Images

A comparison of the 1946 Stearns and MacDonald map (left) and the 1996 BIMP map, digitized in 2005 (right), shows how the understanding of Hawai‘i Island's geology advanced over half a century. The Geologic Map of the Island of Hawaii is available online at http://pubs.usgs.gov/ds/2005/144/.

USGS responsds to recent flooding near Houston, Texas on April 20, 2016. 

Alaska Volcano Observatory scientist Mark Hansen working with Larsen Bay Mayor David Harmes on how the AVO-4 particulate monitor operates.

Image of the Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center, Woods Hole, Massachusetts

Photograph taken from a Colorado National Guard helicopter looking north down the West Salt Creek rock avalanche deposit. On May 25, 2014, the central core of the rock avalanche deposit continued to move for 1-2 hours after the main rock avalanche deposit had stopped moving.

Red dots show updated locations and magnitudes of three earthquakes that occurred on or around the Islands of O‘ahu and Maui in late March and early April 2016, as revised by seismologists at the U.S. Geological Survey's Hawaiian Volcano Observatory.

Mauna Loa's summit was cold and clear this morning while HVO scientists performed maintenance on the summit thermal camera and two seismic stations. A few faint steam sources were noted in the usual locations on the caldera floor.

Ground-Penetrating Radar instruments are towed across land. Data from this instrument show underlying sediment layers within the dune and barrier island, which may reveal patterns of growth and erosion.

One benefit of passing showers today at Kīlauea's summit was a double rainbow. Halema‘uma‘u Crater is at the right side of the photo, and the gas plume from the active lava lake can be seen drifting towards the southwest. At the far right edge of the image, visitors take in the view at Jaggar Overlook.

Surface breakouts remain scattered northeast of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō, with a slight retreat in the reach of active breakouts since the last overflight on March 25. Today, the farthest active lava was 5.7 km (3.5 miles) from the vent on Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō. Much of the activity was at the forest boundary, burning trees and creating numerous smoke plumes.

Views were hampered today by sporadic downpours. Once the rain passed, areas of active breakouts were evident by the larger steam plumes coming from the surface (for example, at the top center of the photograph).

One of the more vigorous breakouts on the flow field today, producing a sheet of blue-glassy pāhoehoe.

A colony of the soft coral known as the "bent sea rod" stands bleached on a reef off of Islamorada, Florida. Hard and soft corals are presently bleaching- losing their symbiotic algae – all over the coral reefs of the Florida Keys due to unusually warm ocean temperatures this summer.

We collect terrestrial (barrier island) and marine (nearshore and estuarine) sediment cores to ground-truth geophysical observations. These cores are used to understand the history of barrier island formation and erosion.

Though often less intense than hurricanes, extratropical storms (e.g., nor’easters) occur more frequently and their impacts can be striking. Here, several years after Hurricane Sandy, winter nor’easters eroded sediments from an artificial dune at Fire Island, NY and moved them onto the beach and shoreface. Such erosion created a steep vertical face, or scarp.

The impacts of extreme storms can be striking. Here, winter nor’easters eroded sediments from an artificial dune at Fire Island, New York and moved them onto the beach and shoreface. Such erosion created a steep vertical face, or scarp. Erosion and overwash are expected to increase on Fire Island with rising sea levels. 

HVO geologist uses a laser rangefinder to measure the depth of the lava lake at the summit of Kīlauea in the Overlook crater. The lake level was about 58 m (190 ft) below the crater rim this afternoon. In recent days the lake level has dropped about 35 m (115 ft) as tiltmeters at the summit have recorded a larger than usual deflationary trend.

During the Mauna Loa 1950 eruption, three large, fast-moving lava flows advanced down the west flank of the volcano, each crossing the main highway before reaching the ocean. The Ka‘apuna flow, shown here, traveled from the Southwest Rift Zone vent (7,800 ft elevation) to the coast in just 17 hours, creating a huge steam plume as lava flowed into the sea.

Photomicrograph of gabbroic inclusion in Ogres Brow basaltic andesite. A rock thin section is created by gluing a small piece of rock onto a glass slide, then grinding it down to a thickness of 30 microns (the average human hair is about 100 microns in diameter) so that light shines through it when examined under the microscope.

The USGS conducted UAS flights to map the Nauset Marsh and Coast Guard Beach areas of Cape Cod National Seashore on Tuesday, March 1, 2016. These are the first authorized UAS flights in the northeast region of the national park system, and were performed under a research permit according to FAA and DOI regulations. 

The Florida Keys reefs have been experiencing a severe disease outbreak from 2014 to present called Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease (SCTLD).