Images

Sandbar on the Colorado River in Grand Canyon deposited by the 2008 controlled flood. The view is looking downstream and the location is approximately 65 miles downstream from Lees Ferry, Arizona.

Scientists enter abandoned mine where bats hibernate in New York.

Samples collected by the automated sampler.

Orange seashell of a Giant lions-paw (Nodipecten subnodosus). Species identification is tentative.

Ornamented seashell of a fluted Tridacna. Tentatively identified as Tridacna squamosa.

Orange seashell of a Giant lions-paw (Nodipecten subnodosus). Species identification is tentative.

USGS scientists dig soil pits in Nevada's Amargosa Desert to study the distribution of natural perchlorate and to determine the atmospheric-soil-plant interactions that affected perchlorate's cycling in a terrestrial ecosystem.


Amargosa Desert, Nevada

~17 km south of Beatty; ~20 km east of Death Valley National Park.

Red-spotted newt in the leaf litter along a trail in Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area.

Members of the USGS Glen Canyon Adaptive Management Working Group in Flagstaff, Ariz., monitor the Colorado River downstream of Glen Canyon Dam during the high-flow experiment of May 2008.

The USGS gages the St. John River at Fort Kent, Maine at Station 01014000. A major flood in 2008 was the highest flow measured at this station, based on record going back to the 1920s. This photo shows the International Bridge in Ft. Kent, right at the water surface of the flooded river.

Understanding the forces that influence major floods can help inform the design of more resilient infrastructure. Image shows a major flood on the St. John River on the border of Maine, United States and New Brunswick, Canada, April 29, 2008. This site was part of the study. USGS Public Domain.

North Dakota Discovery Farms Underwood waterway site 3, located west of Underwood, ND.

USGS scientist Karyn Rode takes a blood sample from a polar bear to estimate the diets of wild bears.

USGS scientist Karyn Rode takes a blood sample from a polar bear to estimate the diets of wild bears.

A USGS hydrologist holds an electromagnetic induction borehole logging tool while the tool is calibrated. The hydrologist was participating in a USGS class on how to use electromagnetic induction geophysical methods for groundwater investigations, conducted by the USGS Office of Groundwater Branch of Geophysics in 2008.

Rocks uncovered by a drought and a lower level of the Potamac River, at the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park, Maryland. The holes in the center rock are caused by circulating water holding a smaller rock or pebble up against the large rock, and the resulting friction eroding a "pothole," into the larger rock.

Rocks uncovered by a drought and a lower level of the Potomac River on Olmsted Island at the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park, Maryland. The holes in the center rock are caused by circulating water holding a smaller rock or pebble up against the large rock, and the resulting friction eroding a "pothole," into the larger rock.

A Fence Lizard (tentative identification) on the side of a tree trunk near the Potomac River.

Looking downstream at the gage and Gorge.

Kīlauea Volcano's summit vent within Halema‘uma‘u Crater was about 115 feet in diameter in April 2008, a month after it opened. 

A USGS researcher uses an ASTM-approved vacuum to collect house dust for analysis.