Videos

The USGS Florence Bascom Geoscience Center (FBGC) is at the leading edge of scientific research addressing critical societal issues and providing unbiased data and information to decision makers and the public.

The USGS Florence Bascom Geoscience Center (FBGC) is at the leading edge of scientific research addressing critical societal issues and providing unbiased data and information to decision makers and the public.

The USGS Florence Bascom Geoscience Center (FBGC) is at the leading edge of scientific research addressing critical societal issues and providing unbiased data and information to decision makers and the public.

The USGS Florence Bascom Geoscience Center (FBGC) is at the leading edge of scientific research addressing critical societal issues and providing unbiased data and information to decision makers and the public.

The Florence Bascom Geoscience Center conducts geologic research using digital elevation models to map karst systems and sinkhole hazards in the United States. Understanding these complex geologic systems helps to inform land use planning and development decisions.

This video demonstrates a simulation of how storms can impact sandy coastlines through processes such as erosion. This demonstration is conducted at outreach events by scientists at the St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center. The activity can also be re-created at home or in the classroom.

Mike Poland, Scientist-in-Charge of the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory, gives an overview of activity at Yellowstone during January 2020.

In 2019, the Volcano Alert Level for Mauna Loa was elevated from “NORMAL” to “ADVISORY” due to increased seismicity and deformation at the volcano. This alert level does not mean an eruption is imminent, but it is a fact that Mauna Loa, which has erupted 33 times since 1843 (most recently in 1984), will erupt again. What will you do when it does?

The 2018 Kīlauea eruption produced unprecedented levels of seismicity in the volcano’s instrumented history. The USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory documented about 80,000 earthquakes during the three-month-long eruption, starting with the dramatic collapse of the Puʻu ʻŌʻō cone on April 30 and ending with the final Kīlauea summit caldera collapse event on August 5.

In the year since Kīlauea Volcano’s notable 2018 eruption ended, the lower East Rift Zone has been relatively quiet. But USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory scientists continue to gain insight into the eruption through ongoing research and monitoring. Some of the many questions asked by island residents include, Why did the fissures erupt along a linear pattern?

My name is Kate Allstadt. I’m a research geophysicist with the U.S.

The 2018 eruption on Kīlauea’s lower East Rift Zone spewed around a billion cubic yards of lava into Puna. From the moment the eruption began, samples of lava were collected and rapidly analyzed by a team of USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory and University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo scientists.

Dr. Elizabeth Vanacore talks about the installation of temporary seismic stations in southwest Puerto Rico.

Kīlauea Volcano's summit has been in an eruptive pause since the 2018 events ended over a year ago. Nevertheless, it remains a dynamic place. Ongoing inflation and seismicity indicate that the summit magma chamber is gradually recharging.

Tens of thousands of earthquakes occur each year in Hawaii, making it one of the most seismically active places in the United States.

2018 and 2019 were years of profound change at Kīlauea Volcano and the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory. Devastation caused by the largest lower East Rift Zone eruption and summit collapse in at least 200 years resulted in many transitions for island residents, including HVO.

The degradation of coastal habitats, particularly coral reefs, raises risks by increasing the exposure of coastal communities to flooding hazards during storms. The protective services of these natural defenses are not assessed in the same rigorous economic terms as artificial defenses, such as seawalls, and therefore often are not considered in decision-making.

Mike Poland, Scientist-in-Charge of the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory, gives an overview of activity at Yellowstone during 2019, with an emphasis on the month of December.

The degradation of coastal habitats, particularly coral reefs, raises risks by increasing the exposure of coastal communities to flooding hazards during storms. The protective services of these natural defenses are not assessed in the same rigorous economic terms as artificial defenses, such as seawalls, and therefore often are not considered in decision-making.

Mike Poland, Scientist-in-Charge of the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory, describes activity at Yellowstone during the month of November 2019.

USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory scientists Frank Younger and Patricia Nadeau talk about sampling the water at the bottom of Halemaʻumaʻu, a crater at the summit of Kīlauea Volcano. The water appeared in July 2019 and has steadily risen since then.