Videos

This is an animation showing the changing conditions of USGS streamgages from October 1, 2020 to September 30, 2021. The river conditions shown range from the driest condition seen at a gage (red open circles) to the wettest (blue closed circles). A purple outer ring around a gage indicates it is flooding.

Before we get into what happened during the month of December 2021, let’s review what happened at Yellowstone over the past year.

Eruptive activity resumed today in Halema‘uma‘u crater, at the summit of Kīlauea volcano, after a brief pause of several days. This video shows spattering and lava effusion from the west vent, which has built a steep spatter cone. 

Following the lower East Rift Zone eruption and summit collapse of Kīlauea in 2018, the volcano remained quiet for more than two years. Lava returned to Kīlauea in December 2020, boiling off the water lake that had been present at the base of Halema‘uma‘u crater, and starting a five-month long eruption in Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park.

The last year has been a busy one for seismologists at the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory. Earthquake activity at Kīlauea summit has varied over the past year, with upticks in a variety of seismic signals providing clues to the start of the December 2020 and September 2021 Kīlauea summit eruptions.

Geophysical equipment loop for electromagnetic survey on ground prior to liftoff by helicopter. In January 2021 a helicopter carried an airborne electromagnetic induction sensor over parts of northeastern Wisconsin as part of a USGS study to map the aquifers in the region.

Structure-from-motion techniques use photographs taken from different angles to reconstruct the three-dimensional shape of an object. At Kīlauea, this technique has been used to rapidly generate maps of eruption activity from aerial imagery, allowing scientists to quantify changes over time such as the volume of lava erupted and surface area covered by lava.

Welcome to the “I Am A..." series, a whiteboard animation video series highlighting USGS careers.

Eruptive activity on the west side of HALMEMAUMAU crater, Kīlauea summit, on December 20. Audible bubble bursts from the west vent (lower right) produced brown-tinted gas plumes with entrained lava fragments. The bursts also created pressure waves that displaced the white steam.

Olivine—the green mineral found in Hawaiian lavas—and its chemistry can tell us a lot about how, when, and where magmas move inside volcanoes before they erupt. Join Hawaiian Volcano Observatory geologist Kendra J.

The 2021 Atlantic hurricane season was the third most-active season on record. The USGS deployed crews and scientists across the country to provide science and resources to emergency managers.

Steep watersheds with dramatic environmental gradients are common features of both the Pacific Islands and Southeast Alaska.

The 2021 Atlantic hurricane season was the third most-active season on record. The USGS deployed crews and scientists across the country to provide science and resources to emergency managers.

Some people have characterized the seasonal rise and fall of Yellowstone as being like breathing. During the summer there is a little pause in the overall trend of subsidence and sometimes even a short episode of slight uplift. The trend reverses in early winter.

Lava continues to erupt from a perched lava pond within the west vent of Halema‘uma‘u crater at the summit of Kīlauea. This video shows nearly continuous spatter bursts through the pond and a roiling and sloshing pond surface. At about 43 seconds into the video, a white-trailed tropicbird (koa‘e kea) flies through the frame.

Lake Powell on the border of Utah and Arizona supplies water to millions across the southwestern United States.

Busting Myths About One of the Largest Volcanic Systems in the World - The Top 10 Misconceptions about Yellowstone Volcanism

By Michael Poland, USGS Scientist-in-charge, Yellowstone Volcano Observatory

Welcome to the "I Am A..." series, a whiteboard animation video series highlighting USGS careers.

Lava continues to erupt from the west vent in Halema‘uma‘u, and supply the lava lake through a spillway in the spatter cone. On November 12, a small overflow of the perched lava lake levee was visible from the western crater rim. Overflows are an important process for building up perched levees, as they help add height and stability.

Lava continues to erupt from the west vent in Halema‘uma‘u, and supply the lava lake through a spillway in the spatter cone. On November 9, a close-up view of the west vent shows spatter bursting and sloshing within the cone. Spatter was thrown about 6–9 m (20–30 ft) above the pond surface, occasionally depositing spatter onto the rim of the cone. 

Landsat 9 launched into space on September 27th, 2021. The "first light" images arrived on October 31st. On that day the satellite captured: algal blooms in Lake Erie, the glaciers of the Himalayas, bush fires in Australia's Eucalypt Woodlands, coastal communities on the Florida panhandle, and deserts, mountains and mesas across the Navajo Nation.