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Photo Contest Winner | March 2021 | Where We Work
Aerial photo of Cold River in Maine

Lees Ferry streamgage and cableway downstream on the Colorado River, Arizona

Metals and minerals are vital components of medical devices that allow millions of people to enjoy healthy lifestyles. Devices implanted into the human body can replace, support, or enhance an existing body part. Other devices can diagnose, monitor, or treat clinical conditions, both saving lives and improving people’s quality of life.

The Research Vessel Peterson Underway in San Francisco Bay.

 Winter temperature extremes control the distributions of subtropical fishes. Common snook (Centropomus undecimalis), aggregate at a spring in northern Florida during winter. Snook are warm saltwater game fish, common in Florida, that have been moving further northward as extreme cold spells become less frequent and less intense.

View of the lava lake from the south rim of Halema‘uma‘u, at the summit of Kīlauea, looking north. The western (left) portion of the lava lake remains active, with small scale crustal foundering events. Lava enters the lake at two sources approximately 20 to 30 meters (65 to 100 ft) apart at the base of the western vent spatter cone.

Agassiz Glacier: 8/5/1913 WC Alden, USGS Photographic Library - 8/24/2007, D Fagre, USGS 

View the full collection at USGS Photographic Library 

This map of Halema‘uma‘u at the summit of Kīlauea shows 20 m (66 ft) contour lines (dark gray) that mark locations of equal elevation above sea level (asl). The map shows that the lava lake has filled 221 m (725 ft) of the crater, to an elevation of 737 m (2418 ft) asl since the eruption began on December 20, 2020.

Boulder Glacier Ice Cave:  1932, TJ Hileman, GNP Archives – 1988, J DeSanto, U of M Library 

This photo pair inspired the USGS to document glacier and landscape change using oblique photography.

Chaney Glacier:  1911, MR Campbell, USGS Photographic Library – 8/19/2005 Karen Milone, USGS 

View the full collection at USGS Photographic Library 

Radioactive isotopes are common in nature and emit particles that can be detected, quantified, and used to characterize environmental processes.

View of the lava lake from the southern rim of Halema‘uma‘u, at the summit of Kīlauea, looking north. The western portion of the lava lake remains active, with small scale crustal foundering events. The white steam from the crater walls is more pronounced due to the heavy rain of the last couple of days.

This map shows the response time people can expect based on Mauna Loa eruptions over the past 200 years.  Different sectors around Mauna Loa are colored according to how quickly lava flows can reach populated areas.  The warmer the color, the more quickly the flows travel.

Repeat photo of Harrison Glacier. 8/20/1913 by WC Alden, USGS Photographic Library, 7/30/2009 by Ralph Thornton, USGS.

Karen Holzer and Lisa McKeon rephotograph Shepard Glacier from the slope of Pyramid Peak, Glacier National Park. 1998 USGS photo.

View looking to the northwest of western fissure area of Halema‘uma‘u lava lake at the Kīlauea summit on March 11, 2021. There is a small incandescent opening at the top of the main (southern) west vent spatter cone (middle-left), and a few smaller incandescent openings at the top of the northern west vent spatter cone (right of the main cone).