and biological relevance, In Magnetite Biomineralization and Magnetoreception by Living Organisms: A New Biomagnetism, Ed: Kirschvink, J. L., Jones, D. S. & MacFadden, B. J., Plenum Publishing Corporation, New York.
• Walker, M. M., Dennis, T. E. & Kirschvink, J. L., 2002. The magnetic sense and its use in long-distance navigation by animals, Current Opinion in Neurobiology, 12, 735-744.
• Wiltschko, R. & Wiltschko, W., 1995. Magnetic orientation in animals, Zoophysiology, 33, Springer Verlag, Berlin.

The infrastructure and activities of our modern technologically-based society can be adversely affected by rapid magnetic-field variations generated by electric currents in the near-Earth space environment, particularly in the ionosphere and magnetosphere. This is especially true during so-called 'magnetic storms'. Because the ionosphere is heated and distorted during storms, long-range radio communication, which relies on sub-ionospheric reflection, can be difficult or impossible and global-positioning systems (GPS), which relies on radio transmission through the ionosphere, can be degraded. Ionospheric expansion can enhance satellite drag and thereby make their orbits difficult to control. During magnetic storms, satellite electronics can be damaged through the build up and subsequent discharge of static-electric charges, and astronaut and high-altitude pilots can be subjected to increased levels of radiation. There can even be deleterious effects on the ground: pipe-line corrosion can be enhanced, and electric-power grids can experience voltage surges that cause blackouts. The reason why space-based effects can have consequences down here on the Earth's surface is related, at least in part, to our answer to another frequently asked question, 'What is a magnetic field?'. Electric currents in one place can induce electric currents in another place, this action at a distance is accomplished via a magnetic field. So, even though rapid magnetic-field variations are generated by currents in space, very real effects, such as unwanted electric currents induced in electric-power grids, can result down here on the Earth's surface. More generally, the hazardous effects associated with geomagnetic activity, which are discussed more fully in the Further Reading page of the Geomagnetism website, are one reason why the USGS Geomagnetism Program is part of the Central Region Geohazards Team.

Go to these two websites:

• Sources of Radon Information
• Indoor Air Quality Publications

Publications you can read on the WWW are available in HTML or a document format called PDF. Reports are often provided with an introductory HTML page linked to the complete PDF file. Once you are viewing the document you can send it to your laser printer. The PDF file is likely to print in book layout, similar to a commercially formatted document.

If you don't have a laser printer to use, some USGS book report series that are not in print, such as Open-File Reports, can be duplicated for you through the USGS. Some online documents are also available in print. If you want a bound book, for instance, you would need to purchase that through the USGS.

No - indeed, all of the physical, thermal and electrical properties of "regular icebox ice" and glacier ice are identical: density, viscosity, heat of fusion, latent heat, heat capacity, dielectric constant, thermal conductivity, absorption, emissivity, etc. The few small differences in characteristics are solely due to grain size differences. NOTE: High pressure forms of ice with different properties have been produced in laboratory experiments, but none occur naturally on earth, not even at the base of the Antarctic or Greenland ice sheets.

Visit the following websites:

• Earthquakes for Kids 
• Earthquake Education Resources for Teachers
  

Yes, it is called reclaimed wastewater, though its use is limited. Before you start to feel ill, no, it is not used further down the line as drinking water. It is most often used for irrigation and for water parks and golf courses. In the U.S. in 1995 about 44,400 wastewater-treatment plants sent about 44,600 million gallons per day of treated water back into the environment. About 983 million gallons per day was used again (reclaimed) after treatment, mainly as irrigation water.

Fields fill the space between matter and they determine how it is that bits of matter can exert forces on other bits of matter at a distance. There are several different fields in nature, and their reality is demonstrated by our observation of the forces with which they are associated. So, for example, gravitational fields determine how it is that objects with mass are attracted together by a gravitational force. Electric fields determine how it is that objects with electric charge are attracted together by an electric force, if they have opposite electric charge, or repelled from each other, if they have the same electric charge. Interestingly, unlike an electric field, a magnetic field only comes into play when electric charges are moving. Magnetic fields determine how it is that electric currents, composed of moving electric charges, exert forces on other electric currents. Consider, then, two parallel wires, each with an electric current flowing in the same direction. By virtue of the magnetic field, they will be pulled toward each other, they experience an attractive force. If the currents are flowing in the opposite direction, then there will be a repulsive force between the wires. More generally, magnetic fields are generated by electric currents, the motion of electric charges, and, conversely, electric currents and the motion of electric charges can be induced by time-dependent magnetic fields. In fact, an electric generator works by the motion of magnetic fields.

It's easy. BRD information is public information and in almost all cases, is available by request. (Limited exceptions exist that protect the interests of property owners and to protect sensitive species.) In addition, information about a wide range of geographical areas and species are available to you through BRD, which can help you locate and gain access to information in Federal, State, and private institutions. Much of this information is also available through the Internet at http://www.nbii.gov/.