Images

Wetlands Reserve Program site in Sabine Parish, Louisiana.  Landowner restored his often-flooded cattle pasture to its natural wetland state by creating shallow water areas, establishing food plots and pollinator plots, and installing wood duck nesting boxes.

A USGS diver beside a Massive Starlet (Siderastrea siderea) coral colony in Dry Tortugas National Park. Scientists used a core from this coral to reconstruct ocean temperatures going back to 1837. Photo: USGS, May 2012

Traditional construction throughout Burma utilizes bamboo and other lightweight building materials, resulting in structures that are not generally durable but are quite earthquake-safe.  As traditional structures such as this house give way to more modern masonry buildings, seismic risk will increase. 

Scientists used a core from this Massive Starlet (Siderastrea siderea) coral colony in Dry Tortugas National Park to reconstruct ocean temperatures going back to 1837. Photo: USGS

The Schwedagon pagoda, Burma's most revered shrine, has been damaged multiple times by earthquakes throughout its long history.

Burma's most populous city, Rangoon, is underlain by a thick blanket of soft sediments that will significantly amplify earthquake shaking. With a period of economic expansion on the horizon, new construction such as these buildings in the capital city will be potentially vulnerable to earthquake damage unless appropriate seismic provisions are adopted in the bu

This 16 1/2-foot python, being removed from the wild by USGS and NPS personnel, was captured in a thicket in Everglades National Park in May 2012.

The historic record documents many instances of damage to pagodas throughout Burma's cities and the countryside.  These ancient and beautiful structures bear witness to a significant level of seismic hazard.

Researcher lowers an ichthyoplankton sampling net into the Missouri River. 

A female grizzly with a cub. Adult females are considered the most important segment of the Greater Yellowstone grizzly population and consequently are a major focus of USGS research and monitoring.

The turbid waters of the Elwha River and the coastal waters of the Strait of Juan de Fuca mix directly offshore of the river mouth, forming a large coastal plume.  This plume is easily identified by the cloudiness of the water (or "turbidity") resulting from sediment discharged by the river.  Two large dams on the Elwha River were incrementally r

The turbid waters of the Elwha River and the coastal waters of the Strait of Juan de Fuca mix directly offshore of the river mouth, forming a large coastal plume.  This plume is easily identified by the cloudiness of the water (or "turbidity") resulting from sediment discharged by the river.  Two large dams on the Elwha River are being incrementally r

Sandstone ledges in the Escondido Formation located approximately 7 miles south-southeast of the community of D’Hanis in Medina County, Texas. Photograph taken April 13, 2012, by Robert R. Morris.

SIR 2013–5149

This picture shows the USGS/California Geological Survey former location in Bldg #3, Menlo Park, Ca. This map sales office serviced the eight states in the western region, including Hawaii and Alaska. The office was relocated to the Second Floor Bldg #3, and limited to stock and sell only maps of California, and a selected special maps.

USGS researchers Chris Curran and Raegan Huffman retrieve instrumentation to measure sediment concentration from the Elwha River, Washington. Two large dams on the Elwha River are being incrementally removed from 2011 to 2013 to restore river function in an important salmon-bearing river.

Photo of biocrust taken at Birds of Prey NRCA near Biose, Idaho. 

View of the Green River near New Hradec, North Dakota.

Souris River near Westhope, North Dakota.  THe USGS cableway used to safely measure streamflow is visible in the background.  Streamflow and gage height on the day of the picture were 417 cubic feet per second and 7.82 feet.

Sunset near the Willow Creek near Willow City streamgage.

Productive tallgrass prairie with potential for growing biofuel crops.

Biologist Dave Combs, holds female pallid sturgeon PLS11-007 recaptured on March 15, 2012.  This female is in reproductive condition and will spawn in the spring of 2012.