Images

Measurement of fault offset being done by USGS scientist Ken Hudnut, using the offset of a painted road stripe. This measurement was conducted following the Magnitude 6.4 earthquake that struck Searles Valley on July 4, 2019.

Measuring a fault offset on California State Route 178. This measurement was conducted following the Magnitude 6.4 earthquake that struck Searles Valley on July 4, 2019.

Photograph of a Hawai'ian forest near the youngest site along the Hawai'ian Long Substrate Age Gradient used in this study. This forest is on the big island of Hawai'i in Volcanoes National Park.

Four recently hatched piping plover chicks huddle in the nest bowl on the Garrison Reach of the Missouri River, North Dakota

USGS technicians collect water samples for eDNA analysis to estimate foothill yellow-legged frog (Rana boylii) presence at historically occupied sites throughout Oregon. These data are important for assessing the species' status and conservation needs. 

Two red sea urchins (Mesocentrotus franciscanus) sit on the deck of the R/V Falkor. These sea urchins were collected during the #HuntingBubbles research cruise led by the USGS and Schmidt Ocean Institute, which focused on exploring and understanding methane seeps and the communities that depend on them along the Cascadia Margin.

BsalSwabbing - The rough-skinned newt (Taricha granulosa) is a native western species susceptible to the salamander chytrid fungus, Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans (Bsal), in laboratory studies.

NPS image by Adams. A mule deer stands at the side of a road at Grand Teton National Park.

To make America’s economy and defense more secure, the Administration has released “A Federal Strategy to Ensure Secure and Reliable Supplies of Critical Minerals.” Among other roles, these mineral commodities are vital to renewable energy infrastructure like solar panels, wind turbines, and batteries.

Looking downstream from U.S. Highway 62 bridge at the widespread flooding and backwater conditions on the Arkansas River near Muskogee, Oklahoma, May 31, 2019.

U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2020–1090

Observations and measurements may now be made by attaching imaging and LIDAR sensors to unmanned aerial vehicles; pictured is a drone being used by the modern-day expedition to document their journey

USGS personnel are taking part in this year’s modern expedition that follows Powell’s 1869 journey; they are using 18-foot, inflatable, self-bailing rafts with rigging.

Staff from the USGS Great Lakes Science Center gaze at the Mackinac Bridge rising above the mist in the Straits of Mackinac, Michigan. The lines they are holding are attached to grappling hooks being used to retrieve acoustic telemetry equipment anchored on the bottom of the straits.

A direct streamflow measurement from the State Highway 20 bridge, looking downstream on the Verdigris River near Claremore, Oklahoma, near U.S. Geological Survey streamgage 07176000.

U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2020–1090

In 1938, after a brush fire, a rancher found remnants of the Nellie Powell, a boat from Powell’s second expedition in 1871, which had been left at Lees Ferry.  Grand Canyon National Park now stores this piece in its collections. (Annie Scott/USGS)

The Edith (left), in Grand Canyon National Park’s historic river boat collection, is an example of a wooden river boat, though it was made from several decades after Powell’s expedition.  Brothers Emery and Ellsworth Kolb paddled it down the Colorado River in 1911-12.

An instrument called an acoustic Doppler current profiler (ADCP) takes streamflow measurements during flooding. The ADCP is attached to a buoy that is dragged in the water either alongside a boat or by hand. USGS hydrologist Dan Thomas points to the ADCP sensor on the Red River of the North during flooding in downtown Fargo, ND.

A USGS crew measures flooding on the Red River in downtown Fargo, North Dakota. The orange instrument is an acoustic Doppler current profiler, which is used to measure streamflow as it's pulled across the water.

USGS hydrologist Dan Thomas prepares to measure record flows on the Red River of the North in downtown Fargo, North Dakota. The orange instrument is an acoustic Doppler current profiler, which is used to measure streamflow as it's pulled across the water.

A USGS crew measures high flow during flooding on the Maple River near Mapleton, North Dakota. The instrument being pulled across the water is an acoustic Doppler current profiler, which is used to measure streamflow. The truck is parked on a road that had been overtaken by the river. 

A USGS crew prepares to measure streamflow during record flooding on the Maple River near Mapleton, ND, on April 6, 2019. The instrument pictured is an acoustic Doppler current profiler which measures streamflow as it's dragged across the water.