Multimedia Gallery

Scientists from the USGS Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center using a helium powered kite-balloon at Head of the Meadow Beach and Marconi Beach, Cape Cod National Seashore in Massachusetts. A camera is attached to the kite and taken up and down the beach to take a bunch of pictures used to create a digital elevation model with structure-from-motion techniques.

Scientists from the USGS Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center using a helium powered kite-balloon at Head of the Meadow Beach and Marconi Beach, Cape Cod National Seashore in Massachusetts. A camera is attached to the kite and taken up and down the beach to take a bunch of pictures used to create a digital elevation model with structure-from-motion techniques.

Scientists from the USGS Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center using a helium powered kite-balloon at Head of the Meadow Beach and Marconi Beach, Cape Cod National Seashore in Massachusetts. A camera is attached to the kite and taken up and down the beach to take a bunch of pictures used to create a digital elevation model with structure-from-motion techniques.

Scientists from the USGS Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center using a helium powered kite-balloon at Head of the Meadow Beach and Marconi Beach, Cape Cod National Seashore in Massachusetts. A camera is attached to the kite and taken up and down the beach to take a bunch of pictures used to create a digital elevation model with structure-from-motion techniques.

Scientists from the USGS Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center using a helium powered kite-balloon at Head of the Meadow Beach and Marconi Beach, Cape Cod National Seashore in Massachusetts. A camera is attached to the kite and taken up and down the beach to take a bunch of pictures used to create a digital elevation model with structure-from-motion techniques.

Scientists from the USGS Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center using a helium powered kite-balloon at Head of the Meadow Beach and Marconi Beach, Cape Cod National Seashore in Massachusetts. A camera is attached to the kite and taken up and down the beach to take a bunch of pictures used to create a digital elevation model with structure-from-motion techniques.

Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Center scientists prepare to deploy a seafloor tripod loaded with oceanographic equipment offshore of Sandwich, MA , March 2021

Property damage caused by a large NorEaster Storm, Sandwich, MA February 2021

A large NorEaster Storm caused extensive property damage along the beach ,Sandwich, MA February 2021

Photo Contest Winner | February 2021 | Where We Work
North Fork Patapsco River

Photo Contest Winner | February 2021 | People
Scouting Marconi Beach

The USGS landslide team monitors and continues to update the hazard map models based on data collected in burn areas. This information improves future models and provides better hazard assessments used by officials for emergency response and decision making. Many of the steep hillsides burned and denuded in California fires repel water rather than soak it in. This

Adrian Garcia with the effective stress cell in the USGS Hydrate Pressure Core Analysis Laboratory in Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center

Randy Host preparing to sample discharge and collect water quality samples on an icy Alsek River in winter.

Heavy rains at the summit of Kīlauea Volcano (Hawaii) cleared on the afternoon of Friday, February 26, 2021, to show the steaming surface of the lava lake at Halema‘uma‘u viewed from the west. A rainbow arches over the lake looking east across the crater toward Kīlauea Iki. This photo was taken within an area of Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park that remains closed to the

On the afternoon of Friday February 26, 2021, the active west side of the lava lake at Halema‘uma‘u, Kīlauea Volcano, Hawaii, had numerous surface breakouts and foundering crust amid vigorous steaming due to the heavy rainfall. This view is looking to the east from the west side of the crater. At the base of the west vent lava was effusing at the lake level. There was no

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 218 m (715 ft) of the crater, to an elevation of 735 m (2411 ft) asl since the eruption began at approximately 9:30 p.m. HST on December 20, 2020. Contour lines highlighted

Hydrologic technician drills holes for a measurement at the U.S. Geological Survey station on the Sandy River near Madrid, Maine (station 01047200), in late February 2021. 

 A telephoto image of the western fissure within Halema‘uma‘u crater, at the summit of Kīlauea Volcano. On Wednesday, February 24, 2021, the northern-most vent of the fissure was producing occasional weak bursts of spatter (center). This vent fed a new lava flow which was emplace between the spatter cone and the crater wall and advanced a short distance along the

A telephoto image of the small lava flow from the western fissure within Halema‘uma‘u, at the summit of Kīlauea. Occasional incandescence was visible (center) from the weakly active flow on the northwestern lava lake levee. A portion of the active lava lake is visible in the lower-right. This photo was taken within an area of Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park that remains

On Wednesday, February 24, HVO scientists observed the Kīlauea summit eruption in Halema‘uma‘u from the west rim of the crater. In this photo, the active western fissure is marked by an incandescent skylight on the near side of the lava lake. A plume of sulfur dioxide and other volcanic gases rises constantly from the fissure as it effuses lava into the lake, which

In the morning of Tuesday, February 23, a new source of spatter appeared on flank of the active western fissure within Halema‘uma‘u at the summit of Kīlauea. It started to feed a short lava flow down the spatter cone and onto the crusted northwest margin of the lava lake. A field crew on Wednesday observed the flow to be active, and captured this photo through the lens of

Flathead Lake at Polson, Montana

The lava lake in Halema‘uma‘u crater, at the summit of Kīlauea, remains active. Active surface lava remains limited to the western portion of the lake, shown here as seen from the south rim of the crater and looking towards the northwest. The western fissure cone is in the center of the photo. The top of the main cone is obscured by volcanic gases, and a small glow area is

Examples of orthomosaic imagery and a high-resolution digital surface model of Post Point, Bellingham Bay, WA.

Examples of orthomosaic imagery and high-resolution digital surface models of Puget Creek and Dickman Mill Park in Tacoma, WA.

An HVO geologist uses a sketch in their fieldbook to note the location of laser rangefinder measurements of the lava lake in Halema‘uma‘u crater, at the summit of Kīlauea. Using the laser rangefinder, HVO geologists can derive the elevation of various spots on the lava lake surface, and are able to track how the elevation of features within the lava lake change over time.

The lava lake in Halema‘uma‘u crater, at the summit of Kīlauea, remains active. Active surface lava remains limited to the western portion of the lake, shown here. Ongoing summit deflation has been associated with a slight drop in the lake level, now a few meters below the rim of the levee. The western fissure cone is in the upper left corner of the photo, and inlet where

A pot of lava at the end of the rainbow? A rainbow formed over Halema‘uma‘u crater following an afternoon rain shower on February 22. Rainbows are often observed over Halema‘uma‘u, as mist and rain move across the caldera. This photo was taken from within an area of Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park that remains closed to the public for safety reasons. HVO scientists

This photo shows the main island, just west of the lake center, in Halema‘uma‘u lava lake at the summit of Kīlauea. The recent drop in lake level, associated with ongoing summit deflation, is shown by the raised edge around much of the perimeter of the island. USGS photo by M. Patrick.

This photo shows a view of the western fissure, feeding the lava lake in Halema‘uma‘u at the summit of Kīlauea. The inlet zone, where lava is entering the lake, is visible at the bottom of the photo. Near the center of the photo, an area of lava driblets can be seen running down the flank of the western fissure's cone. USGS photo by M. Patrick.

$71-$246 BILLION
Net annual economic impact of wildland fire across the U.S.¹

650 MILLION
Acres of public lands that are managed for wildland fire.²

16.1 FATALITIES
Average annual fatalities from wildland fire.³

64,000 WILDFIRES

Dan Ciarletta (right) working alongside Julie Bernier (left) to collect a sediment core on Mullet Key in Pinellas County, Florida. The core will be used to reconstruct the geologic history of the island.

Modern equipment currently in use at the South Fork of the Ogden River streamgage, to include; an electronic data logger, pressure transducer and GOES radio. This streamgage has been monitoring water levels and flow since March 21, 1921, making it one of 25 centennial gauges in Utah. The equipment used to collect data has changed significantly over the past 100 years.

Mendenhall postdoctoral fellow Daniel Ciarletta and geologists Julie Bernier and Nancy DeWitt of the St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center operating a vibracore system on Mullet Key, a barrier island along the Gulf coast of Central Florida. The scientists are taking sediment samples to learn more about the long-

Mendenhall postdoctoral fellow Daniel Ciarletta of the St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center labels a sediment core obtained from a vibracore system on Mullet Key, a barrier island along the Gulf coast of Central Florida. He studies these sediment samples to learn more about the long-term geological evolution of

HVO geologists use a laser rangefinder to measure the distance to the Halema‘uma‘u lava lake, and other eruptive features, at the summit of Kīlauea Volcano. These lava lake measurements are used to help calculate the depth, volume, and how it has evolved throughout the eruption. The stagnant eastern portion of the lava lake is visible in the lower-left. USGS photo taken by

The Chesapeake Bay watershed, or draingage basin, encompasses six states - New York, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Maryland, Deleware, Virginia, and the District of Columbia. A drainage basin is a giant system of creeks, streams, and rivers that all flow into a common outlet, which in this case is the Chesapeake Bay.

Description of the South Fork of the Ogden River streamgage included in USGS Water-Supply Paper 530 "Surface Water Supply of the United States, 1921, Part X.

Lava continues to erupt from the west vent in Halema‘uma‘u, at the summit of Kīlauea. On Wednesday morning, February 17, small pieces of spatter were occasionally ejected from the vent, landing on the slope below. This type of activity has decreased significantly over the past several weeks. Lava from the west vent continues to enter the lava lake at an inlet near the base

Active surface lava has been limited to the western portion of the lava lake in Halema‘uma‘u crater, at the summit of Kīlauea. This photo shows a large portion of this western zone. The surface is composed of a patchwork of small, angular crustal plates separated by darker spreading zones. USGS photo taken by M. Patrick on February 17, 2021.

This photo shows a close-up of the inlet along the western margin of the lava lake in Halema‘uma‘u crater, at the summit of Kīlauea Volcano. Lava originating at the small upwelling zone rapidly develops a thin flexible crust as it moves away from the source. A small island also has been present just south of the inlet. USGS photo taken by M. Patrick on February 17, 2021.

The lava lake within Halema‘uma‘u crater, at the summit of Kīlauea, remains active. The active lava was retained by a levee several meters (yards) high along the west margin. The levee is formed from numerous small rafted crustal plates that have stacked upon one another, and likely fused together. USGS photo taken by M. Patrick on February 17, 2021.

Illustration detailing the Unuk River layout.  Visit USGS Transboundary River Monitoring in Southeast Alaska for more information about our research.

Illustration detailing the Taku River layout.  Visit USGS Transboundary River Monitoring in Southeast Alaska for more information about our research.

Illustration detailing the Salmon River layout.  Visit USGS Transboundary River Monitoring in Southeast Alaska for more information about our research.

Illustration detailing the Alsek River layout.  Visit USGS Transboundary River Monitoring in Southeast Alaska for more information about our research.