Images

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.

Two wind turbines from side on clear day. 

Some of the larger wind energy facilities in North America are composed of hundreds of wind turbines dispersed across tens of thousands of acres, like this one in Colorado.

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. Left to right: Carlos Santamarina (Georgia Tech) 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. 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.