Multimedia Gallery

Jaime Delano (USGS) , Graham Lederer (USGS), and Ben Capelin (SCREE) as the expedition departs from Split Mountain Campground. The media team of Ben Kraushaar and Cody (last name unknown) follw the other boats while filiming.

Anya Metcalf was the insict expert on this trip. We started pointout out and catching bugs for her to identify. This one crawled across camp during our podcast recording. It turned out to be a Golden Stonefly with a small pseudoscoprion attached to the mandlible using the fly for dispersal. The insect life, and the roll they play in the ecosystem, are not usually things I

The Green River in the Uinta basin is fairly flat, so it carries a lot of foam. The foam often follows the fastest part of the river, with is ties to the shape of the channel and the curve of the river. From this level, you can sense subltle changes in the plant like, flow speed, temperature, water clarity, and fauna. Behind, you can see the record of landscapes past,

The last night, as we neared Desolation Canyon, the bluffs got taller. Since the Green River is calmer here, it reflected the colors of the sunset. I was so worried about making it before the sun went down that I climbed the peak in my chaco sandals, a decision I regretted the next day since my foot were banged up. It was worth it to get to the top and be able to take in

Tom McKinley was able to answer many of our questions about plant names and ecology in the area. When I shared his boat on the second day, he told me that the orange Globe Mallow flowers close up at night. Solitary bees will hold the stamen and let the flow close around them, using the flower for warmth and protection. I shared this fact with many other folks on the trip,

Most of our views were from the river level, where you are intimately connected to subtleties in flow, wind, and temperature. It was a welcome opportunity to view the river from above and gain context. We stopped here on the last full day on the river. The inlet where we parked is only accessible to rafts from the river when the Green River flow is high, as it was during

These lands have never been empty, although in some places it feels that way. Before western settlers arrived, these lands were polulated by other peoples throughout prehistory. Tom McKinley estimates that these images were drawn during the Fremont age. Some images are clearly human, one may be a fish, others are less clear. It's important to preserve sites like this and

One of the topics we frequently talked about was land use. The Green River in the Uinta is different from other segments because it is surrounded by industrial activity, with scattered farms, livestock, oil pumpjacks. It is not known as a recreational destination, although the beauty is overlooked. Often we crop out human activity in our photos, but here human activity is

Most of our days had this view- looking back on the river and having conversations with the rafter rowing the boat and whomever else we shared space. We were constantly surprised at the beautiful views and the impressive cliffs, which often housed cliff swallows. It's a rare opportunity to be able to take in the scenery at a slow pace and be able to have important

Our first day was full of uncertainty about what we would experience. Many of us did not have experience on the river (although Anya Metcalf, in the photo, did). We left the impressive cliffs and topography of Split mountain wihout knowing what lay ahead, expecting less exciting topography, but we were all proven wrong about the Uinta basin.

Leetown Science Center researcher, Dr. Deborah Iwanowicz is collaborating with Fort Collins Science Center.  Dr. Scott Cornman who has the lead on a project designed to identify diversity of strains of Lake Sinai Virus (LSV) in bees.  Dr. Iwanowicz is developing primers to more efficiently test for LSV and strain differentiation.   This type of work is important to society

Leetown Science Center researcher, Dr. Deborah Iwanowicz, is preparing honey bees for analysis of the Lake Sinai Virus (LSV).  This type of work is important to society as pollinators are critical for sustaining healthy ecosystems and prosperous human populations.

Leetown Science Center researcher, Dr. Deborah Iwanowicz is collaborating with Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center.  Dr. Clint Otto, who has the lead on a project designed to identify and improve forage for honey bees on USDA Conservation Lands.  Dr. Iwanowicz is performing the genetic analysis of pollen collected from the hives to determine from which plants they’re

Did you know fossil pollen and spores can help us understand past climate variability?

You are looking at microscopic images of ~55-million-year old pollen grains and spores that were isolated from a geologic unit known as the Marlboro Clay in Maryland. The presence of plant groups now found in tropical, subtropical, and temperate areas indicate that climates were

2019 June Public Lecture Flyer

USGS Fire Science: Understanding why wildlands burn and what can be done about it 

By Paul Steblein, USGS Wildland Fire Science Coordinator

• Wildfires are expensive, dangerous, and have massive impacts on people and ecosystems, yet ecosystems evolve with wildland fire.
• USGS fire scientists

Image screen shot of GCMRC sediment monitoring application

The CMHRP has been conducting scientific investigations at Fire Island in order to protect natural and cultural resources.

USGS researchers have been monitoring changes in a breach in the island that occurred during Hurricane Sandy (modified from  Hapke et al., 2017). 
 

Early morning panorama of cliffs that signal the start of Desolation Canyon. This was our last, and probably most spectacular, campsite of this section of Uinta Basin. It was approximately 9 miles from our take-out at Sand Wash.

Although we were all hoping it would never end, the final day on the river was a bittersweet reminder of the amazing experiences we had in the Uinta Basin.

Nicholas Hammond is soaking up the views on his last day on the river. Photograph taken by Ben Capelin (SCREE).

We camped on a 20-30 ft. tall hill our last night, so shuttling kitchen gear up and down from the rafts was no easy task.

This was our final campsite before we left the river, approximately 9 miles upstream of Sand Wash. The scenery was beginning to transition from the flat and expansive Uinta basin to the high canyon walls that were upcoming in Desolation-Gray.

The final morning view from my text as the sun rose from the east and illuminated cliffs on the west. This trip was so wonderful and exceeded all of our expectations, it was hard to go back to reality. This type of place-based learning and connection to the land is key to educating society about the complex problems of land use and the involvement of the USGS in many

On our last day of the expedition the landscape was dominated by the Green River Formation, famous for its fish fossils (although none were found in camp).

Our last evening on this section of river, exploring the cliffs and buttresses of the Uinta Basin. One of our team member pauses on heavily banded member of the Green River Formation with distant cliffs glowing in the setting sun

Although this section of the Green River in the Uinta basin lies between sections of dramatic red-stone cliffs of Ladore and Desolation Canyons, we did experience some profound geology. These cliffs are near the start of Desolation Canyon to the south.

Hydrologist Nick plays a river tune

A properly rigged cataraft on the banks of the Green River in the Uintah Basin

An integral part of each segment of the expedition is a recorded dialogue in which participans reflect on such things as Powell's legacy, the future of the West in light of water and energy issues, and what personal growth has occurred as a result of the expedition.

This calm section of river flows through a National Wildlife Refuge where we observed a great deal of wildlife, including beaver, peregrin falcons, waterfowl, a coyote, bighorn sheep and American white pelicans

Walking back to camp, fossilbeds under foot and pumpjacks thumping in the background

Team D braces itself on a windy bluff to watch another beautiful sunset

USGS geologist Graham Lederer (L) wrote a song about the expedition while floating down the river, and Professor Pat Likut (R), who teaches art at the University of Wyoming, did landscape sketches that he will later turn into oil paintings.

Starting two years ago, Professor Tom Minckley, from the University of Wyoming geology department, conceived and organized the Sesquicentennial Colorado River Exploring Expedition (SCREE), also known as the Powell 150 expedition. The USGS joined as a partner last year.

On a calm river with no rapids or impediments, boaters often tie up rafts together in a flotilla or 'party barge' to socialize, share snacks or just enjoy the scenery with a group

We spent the evening listening to the rhythmic sounds of an oil pumpjack straining at the efforts to connect with its Cretaceous past, accompanied by Pat matcing this rhythm on his guitar . Even in the presence of industrial oil extraction, the desert is spectacular at sunset.

Mitch and Graham collect sediment samples on a transect

Graham birds from a duckie. USGS isn't only geology and Graham isn't only a geologist!

Cliff swallows nest in organic apartments on a cliff face along the Green River in the Uintah Basin

CB-1072 Niverville NY USGS gage

University of Wyoming grad student (media and communications) Ben Kraushaar is also an accomplished filmmaker, and is making a film of the expedition using both eyelevel shots and lofty drone aerials. He was instrumental in getting equipment of all types donated to the expedition.

The brick-red, flat-lying Duchesne Formation sandstones dominated the landscape for a couple days. Its bluffs are a favorite nesting spot for cliff swallows, of which we saw many, and peregrine falcons, of which we saw two.

Sampling pre-emergent aquatic insects is not always easy, especially on a river with little cobble substrate. Because of the high water from dam release, a lot of floating driftwood was making its way down river. We are testing a new method to sample this substrate for benthic invertebrates to examine questions of species diversity, dispersal and habitat use.

Rigging the boats on chilly desert mornings is a slow affair. All our food and gear must be sorted, distributed and carefully packed among the six rafts to be able to accommodate its passengers and so it can all be easily found again when we reach our evening camp. While those responsible for their boat organize stowing of the gear, we enjoy the peacefulness of morning and

Sampling pre-emergent aquatic insects is not always easy, especially on a river with little cobble substrate. Because of the high water from dam release, a lot of floating driftwood was making its way down river. We thought this might serve as important substrate for benthic invertebrates and tested a sampling method to look at species diversity and, maybe, dispersal