Images

Thysanophora caecoides shell viewed with a scanning electron microscope.

Spiraxis sp. shell viewed with a scanning electron microscope with aperture facing up.

Geologists examine cores on Sitkinak Island, Alaska.

Base camp, Sitkinak Island.

Geologists examine an exposure of a tidal marsh bank on Sitkinak Island, Alaska. The bank exposes interbedded peat and silt that records sudden vertical land movements associated with megathrust fault slip during large earthquakes.

A tidal marsh bank exposed during low tide on Sitkinak Island, Alaska. The bank reveals ledges of alternating peat and silt. Abrupt uplift and subsidence during large megathrust earthquakes is interpreted to be the cause of the alternating layers.

Adult, immature, and nymph stage box elder bugs gather on the leaves of a hosta plant growing at the base of a silver maple tree. Adults have fully formed, mainly black wings.

Adult, immature, and nymph stage box elder bugs gather on the leaves of a hosta plant growing at the base of a silver maple tree. Adults have fully formed, mainly black wings.

A complete shell of a horseshoe crab lies in the tidal line on a beach among dried seaweeds.

National Wetlands Research Center workers set bench marks to study marsh subsidence.

Mexican mojarra fish swim around a submerged log in a freshwater upwelling or cenote that runs into a coastal estuary.

Scanning shortnose sturgeon for PIT (Passive Integrated Transponder) identification tag, used to permanently mark fish.

Zoe Zyollewski handles an adult Atlantic salmon caught in the Connecticut River.

The island was severed by a breach that may have developed as the back bay drained excess water following the peak of the storm surge, although the breach could have been initiated by waves and surge from the Gulf side. More analyses are required to determine the forcing processes.

A magnitude 4.8 earthquake struck the island of Anjouan in the Union of the Comoros on March 12, 2014.  Heavy rainfall trigger landslides and damages were incurred to buildings, roads, and water supplies. As a precaution, more than 3,000 citizens living below the landslides were moved to a refugee camp.

A magnitude 4.8 earthquake struck the island of Anjouan in the Union of the Comoros on March 12, 2014.  Heavy rainfall trigger landslides and damages were incurred to buildings, roads, and water supplies. As a precaution, more than 3,000 citizens living below the landslides were moved to a refugee camp.

Heavy rains from a tropical cyclone struck the islands of the Comoros in March, 2014. On the island of Anjouan in the Union of Comoros, these rains triggered landslides that displaced over 3000 people to refugee camps. The USGS and the OFDA with USAID are providing support and research assistance on these events.

Heavy rains from a tropical cyclone struck the islands of the Comoros in March, 2014. On the island of Anjouan in the Union of Comoros, these rains triggered landslides that displaced over 3000 people to refugee camps. The USGS and the OFDA with USAID are providing support and research assistance on these events.

Capybara rests in its enclosure in a zoological park, it's the world's largest rodent.

Prairie Pothole Region landscape showing high wetland density.

Fishery biologists Gary Curtis and Renee Potter guide the trawl net as it is let out from the RV/Grayling into Lake Huron.