Multimedia Gallery

The May 12, 2008, Great Sichuan Earthquake, also called the Wenchuan Earthquake, occurred at 14:28 local time, in Sichuan Province, China. The earthquake magnitudes were Mw = 7.9 (USGS), Ms = 8.0 (Chinese Earthquake Administration). The epicenter was 80 km west-northwest of Chengdu, the capital city of Sichuan province. Damage by earthquake-induced landslides was

Picture of Geyser Valley in Olympic National Park in Northwest Washington.

Picture of the Elwha River in Olympic National Park in Northwest Washington.

USA-National Phenology Network citizen-scientist Lucille Tower records the one millionth observation on maple vine in the large nature database.

Absolutes and electronics buildings at Newport, WA magnetic observatory.

Variations building at Guam geomagnetic observatory.

The Boulder magnetic observatory. Variations and Proton Sensor buildings at the lower right.

Interior of room 40 inside the tarpaper shacks on the USGS Menlo Park campus, circa 1965. During the early 1960s, three of the key scientists working on the theory of magnetic reversals operated in the Rock Magnetics Laboratory that was housed in these shacks. The Rock Magnetics Laboratory was designated a National Historic Landmark on October 12, 1994.

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East front of the tarpaper shacks on the USGS Menlo Park campus, circa 1965 (with Chevy Corvair and 1950 Ford). During the early 1960s, three of the key scientists working on the theory of magnetic reversals operated in the Rock Magnetics Laboratory that was housed in these shacks. The Rock Magnetics Laboratory was designated a National Historic Landmark on October 12,

To present the most information in a single view of Jupiter's moon, Io, a global color mosaic, derived from Galileo color images, was superposed on a higher resolution image mosaic, derived from merging the best resolution images from spacecrafts Galileo and Voyager 1. This merged mosaic (top) served as the primary base map for the geologic map of Io (bottom). 

In the semiarid mesquite savanna community, pictured here, perennial grasses and forbs both are likely to decline as annual and winter precipitation decline with forecasted climate change.

Creosote bush shrublands are one of the driest Sonoran Desert plant communities; the creosote bush and white ratany are the dominant plants; a USGS study showed that their coverage is likely to decrease with forecasted climate change because of less winter precipitation and more aridity.

In the drier Arizona upland plant communities, pictured here, some species will likely decline with forecasted climate change (such as foothill paloverde, ocotillo and creosote bush) while cacti may well increase in abundance and range.

USGS scientist Peter Van Metre examines a parking lot where coal-tar sealcoat has been applied.

U.S. Geological Survey participiated in a flyover of the Devils Lake Basin to view continued severe flooding.

This large Burmese python, weighing 162 pounds and more than 15 feet long at the time of its capture in 2009, was caught alive in the Everglades and was found to have eaten an American alligator that measured about 6 feet in length. University of Florida researchers in the photo: Michael Rochford is holding the python's head, and Alex Wolf and Therese Walters are holding

The USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory uses a variety of ground- and satellite-based techniques to monitor Hawai‘i’s active volcanoes.  Here, an HVO scientist sets up a portable GPS receiver to track surface changes during an island-wide survey of Hawai‘i’s volcanoes.

Beau Griffith, a biological technician at CERC, stands at the bottom of one of the newly reconstructed ponds designed to conduct long-term studies with sturgeon and other riverine species.  A divider and circulators can be installed in the sandy-bottomed ponds to create the continuous water current that sturgeon prefer.

Nine-year-old pallid sturgeon wait in holding tanks for their turn to be evaluated by biologists at CERC.  More than 100 pallid sturgeon made the trip from Gavins Point National Fish Hatchery to Columbia on a snowy December day.

Mikhail Malin, visiting IBIW scientist, prepares to lowers a hydroacoustic transducer into the water from a CERC research vessel below Bagnell Dam on the Osage River, Missouri.  The CERC and IBIW collaborated with the Missouri Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit at the University of Missouri to assess the distribution of paddlefish below the dam using telemetry,

Mikhail Malin, visiting IBIW scientist, prepares to deploy a high-resolution sidescan sonar towfish below Bagnell Dam on the Osage River.  The CERC and IBIW collaborated with the Missouri Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit at the University of Missouri to assess the distribution of paddlefish below the dam using telemetry, sidescan sonar, and DIDSON.

Agricultural fields and an abandoned farmstead in eastern Montana in the Great Plains region. The Great Plains region of the United States has experienced significant land-use change since European settlement, with vast swaths of grasslands converted to agricultural lands. Access to water, technological changes, a growing biofuels industry, fluctuating demands for

Sunrise reflecting on a November morning on the Sacramento River, California.

Sunrise peering through early morning tule fog in Suisun Bay, California.

The Golden Gate Bridge seen through Racoon Strait in the San Francisco Bay, California.

A small slough in Suisun Slough in the Suisun Bay, California.

Dr. Sasha Reed, research ecologist with the USGS, was one of 94 recipients of the 2011 PECASE award.

Dr. Sasha Reed is a research ecologist with the USGS who was honored with a 2011 PECASE award.

Female pallid sturgeon, PLS11-007, is released back into the Missouri River after an ultrasound evaluation of her reproductive condition. 

Dr. David Shelly is a research seismologist with the USGS.

A section of the Upper Green River Valley in western Wyoming, just south of Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks, showing different ecosystems (such as forests, wetlands, and aquatic habitats) whose capacities for carbon storage and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions will be assessed by the USGS. Scientists with the USGS are assessing the potential to store carbon

A prairie dog stands on alert. The USGS National Wildlife Health Center works to identify, track, and prevent wildlife disease. Better protection of prairie dogs against plague would minimize the risk of disease transfer to endangered black-footed ferrets, aid in prairie dog conservation, and protect public health.

Researchers from the USGS National Wildlife Health Center examine a duck as part of part of efforts to identify, track, and prevent wildlife disease.

USGS microbiology technician evaluates a bacterial assay to determine the cause of a wildlife mortality. The USGS National Wildlife Health Center works to identify, track, and prevent wildlife disease.

In efforts to monitor potential bird flu transmission pathways, the USGS works with international partners to mark and track whooper swans with GPS transmitters.

The USGS National Wildlife Health Center works to identify, track, and prevent wildlife disease. A USGS technician works with a prairie dog as part of the center's efforts to protect prairie dogs, and in turn the endangered black-footed ferret, from plague.

USGS microbiology technician Brenda Berlowski enters an animal isolation room.

The USGS National Wildlife Health Center is working to develop an oral vaccine to protect the endangered black-footed ferret from plague.

The USGS National Wildlife Health Center conducts a bat autopsy as part of its efforts to study the fungus that causes white-nose syndrome in bats.

A Washington Department of Ecology scientist maps the bathymetry of the mouth of the Elwha River using an integrated GPS and echo sounder on a personal watercraft. 

Pallid sturgeon embryo propagated at the Columbia Environmental Research Center.

Newly hatched pallid sturgeon propagated at the Columbia Environmental Research Center.

Juvenile lake sturgeon propagated at the Columbia Environmental Research Center.

Pallid sturgeon eggs freshly spawned and fertilized in a laboratory at the Columbia Environmental Research Center.

The Little Missouri River at Medora, North Dakota. Top photo taken by a USGS personnel in March of 1972, while the Little Missouri River was flooding the camp sites at Medora, ND. The bottom photo was taken by USGS Colton Rupp on May 24, 2011, with a discharge of 32,000 cfs and a gage height of 19.42 feet.

Nebraska Game and Parks Commission collaborates with USGS on the Comprehensive Sturgeon Research Project tracking telemetered pallid sturgeon in the Missouri River.

The Souris River at Westhope, North Dakota. The top photos taken on April 26, 1970, with a discharge of 1,110 cfs. And the bottom photo taken on April 19, 2011, with a discharge of 13,300 cfs and a gage height of 19.82 feet.