Images

Karen Holzer and Lisa McKeon rephotograph Shepard Glacier from the slope of Pyramid Peak, Glacier National Park. 1998 USGS photo.

Repeat photo of Harrison Glacier. 8/20/1913 by WC Alden, USGS Photographic Library, 7/30/2009 by Ralph Thornton, USGS.

Boulder Glacier Ice Cave:  1932, TJ Hileman, GNP Archives – 1988, J DeSanto, U of M Library 

This photo pair inspired the USGS to document glacier and landscape change using oblique photography.

Sperry Glacier: circa 1930, MJ Elrod, U of M Library – 9/17/2008, L McKeon, USGS 

Repeating this photo from the same photo point was impossible since the historic photo was shot from the elevated perspective of the glacier’s surface.

Shepard Glacier:  9/6/1913, WC Alden, USGS Photo Library – 8/21/2005, B. Reardon, USGS

Grinnell Glacier in 1910 (Elrod photo, U of M Collection) and 2016 (McKeon photo, USGS).  Retreat resulted in glacier fragmentation, so the 2016 scene shows both Grinnell Glacier, hugging the base of the cliff, and The Salamander Glacier, perched above, along the right edge of the photograph.

Swiftcurrent Glacier: circa 1910, M. Elod, GNP Archives - 9/27/2016, L McKeon, USGS

During the timespan between these photos, it is evident that Swiftcurrent Glacier has retreated and wildfire has consumed a patch of trees at the base of Swiftcurrent Mountain, the broad, beige slope in the background. 

Logan and Red Eagle Glaciers: Aug. 1914, EC Stebinger, USGS Photo Library – 9/2/2009, L McKeon, USGS

These glaciers were once a continuous glacier, but became separate glaciers as retreat progressed.

Jackson Glacier: 1912, MJ Elrod, U of M Library – 9/3/2009, L McKeon, USGS

Trees and vegetation continue to establish themselves at the base of Jackson Glacier as the glacier retreats.

Grinnell and The Salamander Glaciers from the summit of Mt. Gould: 1938, TJ Hileman, GNP Archives – 9/4/2019, L McKeon, USGS

Upper Grinnell Lake has formed as the glacier has retreated.  The change in height of Grinnell Glacier along the cliff face hints at  volume loss during this timespan. 

USGS scientists Jason Sorenson and Andrea Tokranov (out of the image) collecting lake-bottom sediments from Ashumet Pond on Cape Cod, Massachusetts for use in laboratory experiments on the fate of PFAS at groundwater/surface-water boundaries.  The sediments are collected by pushing a tube into the lake bottom and transferring the sediment and pore water in

MC-ICP-MS used for mercury stable isotope analyses.

Nippon mercury analyzer for sediments and fish.

\$71-\$246 BILLION
Net annual economic impact of wildland fire across the U.S.¹

650 MILLION
Acres of public lands that are managed for wildland fire.²

16.1 FATALITIES
Average annual fatalities from wildland fire.³

A redhead duck floats on the Choptank River in Cambridge, MD. The redhead is a medium-sized diving duck.

The Chesapeake Bay watershed, or draingage basin, encompasses six states - New York, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, Virginia, and the District of Columbia. A drainage basin is a giant system of creeks, streams, and rivers that all flow into a common outlet, which in this case is the Chesapeake Bay.

This illustration is for an Ichthyologist coloring page. This coloring page can easily be added to lesson plans for students in science classes. 

Scientists at the U.S. Geological Survey Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center and the U.S.

Graduate student, Grace Armstrong, performing mercury uptake studies in plankton at Mercury Research Laboratory, Middleton, Wisconsin.

Releases of oil and gas wastewaters can have complex effects on stream-water quality and downstream organisms, due to sediment-water interactions and groundwater/surface water exchange. 

Figure 4 from Katzner, et. al., 2020