Multimedia Gallery

From the boardwalk near Echinus Geyser (the largest acid geyser in the world), Yellowstone Volcano Observatory Scientist-in-Charge Mike Poland provides an update on activity in Yellowstone during the month of June. The Yellowstone Seismic Network located 445 earthquakes in the Yellowstone National Park region. Subsidence of Yellowstone Caldera, which has been ongoing since

This is an animation showing the changing conditions of USGS streamgages from April 1, 2021 to June 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 indicates it is flooding.

In April, drought conditions spread throughout the Western U.S., stretching from

Title: Mount St. Helens Revisited: Lives Changed, Lessons Learned, and Legacies of the 1980 Eruptions

By Carolyn Driedger, USGS Hydrologist & Outreach Specialist

• Mount St. Helens' eruptions had a disproportionately large influence on our understanding of volcanoes, hazards, and eruption response.
• Unique circumstances, both locally and abroad

Speaker: Konrad Hafen, USGS 

Topic: Dynamic Stream Permanence Estimates at Local and Regional Extents 

Abstract: In the United States (US), the frequency and duration of surface water in a stream channel (i.e. stream permanence) determines if a stream is subject to regulation under the Clean Water Act. The most comprehensive dataset of stream permanence

A 1.1 mile long 509 foot tall concrete dam spanning the Blue Nile River is set to become the largest hydropower plant in Africa. Under construction since 2011, the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam is expected to produce around 16,000 gigawatt-hours of electricity annually when fully complete in 2023 providing power to 60% of Ethiopia's estimated 115 million people.

The eruption in Halema`uma`u crater, at the summit of Kilauea, is no longer active. The lava lake that was active between December 2020 and May 2021 remains solidified at the surface. A routine summit overflight observed no signs of residual incandescence in cracks, and only a diffuse gas plume rising from the northern portion of the lake.
 

Welcome to the "The I Am A..." series. This is the eighth video in a series of USGS whiteboard animations that highlight USGS careers. The concept is to show "what society (or my mom) thinks I do" compared with "what I really do." One image captures a more whimsical representation of a "scientist" and the second demonstrates a more accurate representation of what we really

Yellowstone Volcano Observatory scientist-in-charge Mike Poland provides the YVO monthly update from the rim of Yellowstone’s Grand Canyon. The V-shaped gorge tells an amazing geologic story. About half a million years ago, a large rhyolite lava flow erupted. Over time, hot water and gases heated by the magma chamber rose through faults in the lava flow. And as it rose, it

This video shows a typical day on Mauna Loa, captured from a new webcam looking south towards the volcano. The field of view covers the summit region and much of the Northeast Rift Zone. On clear days, the small gas plume from Kīlauea's summit can sometimes be

Title: Where Earthquakes Hide in the Desert: What we've learned from recent fault ruptures in the western U.S.

By Austin J. Elliott, USGS Research Geologist

• Three large earthquakes since 2019 have ruptured incompletely mapped faults in the western U.S.
• Both satellite and field measurements give extremely detailed maps of how the

If you're watching this video, you're probably using a lithium battery. Smartphones, tablets and laptops all rely on lithium metal to store energy. It comes from surface mines or brine ponds, found in places like Australia, China and the United States. One of the leading sources for this increasingly valuable resource is the South American nation of Chile.

On the

The LANDFIRE (LF) program is working to increase the frequency of product releases and to reduce the latency of the LF products by producing annual version releases that reflect data less than one year behind current conditions and represent data conditions homologous to the growth that one would expect in areas of change/disturbances up to the year when the products are

This short presentation will illustrate how detailed topographic-bathymetric LiDAR data sets can be used within the USGS iRIC software package to compute detailed flow and particle tracking simulations across a range of length and time scales, including capturing the effects of local unsteadiness and turbulent mixing. While results will concentrate on the recent Potomac

Why storm drains are essential to watershed management.
 

The area of active surface lava has diminished over the past month in Halema`uma`u crater, at the summit of Kilauea. Today, active surface lava was limited to a small pond, about 20 meters (yards) long. The pond surface was normally covered with a stationary crust, but occasionally resurfaced. This video shows crustal foundering during a resurfacing event. A gust of wind

The USGS Coastal Change Hazards team works to identify and address the Nation’s coastal change hazards problems.  By integrating research, technical capabilities and applications, and stakeholder engagement and communications, the Coastal Change Hazards team develops robust and accessible coastal change assessments, forecasts, and tools that help improve the lives,

The USGS Coastal Change Hazards team works to identify and address the Nation’s coastal change hazards problems.  By integrating research, technical capabilities and applications, and stakeholder engagement and communications, the Coastal Change Hazards team develops robust and accessible coastal change assessments, forecasts, and tools that help improve the lives,

The lava lake in Halemaʻumaʻu crater, at the summit of Kīlauea, remains active but has diminished in area and vigor over the past month. This thermal timelapse sequence shows the changes in the lake activity over the past month. In mid-April the area of active surface lava in the lake was approximately 7.5 acres (3 hectares). By mid-May the area was about 0.5 acres (0.2

Hydrologic Technician Sara Weaver is making a discharge measurement on Lamprey River below Wiswall Dam.
 

Jon Major, scientist-in-charge of the USGS Cascades Volcano Observatory, provides an overview of the major volcano hazards in the Cascades, the function and responsibilities of the Cascades Volcano Observatory, and a brief synopsis of what's been going on at Mount Baker, Glacier Peak, Mount Rainier, Mount Adams, Mount St. Helens, and Mount Hood, and CVO’s plans in coming

This lesson will cover Stream Flow Estimates in NHDPlus High Resolution. Enhanced Runoff Method, or EROM is the method used to compute estimates of the mean annual flow for the NHDPlus flowline features in the NHDPlus HR network.
 

Scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey conducted a dye-trace assessment on May 5, 2021 along the Missouri River near Huntsdale, Missouri. The assessment helped scientists understand how larvae from the critically endangered pallid sturgeon drift downstream after hatching and how they find supportive habitat in the complex Missouri River.
 

In late March of 2021, just four miles from the edge of South Dakota's second-largest city, two wildfires sparked by human activity burned through a section of the Black Hills.

The Schroeder fire began on March 29. It was fueled by high winds and dry conditions, spreading rapidly across more than 2000 acres, forcing the evacuation of neighborhoods and businesses.