Images

This Oaxaca Cave Sleeper is one of thirteen specimens collected from a cave beneath a reservoir on Mexico's Tonto River. It lacks eyes, is unpigmented, and has sensory adaptations characteristic of fish that live in total darkness. Thuis is the holotype, the example used to describe and name this newly identified species. Credit: Howard L.

A laboratory preparation of a Oaxaca Cave Sleeper specimen shows the absence of eyes in this newly identified cavefish species. Credit: Stephen J. Walsh, USGS

Pre- and post-fire images acquired with shortwave infrared (SWIR), near infrared (NIR), and red bands on Landsat 8’s Operational Land Imager sensor reveal a significant, 14,442-acre burn scar within the park’s high country. The burn scar appears red in the June 23 image.

Though difficult to photograph, aerial views showed that this open vent was but a small window into a large, hot cavity beneath Puʻu ʻŌʻō's northeast flank in Hawaii Inside, streams of lava from an unseen source (or sources) closer to the crater rim (visible at lower right) were cascading toward the upper left into unknown depths.

The red-footed booby is a seabird that ranges across tropical oceans of the world, including Hawaiʻi. And yes, these boobies do have startlingly bright red feet set off by their awesome blue bills. This bird is nesting at Kīlauea Point National Wildlife Refuge, an important seabird breeding site on Kauaʻi.

The red-footed booby is a seabird that ranges across tropical oceans of the world, including Hawaiʻi. And yes, these boobies do have startlingly bright red feet set off by their awesome blue bills. This bird is nesting at Kīlauea Point National Wildlife Refuge, an important seabird breeding site on Kauaʻi.

Macro photo of a developing pallid sturgeon embryo. Developing embryo appears light gray

Developing pallid sturgeon embryo.

USGS scientist Joseph Levitt secured the new buoy, equipped to monitor water quality, at Weirs Beach on Lake Winnepesaukee, New Hampshire in June 2016. Photo: Sanborn Ward, USGS

The USGS monitors water quality at the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore in Empire, Michigan. 

In June, USGS scientists deployed a new high tech buoy that will help determine when the water is safe for swimming at popular Weirs Beach on New Hampshire's Lake Winnepesaukee. Photo: Richard Kiah, USGS.

The USGS monitors water quality at the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore in Empire, Michigan. 

A corn farm in northeast Iowa. A new USGS report shows that drought periods followed by rainfall caused nitrate levels to increase to the highest ever measured in some Midwest streams during a 2013 study. 

Cows feed on a farm in southern Wisconsin. A new USGS report shows that drought periods followed by rainfall caused nitrate levels to increase to the highest ever measured in some Midwest streams during a 2013 study. 

A small stream flows through corn fields in northern Indiana. A new USGS report shows that drought periods followed by rainfall caused nitrate levels to increase to the highest ever measured in some Midwest streams during a 2013 study. 

An irrigation system waters crops in southern Wisconsin. A new USGS report shows that drought periods followed by rainfall caused nitrate levels to increase to the highest ever measured in some Midwest streams during a 2013 study. 

The field team included USGS geologists Rob Witter, Adrian Bender, Chris DuRoss, Peter Haeussler, Richard Lease and Kate Scharer

The field crew trekked miles daily to reach their research sites. 

Scientists use current technology to further Fairweather Fault research. 

USGS research geologist Kate Scharer with her finger on the Fairweather Fault in southeast Alaska. The magnitude 7.8 Lituya Bay earthquake caused shaking that toppled trees along the fault, which left a break in the forest shown here.

Periodic calving of ice from the snout of South Crillon Glacier.