Multimedia Gallery

Spatter ramparts from the April 30, 1982, Kīlauea summit eruption remain visible on the floor of Kīlauea caldera. During this brief eruption, which lasted approximately 19 hours, lava erupted from a 1-km-long (0.6 mile) fissure that extended to the northeast of Halema‘uma‘u. Part of the 1982 spatter rampart collapsed into Halema‘uma‘u during the 2018 Kīlauea summit

During the gas survey of Kīlauea caldera, HVO scientists walk transects in a grid-like pattern. As they traverse, the MultiGAS instruments that they are carrying on their backs measure the amount of carbon dioxide (CO₂), sulfur dioxide (SO₂), water vapor (H₂O), and hydrogen sulfide (H₂S). The measurements will be used to create a

On Tuesday, August 10, HVO scientists traversed the west and south rims of Halema‘uma‘u, at the summit of Kīlauea, to collect photos of the inactive lava lake from many different angles. Such a collection of photos will enable the construction of a three-dimensional model of the crusted lake surface using structure-from-motion software. Here, the western end of the lava

Photo Contest Winner | August 2021 | Where We Work
Hoosick River near Williamstown, MA sculpture

Navigate the 3DEP BAA

The 3DEP Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) facilitates partnering with the USGS and other Federal agencies to acquire high-quality 3D elevation data for the nation. Follow these guidelines to apply.

1. Find partnerships: Check SeaSketch for Federal agency priorities. Engage Federal, State, Tribal, local, academic, and private partners

RestoreNet is partnering with the Gornish lab at the University of Arizona to better understand how a plant’s source location (provenance) influences its performance in a restoration setting. This greenhouse experiment will be conducted by PhD student, Sierra Lauman. Sierra will use locally collected and commercially purchased seeds of eight commonly used restoration

A solar-powered Sofar spotter buoy floats in the water next to the R/V (Research Vessel) Sallenger. (The Sallenger is partly hidden by the wave - not sinking, as it may appear!) This instrument, along with an additional instrument on the seafloor, will deliver high-fidelity, real-time wave, water level, and wind data to scientists at the USGS

A solar-powered Sofar spotter buoy floats in the water next to the R/V (Research Vessel) Sallenger. (The Sallenger is partly hidden by the wave - not sinking, as it may appear!) This instrument, along with an additional instrument on the seafloor, will deliver high-fidelity, real-time wave, water level, and wind data to scientists at the USGS

A solar-powered Sofar spotter buoy floats in the water next to the R/V (Research Vessel) Sallenger. (The Sallenger is partly hidden by the wave - not sinking, as it may appear!) This instrument, along with an additional instrument on the seafloor, will deliver high-fidelity, real-time wave, water level, and wind data to scientists at the USGS

A scientific diver ascends safely towards the surface after deploying a wave buoy and smart mooring in 20m water depth. This instrument will deliver high-fidelity, real-time wave, water level, and wind data to scientists at the USGS St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center. This buoy, along with other instruments

An anchor station in 20m water depth with a wave buoy and smart mooring attached. This instrument will deliver high-fidelity, real-time wave, water level, and wind data to scientists at the USGS St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center. This buoy, along with other instruments further inshore and a camera on the beach

A scientific diver next to an anchor station in 20m water depth with a wave buoy and smart mooring attached. This instrument will deliver high-fidelity, real-time wave, water level, and wind data to scientists at the USGS St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center. This buoy, along with other instruments further

In recent weeks, HVO geophysicists have been undertaking a Global Positioning System (GPS) campaign across Kīlauea. During such a campaign—which is completed annually—scientists temporarily deploy a number of GPS instruments at established benchmarks; their recorded positions can be compared with those from previous years to discern subtle patterns of ground deformation

Schematic displaying the general processes associated with collapse of Yellowstone Caldera.  (A) Pre-caldera volcanism includes the eruption of dome complexes from the underlying magma chambers.  (B) The caldera-forming eruption evacuates a significant amount of magma from the chamber, causing the overlying crustal block to subside into the void space.  (C) Post-caldera

Alaska Science Center geologist Doug Kreiner and University of Alaska, Fairbanks professor Sean Regan discuss the district-scale geology with the chief exploration geologist at Pogo Mine. This is a new collaborative study with USGS, UAF and Pogo Mine, to collaborate on unraveling the genesis of Pogo, an important producer of gold in Alaska with critical mineral enrichments

Alaska Science Center geologist Doug Kreiner and University of Alaska, Fairbanks professor Sean Regan look at igneous textures in granitic rocks hosting gold at the Pogo gold mine with Pogo exploration geologists. This is a new collaborative study with USGS, UAF and Pogo Mine, to collaborate on unraveling the genesis of Pogo, an important producer of gold in Alaska with

A novel stereo CoastCam will be installed on at dune at Pea Island for the duration of the experiment. This photo shows a similar CoastCam installation at Marconi Beach, Cape Cod National Seashore.  Pictured here a (left to right) the solar panel and battery case, a meterological station to

Over the past few months, HVO geophysicists have been conducting the annual high-precision Global Positioning System (GPS) survey of Kīlauea. The annual survey supplements HVO's continuous GPS monitoring stations and provides information on vertical and horizontal deformation of the ground surface. These measurements inform HVO about Kīlauea south flank movement as well as

Stacked lava flows are visible in the wall of the down-dropped block, which was exposed during the Kīlauea summit collapse events in 2018. A small exposure of lighter-colored volcanic ash, likely the Keanakāko‘i tephra deposits erupted during Kīlauea's last explosive phase several hundred years ago, is visible beneath tens of meters (yards) of lava flows. USGS photo by K.

HVO scientists continue their survey of Kīlauea caldera floor, including the down-dropped block, for ​diffuse volcanic gas emissions. This photo shows a large crack, on a portion of the caldera floor that subsided in 2018, that is emitting volcanic gas and steam. The caldera-wide ongoing gas survey will be compared to gas surveys done in the area prior to the 2018 collapse

Staff Profile

The United States is developing renewable energy resources, especially solar, at a rapid rate. Although renewable energy development is widely perceived by the public as “green technology,” construction, operation, maintenance, and eventual decommissioning of facilities all have known and potential negative impacts to natural resources, including plant communities and

Epicenters of 6,188 earthquakes in the Hebgen Lake region since 1990 determined by the University of Utah Seismograph Stations and the Montana Bureau of Mines and Geology. All epicenters have horizontal uncertainties of 1.0 km or less. Black contour lines show subsidence (in 2-foot intervals) resulting from the 1959 M7.3 Hebgen Lake earthquake (epicenter shown by red star

The R/V Sallenger tows the SQUID-5 over Looe Key reef with a NOAA Sanctuary boat in the background patrolling the Looe Key area to warn recreational vessels of the ongoing research activity.

The SQUID-5, or a Structure-from-Motion (SfM) Quantitative Underwater Imaging Device with 5 cameras is a towed surface vehicle with an onboard Global Navigation Satellite System

This beautiful red jellyfish in the genus Poralia may be an undescribed species. It was seen during the third transect of Dive 20 of the 2021 North Atlantic Stepping Stones expedition, at a depth of 700 meters (2,297 feet).

Eruptive activity paused within Halema‘uma‘u, at Kīlauea's summit, a bit more than 2 months ago. In that time, the spatter cone at the western fissure complex has slowly degraded due to numerous small scale collapses, leaving a debris apron (fresh looking rubble) and exposing the interior of the spatter cone. USGS photo by N. Deligne.

A view looking north into Halema‘uma‘u on July 30, 2021. Although eruptive activity has paused at the summit of Kīlauea, HVO geologists still monitor the lava lake and summit area weekly. Lava lake surface depths remain the same since mid to late May when active lava was last observed at the surface. USGS photo by N. Deligne. 

The USGS Active Groundwater Level Network includes about 20,000 wells that have been measured by the USGS or USGS cooperators at least once within the past 13 months. The animation shows snapshots of water-level statistics in the network during July 2021.

Refer to the 

Photo Contest Winner | August 2021 | USGS at Work
Impounded wetland eddy flux tower install

Towards the end of Dive 19 of the 2021 North Atlantic Stepping Stones expedition, we continued to observe the scattered rock debris sitting on the lobate and pillow lava outcrops that we’d seen earlier, suggesting that the pinnacle of Retriever Seamount was perhaps a late-stage eruption site and that it remains largely susceptible to continued erosional modification.

This large bubblegum coral (Paragorgia arborea) was observed during Dive 19 of the 2021 North Atlantic Stepping Stones expedition. Based on published radial growth rates for this species, this colony is approximately 100 years old! We saw several large coral colonies during the dive, prompting one of our on-shore scientists to refer to the dive site as “the land

Photo Contest Winner | September 2021 | Where We Work
Chany Huddleston and Ross Clyma prepare QBoat at Schoharie Creek

Remotely operated vehicle Deep Discoverer surveys a large boulder covered in bamboo corals during the 2021 North Atlantic Stepping Stones expedition. Bamboo corals were locally abundant on these large boulders and more spread out throughout different hard-bottom habitats.

New bathymetry data of the New England Seamounts collected with the EM 304 MK II variant during the 2021 North Atlantic Stepping Stones: New England and Corner Rise Seamount Chain (EX-21-04) expedition, overlaid on the Global Multi-Resolution Topography Data Synthesis grid.

While mapping volcanic gasses in Kīlauea caldera, HVO scientists got a view (looking west) of Halema‘uma‘u and the down-dropped block. The steep crater walls of Halema‘uma‘u are visible in the upper center and right portions of this photo, but the recently active lava lake is out of view below the eastern crater rim. The down-dropped block—in the center of the photo—was at

A USGS scientist calibrates two MultiGas instruments to prepare for mapping volcanic gasses on the floor of Kīlauea caldera. With the MultiGas strapped to metal backpack frames, the scientists traverse across the caldera floor to collect gas data which will be compared to the last survey. These instruments measure the concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO₂),

Muddy Creek near Dad streamgage, zero flow

HVO geologists measure the depth to the water table at the Keller Well, located south of Halema‘uma‘u crater. The Keller Well is a borehole drilled in 1973 to a depth of 4,140 ft (1,262 m) that has been used to monitor the hydrology of the summit region of Kīlauea volcano. Photo taken on July 27, 2021, at 9:30 a.m. HST. USGS photo by J.M. Chang.

Photo Contest Winner | August 2021 | Honorable Mention 2
Nick Grim and Cameron Ensor rescuing a goose that got stuck in fishing line on the Delaware River

The Yellowstone borehole geophysical network, installed by UNAVCO in 2007–2008. The placement of the boreholes is focused primarily around the caldera, and the boreholes contain a mix of instruments, including strainmeters, seismometers, tiltmeters, and pore pressure sensors.

An HVO geologist conducts maintenance on the S1cam web camera located along the southern rim of Halema‘uma‘u, at the summit of Kīlauea. This webcam has been recording images of the recent eruption and lava lake in Halema‘uma‘u from an area within Hawai‘i Volcanoes

An HVO scientist samples the gas around a crack identified as emitting elevated levels of carbon dioxide (a volcanic gas) on the down-dropped block within Kīlauea caldera. The sample will later be analyzed to determine its complete chemical composition. This work was conducted within a closed area of Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park, with park permission. Scientists wore

HVO scientists walk transects along the down-dropped portion of Kīlauea caldera floor as part of a gas survey conducted on July 22. The multigas instruments carried on the scientists' backs measure the amount of carbon dioxide (CO₂), sulfur dioxide (SO₂), water vapor (H₂O), and hydrogen sulfide (H₂S) via an inlet hose oriented

On July 22, HVO scientists surveyed the floor of the down-dropped block within Kīlauea caldera for ​diffuse volcanic gas emissions. This particular part of the caldera floor subsided during Kīlauea's collapse events in 2018. The caldera-wide ongoing gas survey will be compared to gas surveys done in the area prior to the 2018 collapse events and will reveal any changes in

This wide-angle aerial view looks southeast over Kīlauea's summit caldera, with the recently active lava lake in Halema‘uma‘u visible in the lower right. On the left side of the photo, the large cliffs formed during the 2018 collapses are visible. Kīlauea Iki can be seen in the upper left. USGS photo by M. Patrick, taken on July 22, 2021.

This aerial photo of the inactive lava lake within Halema‘uma‘u at the summit of Kīlauea was captured during a routine helicopter overflight by HVO geologists on Thursday, July 22, 2021. Here, the lava lake is viewed from the northeast, with the oldest parts of the lake surface—the first to crust over—visible on the near side, and the most recently active areas in the far

An HVO geologist conducts a routine high-precision survey of the inactive lava lake in Halema‘uma‘u, at the summit of Kīlauea volcano. Mist moving across the caldera on the morning of July 22 produced a rainbow over the lake. No significant changes have occurred in Halema‘uma‘u in recent weeks. USGS photo by M. Patrick.