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A multi-agency team is mapping uncharted waters and exploring deep-sea ecosystems off the west coast of the United States. Oceans cover 71% of the Earth's surface, yet little is known about these vast underwater worlds. Less than 20% have been explored. A global initiative seeks to change that, by pledging to complete detailed mapping of one-hundred percent of the seafloor by the year 2030..

Learn more about how the USGS is helping battle invasive carp by scrolling through this geonarrative.

A majority of the water in the western U.S. comes from snowmelt, but changes in the timing, magnitude, and duration of snowmelt can alter water availability downstream. This data visualization story explores what changing snowmelt means for water in the West, and how new USGS efforts can advance snow science by modeling snowpack and snowmelt dynamics and linking these results to streamflow.

The US Geological Survey (USGS), working with the partners in the watershed, compiled mercury data for freshwater fishes to understand how mercury concentrations, and risk to consumers, varies across the watershed.

Learn about waterfowl research by scientists at the USGS Western Ecological Research Center.

This geonarrative (Esri Story Map) takes you on a virtual tour of 1906 and 1969 earthquake damage in Santa Rosa, shows examples of buildings that have been retrofitted to protect against future earthquake shaking, and highlights locations where faulting from large earthquakes and slow fault slip (creep) is expressed at the ground surface.

This primer highlights methods used in regional and reach-scale assessments of fluvial erosion hazards (FEH) . Fluvial erosion includes bed erosion, meaning lowering of the bed of a stream, as well as bank erosion, which refers to the retreat of stream banks that occurs as a stream widens or migrates laterally.

Prediction of Flooding Now and Into the Future: a geonarrative on coastal storms

Alaska's north coast has been home to indigenous communities for centuries. Changing coastlines threaten important infrastructure and historic sites that support indigenous communities. Changing coastlines also can potentially reduce habitat for Arctic wildlife, such as polar bears, shorebirds, and walruses. Oil- and gas-related development sites and U.S. Department of Defense installations

This USGS geonarrative (Esri Story Map) summarizes the USGS response and findings after the M6.4 on July 4 and M7.1 on July 6, 2019 in Searles Valley, Southern California, and includes links to USGS research publications and data releases.

The Delaware River supports thriving ecosystems and drinking water for 16 million people. How water is shared, and the quality of that water, has been the focus of decades of inter-state discussion, negotiation, and research. This data visualization story uses streamflow, salinity, and temperature to show how new USGS science and monitoring can inform water management in this age of cooperation.

A high-resolution airborne and ground-based geophysical survey was conducted near Shellmound, Mississippi as part of the Mississippi Alluvial Plain (MAP) Regional Water Availability Study. This geonarrative showcases the geophysical data used in support of this effort, compiles complementary datasets, and provides additional resources to the user.