Images

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: Emile Bergeron (USGS), Kiyofumi Suzuki (JOGMEC), Marco Terzariol (Georgia Tech), William Waite (USGS), and Carlos Santamarina (Georgia Tech).

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: Yoshihiro Konno (AIST) and David Mason (USGS).

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. Front, left to right: Efthymios Papadopoulos (Georgia Tech) and 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: Emile Bergeron (USGS) and Carlos Santamarina (Georgia Tech) are preparing to use a cutter (center) to saw a pressure core into shorter-length sections for transfer into various test devices.

USGS technicians Ray Sliter, Pete Dal Ferro, and Tom O'Brien retrieve the 72-channel digital seismic streamer on the research vessel Pelican during a cruise to explore gas hydrates in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico from April to May, 2013.

USGS technicians Eric Moore and Jenny White deploy instruments at the start of a seismic survey to explore gas hydrates in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico from April to May 2013.

Routine maintenance on a ground-water monitoring well,
Perry Park, Brunswick, Glynn County, Georgia. At one time this well was used by the City of Brunswick for drinking water. Saltwater intrusion forced the city to abandon the well, so the USGS started monitoring it for water levels and specific conductance.

Wind energy facility in the Northeastern United States. An unexpected number of dead bats began appearing beneath industrial-scale wind turbines in North America and Europe during the past 10 years.

Most modern wind turbines are taller than a 30-story building. Field biologist Apple Snider stands at the base of a turbine in New York for scale.

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: Emile Bergeron (USGS), Kiyofumi Suzuki (JOGMEC), Marco Terzariol (Georgia Tech), William Waite (USGS), and Carlos Santamarina (Georgia Tech).

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. Front to back: Efthymios Papadopoulos (Georgia Tech), William Waite (USGS), and Yoshihiro Konno (AIST) analyze data from sensors inserted into hydrate-bearing pressure cores.

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. This photo shows the pressure core storage chambers, which contain hydrate-bearing sediment samples obtained from the Nankai Trough offshore Japan.

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: Efthymios Papadopoulos (Georgia Tech), Yoshihiro Konno (AIST), and William Winters (USGS).

USGS technician Jenny White prepares equipment for deployment on the research vessel Pelican during a cruise to explore gas hydrates in the Gulf of Mexico from April to May, 2013.

USGS co-chief scientist Seth Haines and technician Tom O’Brien work on data acquisition and analysis in the laboratory of the research vessel Pelican during a cruise to explore gas hydrates in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico from April to May, 2013.

USGS technician Pete Dal Ferro watches as the generator injector guns (silver), the compressor hose (black), and orange buoys are retrieved from the waters of the Gulf of Mexico during a cruise to image gas hydrates in the Gulf of Mexico from April to May, 2013.

Sandhill Cranes fly in close proximity to wind turbines near Horicon National Wildlife Refuge in east-central Wisconsin, but to date no crane mortality has been associated with turbines in this area.

Wind turbines at certain sites in North America each cause dozens of bat fatalities per year.

This photo shows one of the three 135-ft blades of a turbine before installation. Although the blades of wind turbines appear to move quite slowly to the human eye, blade tips often move at speeds faster than 100 mph.

The new solar heating system will reduce the center's carbon footprint by supplementing the current natural gas boiler and reduce energy costs.

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.