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USGS Research Geologist Dr. Erika Lentz is conducting real-time kinematic GPS surveys on barrier island dunes, part of her research looking at how coastal landscapes respond to sea-level rise.

An unnamed but charismatic thermal feature alongside Ferris Fork, near the Bechler River. The center of the pool is roiling with gas bubbles, but not boiling! The pool is only about 180 degrees F (81 degrees C), and all the gas is bubbling up from underground.

A WaterWatch web map shows streamgages in North and South Carolina that approached or exceeded major flood stage EST on September 19, 2018, as the former Hurricane Florence, now downgraded to a tropical depression, deluged the states with rain.

October 16, 2018, marks the two-year anniversary of the Cottonwood Fire in western South Dakota. The fire consumed a large swath of grassland near the community of Wall and just north of Badlands National Park.

Explosive eruption columns of ash rising from Halema‘uma‘u at 11:15 a.m. on May 18, 1924 (top) and at 11:05 a.m. on May 15, 2018 (bottom) look similar.

Ear Spring photographed on September 16, 2018. Rocks and other debris on the ground surrounding the spring were ejected during the September 15 water eruption. The spring is dry in this photo.

Following the draining of magma from Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō on April 30, 2018, the crater was roughly 356 meters (1168 feet) deep. The upper part of the crater was flaring, with the deepest portion a narrower cylindrical shaft.

David Stillwell, USGS hydrologic technician, performs a discharge measurement to help document and forecast flooding caused by Hurricane Florence at Long Creek in Rhyne, North Carolina on Sept. 16. 

 

This photo shows one of 8 storm sensors deployed in Pennsylvania to monitor the potential effects Hurricane Florence could have on already high rivers across the state. Photo by Matthew Gyves, USGS. 

A look to the north along the bluffs at the Cape Cod National Seashore, from Marconi Station. Over the years, the USGS continues to work with the National Park Service at the Cape Cod National Seashore.

COAWST model prediction on September 13, 2018 at 17:00:00. Arrows are wind speed and direction and colors are wave heights in meters. 

The video was taken during an overflight of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō crater on Kīlauea's middle East Rift Zone. No major changes were observed, but the crater shape continues to change due to continued rockfalls.

After USGS scientist Dan Hoover drove a couple of pass with his all-terrain vehicle (ATV), equipped with gear that collects elevations, on a mostly flat beach in southern Monterey Bay, California. Then he turned to take this photo of his tire tracks.

Two personal watercraft operators from the USGS Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center in Santa Cruz, California, navigate their personal watercraft (PWC) in the shallow nearshore region in Moss Landing near Elkhorn Slough. The PWCs are set up with precision GPS and echosounder systems in order to create detailed bathymetric maps (depth).

The Cheboygan Vessel Base. Please see our Locations page for more information.

USGS Library's collections and services are used by USGS staff and other researchers across the world.

USGS oceanographer Andrew Stevens, of the Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center in Santa Cruz, California, sits on an all-terrain vehicle equipped with a precision GPS and other instruments. The GPS collects position data continuously, about 2 points per second, while an operator like Andrew drives the ATV over a beach.

The Hammond Bay Biological Stationi. See our Locations page for more information.

Arial view of the Lake Erie Biological Station.  See our Locations page for more information.

USGS Library has an expansive map collection with topographic maps, geologic maps, thematic maps, and more. The collection covers the United States, other countries around the world, and other planets.

For typical beach surveys, USGS scientists drive an all-terrain vehicle (ATV) like the one shown here, equpped with precision GPS that collects location and elevation data. Driving along features such as high-water marks, and driving a grid pattern spaced by about 30 meters, enable the collection of a complete 3D representation of the beach surface.