Multimedia Gallery

Since its creation in 1882, the USGS Library has grown to become the world's largest library dedicated to earth and natural sciences, holding more than 1.5 million volumes and 800,000 maps. Richard Huffine, Director of the USGS Libraries Program, will highlight some of the rarest, most valuable, and significant materials held by the USGS. These include early maps of

Randall Orndorff, Director of the Eastern Geology and Paleoclimate Science Center, discusses how Karst affects daily life. Beneath a quarter of the United States are rock types that can dissolve to form caves, sinkholes and other features. Nearly every state has rock layers of limestone, gypsum, and other soluble rocks we call ‘karst’. Karst is important for many reasons.

Insect-eating bats provide pest-control services that save the U.S. agriculture industry over $3 billion per year, according to a study released today in the journal Science. However, scientists with the U.S. Geological Survey, University of Pretoria in South Africa, University of Tennessee, and Boston University who contributed to the study warn that these valuable

Earthquakes affect Earth’s intricate plumbing system. The magnitude 9.0 earthquake in Japan on March 11, 2011 affected water levels in groundwater wells in many places in the United States. In this episode of CoreCast USGS Geophysicist Evelyn Roeloffs explains this phenomenon.

The upper Midwest, the Deep South, the Northern Plains, the Ohio Valley and parts of southern New England are experiencing flooding now or are highly vulnerable to flooding this spring. In this episode of CoreCast USGS National Flood Coordinator Bob Holmes talks to CoreCast host  Kara Capelli about why increased flooding is likely this year and how USGS is responding.

A magnitude 8.9 earthquake struck the coast of Japan on March 11, 2011. USGS geophysicists and Bill Ellsworth and Eric Geist talk to CoreCast host Kara Capelli about the quake and subsequent tsunami.

In this episode we sit down with USGS wildlife biologist Joan Hagar and discuss her recent study on songbirds in the Pacific Northwest. New research indicates a possible relationship between reductions in the abundance of some species of songbird and reductions in the amount of deciduous trees in evergreen forests. Join us, as we demonstrate how Oregon songbirds sing for

Groundwater is not a single vast pool of underground water; rather, it is contained within a variety of aquifer systems. Each of these aquifers has its own set of questions and challenges. From large drawdowns in the Great Plains aquifer to arsenic in some wells in New England, this episode of CoreCast highlights six different USGS groundwater studies all across the United

Walruses are important to human communities bordering the Chukchi and Bering seas in the United States and Russia, and the status of walrus provides information about the health of these highly productive marine ecosystems. Projecting the future population status of the Pacific walrus was investigated with a new model developed by scientists at the USGS Alaska Science

Dr. Matthiew Perry, Senior Advisor at Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, highlights 75 years of wildlife conservation research at Patuxent Wildlife Research Center in celebration of the Center’s 75th anniversary. Major programs include global climate change studies, Chesapeake Bay studies, and wildlife conservation monitoring. Perry gives an overview of the center’s

A 6.3 magnitude earthquake struck the south island of New Zealand near Christchurch on February 21, resulting in 75 lives being lost. This earthquake was an aftershock from the Sept. 4^th magnitude 7.0 earthquake that occurred in nearby Darfield last year. So why did this lesser magnitude earthquake result in more damage and lives lost? 

Jennifer LaVista

Sounds of lava lake activity within Kilauea Volcano's summit vent inside Halema`uma`u Crater on the afternoon of February 14, 2011. The continuous "crashing wave" noise is the sound of churning lava as gases are released from the lake surface, which is in nearly constant motion. The discontinuous sharp "pops" occur when rocks falling from the vent wall hit the lava lake

Though the Great Lakes are the largest freshwater system on Earth, the basin has the potential for local shortages, according to a new basin-wide water availability assessment by the U.S. Geological Survey. Kara Capelli spoke with Howard Reeves, USGS scientist and lead author on the report, about why uneven distribution of water can cause local shortages and conflicts. 

Beginning on Christmas Eve, 1861, and continuing into early 1862, an extreme series of storms lasting 45 days struck California. The storms caused severe flooding, turning the Sacramento Valley into an inland sea. The storms were caused by atmospheric rivers, a hurricane-like phenomenon that occurs on the west coast.  A storm comparable to that of 1861-1862 could occur

With the New Year came a number of mass animal deaths across the country, including the 3-5,000 red-winged blackbirds that fell near Beebe, AR, beginning on New Year’s Eve. The U.S. Geological Survey’s National Wildlife Health Center in Madison, Wis. is investigating the cause of the AR bird deaths, as well as the smaller die-off of about 500 birds that occurred in

For this month’s episode we discuss the water-quality parameter turbidity. More than just a way to measure dirty water, turbidity can serve as a useful indicator of the ecological health of a watershed. Join us, as we sit down with USGS scientist Heather Bragg to discuss differences in how turbidity is measured, how the data are used, and where you can find real-time

In this month’s episode we discuss how 3-D modeling is used to examine groundwater in the Columbia Plateau. USGS hydrologist Erick Burns describes how his team modeled the 53,000 mi² plateau, how this information is currently used, and what implications it has for the future. Join us, as we explore how cutting edge science today is used to solve tomorrow’s

Damage to bat wings from the fungus associated with white-nose syndrome (WNS) may cause catastrophic imbalance in life-support processes, and this imbalance may be to blame for the more than 1 million deaths of bats due to WNS thus far. Paul Cryan, USGS bat ecologist at the Fort Collins Science Center, discusses this newly published USGS research.

A trio of USGS scientists has been involved in the excavation and study of a major animal and plant fossil discovery in Snowmass Village, Colo., which provides more than 100,000 years of vegetation and climate records for the area. This recent find includes Columbian mammoths, mastodons, extinct bison, Ice Age deer, and a 9-foot ground sloth, and the USGS team is studying

This month's episode focuses on one of the most useful geographic tools scientists have for studying our natural world: Light Detection and Ranging, or LiDAR. LiDAR is a powerful data collection technique that can be used to map surface features, even those hidden beneath the dense canopy of Pacific Northwest forests. USGS scientists use high-resolution LiDAR data to

Paleoecologist Dr. Lynn Wingard highlights the unique aspects and restoration challenges of the Greater Everglades Ecosystem of southern Florida. Development and water management practices have profoundly altered this ecosystem, endangering much of the animal life in the area. Current restorations efforts attempting to restore the ecosystem faces challenges about how to

The USGS recently completed sampling for the North American Soil Geochemical Landscapes Project on November 18, 2010. The last three samples of a total of 14,400 samples were collected at Bull Run Mountain in Virginia. During the multi-year project, about 20 students from a dozen different universities aided USGS employees and partners from Natural Resources Conservation

The USGS has just released the first-ever nationwide assessment of rare earth elements in the United States. The report estimates total U.S. resources at just under 12 million metric tons, located in significant deposits in 14 states. Keith Long and Brad Van Gosen, the two lead authors of the report, discuss their findings.