Images

Photo of a precariously balanced rock in northeastern U.S. These rocks will help scientists understand more about the maximum earthquake shaking to have occurred in the region.

Thomas Pratt sitting next to and measuring a precariously balanced rock in northeastern U.S.

Dos científicos del Servicio Geológico de los Estados Unidos instalando un equipo para sondeos de una costa en Dorado, Puerto Rico. Este equipo monitoreará como la playa y la línea costera cambian a través del tiempo. Imagen de USGS. 

Overview of water quality in Principal Aquifers. The colored pie charts indicate the proportion of the area studied that contained a constituent in untreated groundwater at a concentration that exceeds a human-health benchmark for drinking water. (Public domain.)

Noah Lindberg installing a seismometer on a balanced rock along Blue Ridge Road in the Adirondacks. 

Groundwater – the Invisible and Vital Resource Graphic used in the feature story https://www.usgs.gov/news/featured-story/quality-nations-groundwater-pr…

Labeled stump samples sit on the floor awaiting analysis in the laboratory at Cal Poly Humboldt.

Noah Lindberg and Devin McPhillips examining a precariously balanced rock on Mt. Elmore, Vermont. 

Devin McPhillips points to the contact point beneath a precariously balanced rock in northeastern U.S.

Matrix from the Great Salt Hydro Mapper webpage on July 27th, 2022. The matrix shows a summary of resource characteristics at different lake elevation levels. Areas shaded green indicate the lake level is beneficial; areas shaded orange indicate the lake level is adverse for the resource.

Graph of water data recorded by the Great Salt Lake (GSL) Saltair USGS Gaging Station 10010000 showing data from January 2020 to July 2022 from the

Map from the Great Salt Lake Water Dashboard from July 27th, 2022 showing the extent of the Great Salt Lake watershed. Markers are stream flow gages colored by flow status with warmer colors indicating below normal flow status, green as normal, and blue to black as above normal.

USGS technicians sample for fatmucket (Lampsilis siliquoidea) environmental-DNA in the Little Calumet River for a native mussel restoration project at Indiana Dunes National Park, Indiana. Photo credit: Ashley Spoljaric, USGS (contractor).

HOWEVER, IF WE WORK TOGETHER, WE CAN MAKE THINGS SAFER. THE ALASKA HARMFUL ALGAL BLOOM NETWORK ASSEMBLES PARTNERS TO SHARE INFORMATION ABOUT HUMAN, WILDLIFE, AND ECOSYSTEM HEALTH.

AS THE OCEAN WARMS AND FILLS WITH EXCESS NUTRIENTS FROM SURFACE RUNOFF, CERTAIN TYPES OF ALGAE CAN GROW OUT OF CONTROL AND PRODUCE DANGEROUS TOXINS.

TYPICALLY, THE HARMFUL ALGAE BLOOMS DURING THE SUMMER SEASON. THE WARMER TEMPERATURES KEEP WATER FROM MIXING, ALLOWING THE ALGAE TO GROW MUCH FASTER.

ALASKA HAS THOUSANDS OF MILES OF REMOTE COASTLINE. THIS MAKES IT DIFFICULT TO EFFECTIVELY MONITOR FOR ALGAL TOXINS, ALERT THE PUBLIC, AND TRACK IMPACTS ON WILDLIFE.

NOT ONLY ARE HARMFUL ALGAL BLOOMS IN THE OCEAN DANGEROUS FOR ARCTIC TERNS, THEY CAN ALSO IMPACT HUMAN FOOD SOURCES AND HEALTH.

DURING THE SUMMER OF 2019, DOZENS OF ARCTIC TERNS WERE FOUND DEAD. RESEARCHERS WONDERED, "WHAT HAPPENED?"

ARCTIC TERNS SPEND THEIR SUMMERS NESTING IN ALASKA AND PARTS OF THE ARCTIC. WHEN THE SEASON ENDS, THEY FLY SOUTH TO ANTARCTICA, EMBARKING ON THE LONGEST MIGRATION OF ANY ANIMAL ON EARTH!

ALTHOUGH OTHER BIRD DIE-OFFS HAD BEEN SEEN RECENTLY IN ALASKA, THERE WAS SOMETHING DIFFERENT ABOUT THE TERNS. THEY HAD BEEN POISONED.

BRIGHT GREEN ALGAE CAN OFTEN BE SPOTTED FLOATING IN THE OCEAN NEAR THE SURFACE. THEY CONSUME NUTRIENTS, LIKE NITROGEN AND PHOSPHORUS. IN A BALANCED ECOSYSTEM, THEY GROW AND PROVIDE FOOD FOR MANY SEA CREATURES, INCLUDING KRILL, SNAILS, AND JELLYFISH.