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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.
USGS Scientist Sarah Schoen with a plankton sample to test for harmful algal bloom toxins in Cook Inlet, Alaska.
USGS Scientist Sarah Schoen with a plankton sample to test for harmful algal bloom toxins in Cook Inlet, Alaska.
USGS Restoration Assessment and Monitoring Program for the Southwest (RAMPS) is helping to build capacity in ecosystem restoration on the Navajo Nation with a series of projects in collaboration with Navajo Nation Department of Natural Hertiage, Dine Native Plant Program, and the Native-led non-profit Tolani Lake Enterprises.
USGS Restoration Assessment and Monitoring Program for the Southwest (RAMPS) is helping to build capacity in ecosystem restoration on the Navajo Nation with a series of projects in collaboration with Navajo Nation Department of Natural Hertiage, Dine Native Plant Program, and the Native-led non-profit Tolani Lake Enterprises.
Two USGS research technicians walk across a sparsely vegetated sandbar towards the Missouri River while surveying for piping plovers.
Two USGS research technicians walk across a sparsely vegetated sandbar towards the Missouri River while surveying for piping plovers.
Pyramid Lake, Nevada, is one of the last remaining strongholds for lacustrine Lahontan cutthroat trout; almost all other large lake populations have undergone population declines or extirpation as a result of habitat degradation, overharvest, and water diversions, all compounded by the stocking of nonnative species.
Pyramid Lake, Nevada, is one of the last remaining strongholds for lacustrine Lahontan cutthroat trout; almost all other large lake populations have undergone population declines or extirpation as a result of habitat degradation, overharvest, and water diversions, all compounded by the stocking of nonnative species.
Preparing the boat for isokinetic water sampling using the equal discharge increment method on the Alsek River.
Preparing the boat for isokinetic water sampling using the equal discharge increment method on the Alsek River.
Abandoned Farm on the Northwest Corner of the Fort Peck Reservation
Abandoned Farm on the Northwest Corner of the Fort Peck Reservation
Fallow field on the left and dryland wheat on the right, northwestern corner of the Fort Peck Reservation (near Larslan, MT)
Fallow field on the left and dryland wheat on the right, northwestern corner of the Fort Peck Reservation (near Larslan, MT)
View of lake at Fernhill Natural Treatment Wetlands.
View of lake at Fernhill Natural Treatment Wetlands.
View of lake at Fernhill Natural Treatment Wetlands.
View of lake at Fernhill Natural Treatment Wetlands.
View of lake at Fernhill Natural Treatment Wetlands.
View of lake at Fernhill Natural Treatment Wetlands.
The sampling team (Sean Burril of BOEM; Ashley Stanek of USGS ASC and Sarah Laske of USGS ASC) removes individual fish from floating net pens, identify, measure length, and release the fish back to the lagoon.
The sampling team (Sean Burril of BOEM; Ashley Stanek of USGS ASC and Sarah Laske of USGS ASC) removes individual fish from floating net pens, identify, measure length, and release the fish back to the lagoon.
Four video cameras look westward over the coast and the coral reef at Tres Palmas in Rincón, on the west coast of Puerto Rico. Two cameras look out at the horizon and over the ocean for the mid-field view; one camera offers a zoomed-in, far-field view overlooking the reef and out to the island of Desecheo, a U.S.
Four video cameras look westward over the coast and the coral reef at Tres Palmas in Rincón, on the west coast of Puerto Rico. Two cameras look out at the horizon and over the ocean for the mid-field view; one camera offers a zoomed-in, far-field view overlooking the reef and out to the island of Desecheo, a U.S.
Alteration associated with mud pots in Yellowstone National Park. Left image is an overview of Artist Paint Pots. Note the white kaolinite alteration in the lower right and the red/pink mud pots near the boardwalk. Right image is charcoal-gray mud from Mud Volcano consisting of kaolinite with fine-grained pyrite and other iron sulfide minerals.
Alteration associated with mud pots in Yellowstone National Park. Left image is an overview of Artist Paint Pots. Note the white kaolinite alteration in the lower right and the red/pink mud pots near the boardwalk. Right image is charcoal-gray mud from Mud Volcano consisting of kaolinite with fine-grained pyrite and other iron sulfide minerals.
USGS scientist Emma Kelsey drives a survey vessel off the Central California Coast as part of a seabird survey.
USGS scientist Emma Kelsey drives a survey vessel off the Central California Coast as part of a seabird survey.
Closeup of a wall of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone showing red, orange, and yellow mineral alternation, as well as white veins of silica, in the subsurface alteration zone of a former thermal basin.
Closeup of a wall of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone showing red, orange, and yellow mineral alternation, as well as white veins of silica, in the subsurface alteration zone of a former thermal basin.
Example of how the same rock type can look very different due to hydrothermal alteration. Left image is of the Lava Creek Tuff, which erupted during the formation of Yellowstone caldera 631,000 years ago, near Tower Junction.
Example of how the same rock type can look very different due to hydrothermal alteration. Left image is of the Lava Creek Tuff, which erupted during the formation of Yellowstone caldera 631,000 years ago, near Tower Junction.
Key forage fish in Alaska (from top to bottom): Pacific capelin, Pacific herring, Pacific sand lance, and juvenile walleye pollock. Cook Inlet, Alaska
Key forage fish in Alaska (from top to bottom): Pacific capelin, Pacific herring, Pacific sand lance, and juvenile walleye pollock. Cook Inlet, Alaska
Photographs from a Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura) found dead in Arizona, US. (A) The crop (*) is distended primarily with milo. (B) A green coating (arrowheads) is evident on the surface of the milo.
Photographs from a Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura) found dead in Arizona, US. (A) The crop (*) is distended primarily with milo. (B) A green coating (arrowheads) is evident on the surface of the milo.
USGS scientist Sarah Schoen gets ready to deploy a net in Cook Inlet to collect plankton samples to test for harmful algal bloom toxins.
USGS scientist Sarah Schoen gets ready to deploy a net in Cook Inlet to collect plankton samples to test for harmful algal bloom toxins.
Sierra Keller, Physical Science Technician, and Sharon Mulready, Student Trainee, both of the USGS California Water Science Center's Santa Cruz Field Office, install a solar panel on a rural streamgage station along the Arroyo Seco near Greenfield in Monterey County, California.
Sierra Keller, Physical Science Technician, and Sharon Mulready, Student Trainee, both of the USGS California Water Science Center's Santa Cruz Field Office, install a solar panel on a rural streamgage station along the Arroyo Seco near Greenfield in Monterey County, California.
USGS Biological Science Technician Laney White surveys for Marbled Murrelet off the Central California Coast.
USGS Biological Science Technician Laney White surveys for Marbled Murrelet off the Central California Coast.