Videos

This waterfall on Glen Creek is in the Golden Gate area of Yellowstone National Park. The high cliffs on the west side of the canyon are ash deposits from a massive volcanic eruption 2.1 million years ago, while the massif (Bunsen Peak) on the east side is a block of magma that solidified in the shallow subsurface tens of millions of years ago.

Sizzling ground, which is hot and has a small amount of water, resembles a frying pan. These features are acidic and can be found throughout Yellowstone National Park, although one of the best and most accessible examples is along the road just north of Norris Geyser Basin.

Indigenous Communities in the United States: Leaders in Climate Adaptation

By Aparna Bamzai-Dodson, USGS Physical Scientist,

Nicole Herman-Mercer, USGS Social Scientist

and Sheree Watson, USGS Ecologist

Learn About:

For 50 years, the people of EROS have overcome difficulties and celebrated triumphs together, always centered on providing a perspective of the Earth that helps us better understand its condition. This video, timed with the 50th anniversary celebration at EROS in August of 2023, explores the center's history.

What geologic hazard is most likely to occur in the Yellowstone region on human timescales?

During a monitoring overflight of the Kīlauea summit on June 22, 2023, Hawaiian Volcano Observatory scientists briefly stopped on the Halema‘uma‘u crater floor to collect a lava sample. Afterward, they departed via helicopter with a low-angle view of the recent eruption area from the east.

Join USGS Research Geologist and lifelong surfer Jon Warrick at the Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center Santa Cruz as he discusses how coastal and ocean geoscience contributes to a better understanding of how waves form and behave as they approach the shore—critical information with a broad range of applications, not least of which is surfing!

This video shows a Saildrone Explorer in the harbor and being towed out onto Lake Erie for the beginning of a mission to collect data to improve fishery surveys on July 14, 2023.

Geysers and hot springs are some of the most dynamic geologic features on the planet. They are always changing and sometimes that change happens in places where we can see and appreciate it. This has been the case on Geyser Hill, near Old Faithful, in Yellowstone National Park.

Smoke filled the skies over western Canada and even much of the United States in May 2023. The source was several wildfires in Alberta and British Columbia.

Near the end of May, rain and cooler temperatures finally brought some relief for the out-of-control fires.

This video was captured from the western rim of Halemaʻumaʻu crater at the summit of Kīlauea on June 18, 2023. The video shows fountaining at the southwest wall eruptive vent, and lava pouring into a channel at the base of the spatter cone to spread onto the crater floor.

This video was captured during a Hawaiian Volcano Observatory helicopter overflight at the Kīlauea summit eruption on June 16, 2023. Activity is focused at the eruptive vent on the southwest wall of Halemaʻumaʻu crater, with lava fountaining visible at the top of the spatter cone.

This video was captured June 16, 2023 from the western rim of Halemaʻumaʻu crater at the summit of Kīlauea. Lava fountaining can be seen at the top of the spatter cone built around the southwest wall eruptive vent, with lava erupting from the base of the cone as well.

The ocean is a beautiful, dynamic, and sometimes dangerous place. Unsurprisingly, this is probably why a lot of USGS researchers spend their entire careers studying it. In celebration of National Ocean Month, we thought it would be a good time to dive in and feature ten ocean field sites you’ve got to “sea” to believe.

Flyover of Valles Marineris, the "Grand Canyon" of Mars, highlighting two analysis-ready datasets provided by USGS. The canyon is more than 4,000 km (2,500 miles) long and up to 7 km (23,000 ft) deep.

The Hawaiian Volcano Observatory's B1cam was located on the east rim of the down-dropped block within Kīlauea’s summit caldera, overlooking Halema‘uma‘u crater to the west. The eruption that began within Halema‘uma‘u crater in the early morning of June 7, 2023, flooded the crater floor with lava and the B1cam was exposed to intense heat.

The eruption in Halema‘uma‘u crater, at the summit of Kīlauea, continues, as shown in this aerial video taken on June 8, 2023. Several lava fountains were active, with lava covering much of the western portion of the crater. The area of active lava on the surface has diminished over the past day, with lower lava fountains compared to yesterday. 

Low fountaining has been active where lava upwells into Halema‘uma‘u crater, at the summit of Kīlauea. This video shows a series of small fountains in the southern portion of the crater floor. Camera shake is due to high winds at the time.

HVO scientists conducted an overflight of the new eruption within Halemaʻumaʻu crater at the summit of Kīlauea volcano, within began the morning of June 7, 2023. This aerial video shows that multiple vent sources are active on the crater floor, much of which has been covered with new lava over the past several hours.

The B1cam webcam on the east rim of Halemaʻumaʻu crater captured the opening of the eastern eruptive vent in the first hour of the new Kīlauea summit eruption on June 7, 2023. The video shows a brief pulse of gas before lava blasts apart a section of the crater floor when fountaining begins.

This video, captured by the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory's KWcam on the northwest rim of the caldera, shows the opening phase of the eruption that began within Halemaʻumaʻu crater the early morning of June 7, 2023. A lava fountain bursts from a vent in the central part of the crater floor and lava floods the surrounding area.