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Explore our planet through photography and imagery, including climate change and water all the way back to the 1800s when the USGS was surveying the country by horse and buggy.

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Melissa Roach with pelican chicks at Smith Island
Melissa Roach with pelican chicks at Smith Island
Melissa Roach with pelican chicks at Smith Island
Melissa Roach with pelican chicks at Smith Island

Northeast Region Photo Contest, August 2019, USGS at Work
Melissa Roach, biologist, with the Patuxent Bird Banding Lab, keeps pelican chicks that are waiting for banding from sneaking away into the marsh on Smith Island in Chesapeake Bay

Northeast Region Photo Contest, August 2019, USGS at Work
Melissa Roach, biologist, with the Patuxent Bird Banding Lab, keeps pelican chicks that are waiting for banding from sneaking away into the marsh on Smith Island in Chesapeake Bay

Tern Lake hydrothermal area from the ground, Yellowstone
Tern Lake hydrothermal area from the ground, Yellowstone
Tern Lake hydrothermal area from the ground, Yellowstone
Tern Lake hydrothermal area from the ground, Yellowstone

View from the ground of the new thermal area near Tern Lake in Yellowstone National Park. Research conducted under NPS Geology Programs Milestones Permit 2016-9.

View from the ground of the new thermal area near Tern Lake in Yellowstone National Park. Research conducted under NPS Geology Programs Milestones Permit 2016-9.

Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone Lower Falls of Yellowstone River
Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone Lower Falls of Yellowstone River
Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone Lower Falls of Yellowstone River
Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone Lower Falls of Yellowstone River

Lower Falls of the Yellowstone River and the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, photographed during a helicopter flyover on August 19, 2019.

Saffron cod
Saffron cod
Saffron cod
Saffron cod

Scientists anticipate that the fish community in the lagoons near Kaktovik, Alaska, Beaufort Sea, now includes more saffron cod (Eleginus gracilis) and larger saffron cod, like the one pictured here, given that the species has a higher thermal tolerance than many other co-occurring marine fishes.

Scientists anticipate that the fish community in the lagoons near Kaktovik, Alaska, Beaufort Sea, now includes more saffron cod (Eleginus gracilis) and larger saffron cod, like the one pictured here, given that the species has a higher thermal tolerance than many other co-occurring marine fishes.

Seven people stand together on the deck of a research vesselwearing life jackets and hard hats and everyone is smiling.
Science crew on research cruise
Science crew on research cruise
Science crew on research cruise

Science party on board University of Washington’s research vessel Rachel Carson, who conducted geophysical surveys and tripod deployment in and around Astoria Canyon. From left to right: Gerry Hatcher (USGS), Maureen Walton (USGS), Jenna Hill (USGS), Andrea Ogston (UW), Anna Boyar (UW), Alicia Balster-Gee (USGS), Evan Lahr (UW).

Science party on board University of Washington’s research vessel Rachel Carson, who conducted geophysical surveys and tripod deployment in and around Astoria Canyon. From left to right: Gerry Hatcher (USGS), Maureen Walton (USGS), Jenna Hill (USGS), Andrea Ogston (UW), Anna Boyar (UW), Alicia Balster-Gee (USGS), Evan Lahr (UW).

tualatin sample
Tualatin at Boones Ferry
Tualatin at Boones Ferry
Tualatin at Boones Ferry

View of lake at Fernhill Natural Treatment Wetlands.

Two Common Murre chicks on rock ledge at Gull Island, Alaska
Two Common Murre chicks
Two Common Murre chicks
Two Common Murre chicks

Two Common Murre chicks on rock ledge at Gull Island, Alaska.

Two Common Murre chicks on rock ledge at Gull Island, Alaska.

Still frame from a USGS site webcam looking across the Delaware River near Trenton, NJ.
Webcam at USGS streamgage 01463500 Delaware River at Trenton NJ
Webcam at USGS streamgage 01463500 Delaware River at Trenton NJ
Webcam at USGS streamgage 01463500 Delaware River at Trenton NJ

Still frame from a webcam set up at USGS Streamgage 01463500 Delaware River at Trenton NJ. This image was taken on August 19, 2019 at 4:00 pm local time.

Visit the site page to see current video and static images.

Still frame from a webcam set up at USGS Streamgage 01463500 Delaware River at Trenton NJ. This image was taken on August 19, 2019 at 4:00 pm local time.

Visit the site page to see current video and static images.

Old Faithful geyser visitor center viewed from Observation point
Old Faithful geyser visitor center Observation point view Yellowstone
Old Faithful geyser visitor center Observation point view Yellowstone
Old Faithful geyser visitor center Observation point view Yellowstone

Old Faithful geyser visitor center, and visitor facilities as viewed from Observation point on August 18, 2019.

Photo of the Old Faithful area from Observation Point
Photo of the Old Faithful area from Observation Point
Photo of the Old Faithful area from Observation Point
Photo of the Old Faithful area from Observation Point

Old Faithful Geyser, as well as Old Faithful Inn and the Yellowstone National Park visitor center, as viewed from the lookout on Observation Point trail.

pond of water in Halema‘uma‘ crater
Water pond in Halema‘uma‘u 8-18-19
Water pond in Halema‘uma‘u 8-18-19
Water pond in Halema‘uma‘u 8-18-19

Water pond in Halema‘uma‘u August 18, 2019. The water level continues to slowly rise in Halema‘uma‘u, drowning many of the small rocks that were previously exposed in the center of the pond. Ripples across the water surface were evident today.

Water pond in Halema‘uma‘u August 18, 2019. The water level continues to slowly rise in Halema‘uma‘u, drowning many of the small rocks that were previously exposed in the center of the pond. Ripples across the water surface were evident today.

Arctic grayling (Thymallus arcticus) and Dolly varden (Salvelinus malma)  from impounded water of beaver dam on the Wrench Creek
Arctic grayling and Dolly varden from impounded water of beaver dam
Arctic grayling and Dolly varden from impounded water of beaver dam
Arctic grayling and Dolly varden from impounded water of beaver dam

Arctic grayling (Thymallus arcticus) and Dolly varden (Salvelinus malma)  from impounded water of beaver dam on the Wrench Creek, Noatak National Preserve. 

Measuring temperature and dissolved oxygen in impounded water of beaver dam on the Wrench Creek, Noatak National Preserve
Measuring temperature and dissolved oxygen in impounded water
Measuring temperature and dissolved oxygen in impounded water
Measuring temperature and dissolved oxygen in impounded water

Measuring temperature and dissolved oxygen in impounded water of beaver dam on the Wrench Creek, Noatak National Preserve.

 

Gnawed tree from beaver activity on tributary of the Agashashok River, Noatak National Preserve
Gnawed tree from beaver activity on tributary of the Agashashok River
Gnawed tree from beaver activity on tributary of the Agashashok River
Gnawed tree from beaver activity on tributary of the Agashashok River

Gnawed tree from beaver activity on tributary of the Agashashok River, Noatak National Preserve

Beaver dam crossing mainstem of Rabbit Creek near the headwaters, Cape Krusenstern National Monument
Beaver dam crossing mainstem of Rabbit Creek near the headwaters
Beaver dam crossing mainstem of Rabbit Creek near the headwaters
Beaver dam crossing mainstem of Rabbit Creek near the headwaters

Beaver dam crossing mainstem of Rabbit Creek near the headwaters, Cape Krusenstern National Monument

image related to volcanoes. See description
Continued slow rise of water level at bottom of Halema‘uma‘u
Continued slow rise of water level at bottom of Halema‘uma‘u
Continued slow rise of water level at bottom of Halema‘uma‘u

This video sequence begins with a close-up of the fumaroles on the north side of Halema‘uma‘u, then widens to show a broader view of the crater, with the water pond at the bottom. The video then shows a close-up of the water surface, with steaming and ripples.

This video sequence begins with a close-up of the fumaroles on the north side of Halema‘uma‘u, then widens to show a broader view of the crater, with the water pond at the bottom. The video then shows a close-up of the water surface, with steaming and ripples.

Researchers on the back of a boat
Deploying the subbottom profiler
Deploying the subbottom profiler
Deploying the subbottom profiler

Before deploying the subbottom profiler for leg 2 of the Cape Cod Bay 2019 Survey, Wayne Baldwin, Alex Nichols, and Chuck Worley made sure that the floats are sufficiently inflated. In the relatively shallow waters of Cape Cod Bay we want the instrument towed at water's surface for the resolution of the sub seafloor geology.

Before deploying the subbottom profiler for leg 2 of the Cape Cod Bay 2019 Survey, Wayne Baldwin, Alex Nichols, and Chuck Worley made sure that the floats are sufficiently inflated. In the relatively shallow waters of Cape Cod Bay we want the instrument towed at water's surface for the resolution of the sub seafloor geology.

Three people kneel around a large hose and they are wrapping electrical tape around it.
Hydrophone streamer prep
Hydrophone streamer prep
Hydrophone streamer prep

USGS members of the science party on board R/V Rachel Carson prepare the hydrophone streamer for deployment.

USGS members of the science party on board R/V Rachel Carson prepare the hydrophone streamer for deployment.

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