Images

Wildfire is one of the largest sources of re-released mercury to the atmosphere and a component to the widespread movement of inorganic mercury to aquatic sediments.

A USGS scientist collects a water sample for analysis of mineral particles known as colloids. Toxic metals (such as copper in excess) bind to the particles, which are then ingested by aquatic animals.

USGS scientist collecting water-level data from an observation well during an aquifer test at the Naval Air Warfare Center Fractured Rock Research Site, West Trenton, New Jersey.

Close up of a cyanobacteria bloom on Elysian Lake, Minnesota

Voyageurs National Park (VNP), a pristine setting with abundant lakes, wetlands, and streams situated on granitic bedrock, is located near northern Minnesota's border with Canada. Long-term studies at VNP have revealed trends in mercury concentration in precipitation, surface water, and fish.

Algal and Other Environmental Toxins Laboratory — Lawrence, Kansas. Cyanobacterial accumulation along with a dead fish

Tree swallow nestlings (Tachycineta bicolor) in a nesting box

Typical San Francisco Bay wetland habitat dominated by pickleweed (Salicornia pacifica).

The Silver Ledge Mine in the area of upper Mineral Creek, near Silverton, Colorado, is one of many abandoned mine sites in the watershed. 

Biosolids from a wastewater treatment plant were loaded onto trucks for transport to the field. A team of USGS scientists and their colleagues collected samples of biosolids for analysis from freshly exposed surfaces created by the machinery used to load the biosolids onto trucks.

Grey Tree Frog

USGS scientists extracted DNA from aquifer materials and analyzed the DNA for microbial community composition using several methods.

John Clune and Connie Loper, PA Water Science Center, processing an emerging-contaminants bed-sediment sample at Rock Creek near Gettysburg, PA.

John Clune, PA Water Science Center, processing an emerging-contaminants bed-sediment sample at Lititz Run.

John Clune, PA Water Science Center, collecting an emerging-contaminants bed-sediment sample at the Susquehanna River at Danville,PA.

Photo of Foster's Tern (Sterna forsteri) while hunting. Forster’s terns are among the most at-risk wildlife species to mercury toxicity in western North America.

Hilltop view of the Ravenswood ponds (right side of levee) in South San Francisco Bay. These former salt-production ponds were subsequently slated for a major wetland restoration project. 

Municipal biosolids being loaded onto spreader for land application

Potential pathways for veterinary medicines in soil and water

USGS researchers Jennifer Agee and Le Kieu sampling surface sediment in a vegetated Louisiana saltmarsh. Photographer: M. Marvin-DiPasquale.

USGS scientists collecting water-quality samples for the analysis of wastewater related contaminants, Boulder Creek, Colorado.