Images

Previously undiscovered photo of undocumented Russian Crown Jewels were recently discovered in the USGS library. The photo appear in a 1922 album called "Russian Diamond Fund," that was uncovered in the rare book room of the library. This diadem was one of the four undocumented jewels.

Water Holes Canyon — checking out David Toppings Sediment monitoring gauges. 

This gatehouse is made of Aquia Creek sandstone, the same material used to build much of the U.S. Capitol building. It stands at the intersection of 17th Street, NW, and Constitution Avenue.

Scientists from AIST, JOGMEC, Georgia Tech, and the USGS prepare to analyze pressure cores as part of a multi-year gas hydrates research project in Japan.

Photograph of the international team studying gas hydrates in Japan. Front row, kneeling: Jun Yoneda (AIST).

Scientists from AIST, JOGMEC, Georgia Tech, and the USGS prepare to analyze pressure cores as part of a multi-year gas hydrates research project in Japan. Left to right: Junbong Jang (Georgia Tech), David Mason (USGS), Carlos Santamarina (Georgia Tech), and Emile Bergeron (USGS).

Cover-collapse sinkhole in limestone near Frederick, Maryland (September 2003). Many sinkholes occur along highways where rainwater runoff is concentrated into storm drains and ditches increasing the rate of sinkhole development (note the sewer drain pipe beneath roadway).

Temphra sampling done by Kristi Wallace.

USGS technician Jenny White and co-chief scientist Patrick Hart on the fantail of the research vessel Pelican during a cruise to explore gas hydrates in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico from April to May, 2013.

USGS technicians Jenny White and Tom O'Brien prepare lead weight to be added for proper ballasting of the seismic streamer on the fantail of the research vessel Pelican during a cruise to explore gas hydrates in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico from April to May, 2013.

Chevak youth help funnel Cackling Geese into holding pen for banding.

Damage to a village house. Longxingcun.

Homeless people waiting in line for food and water. Aid agencies have scrambled to provide food, shelter and medical supplies to the thousands of people made homeless by the quake and strong aftershocks.

Life in a tent. A grandfather taking the baby outside the tent. The wall with shear crack behind him was their house which suffered serious damage.

Top of Radiodiscus sp. viewed with scanning electron microscope.

Gastrocopta germindens shell viewed with a scanning electron microscope.

Hawaiia minuscula shell observed with a scanning electron microscope with aperture facing down.

Radiodiscus millecostatus shell viewed with a scanning electron microscope.

Gastrocopta pentodon shell viewed with a scanning electron microscope with a zoom-in of the aperture.

Geologists extract a hand-driven core from 2-3 m depth on Sitkinak Island, Alaska. The cores contain peat with interbedded sand layers that record inundation of the coast by prehistoric tsunamis. (l-r: Peter Haeussler, USGS; Andrew Kemp, Tufts University; Alan Nelson, USGS)

Adult 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.