Images

USGS scientists collected water samples for a study of neuroactive pharmaceuticals in Minnesota Rivers using specialized techniques to insure the samples were not contaminated.

Sediment core retrieval from Lake Erie onboard the RV Lake Guardian on Lake Erie, Michigan.

A simplified diagram of the Sea Star Wasting Disease experiment devised at Cornell University, used to prove that a virus-sized, biologically active entity was triggering wasting symptoms in sea stars.

Dr. Michael T. Meyer in the laboratory working with a ultrapressure liquid chromatograph/tandem mass spectrometer. 

The HBSL database contains 777 contaminants currently or historically analyzed by the NAWQA Program. The database includes MCLs, HHBPs, or HBSLs for 351 contaminants. HBSLs are not available for the remaining 426 contaminants because of a lack of toxicity information.

Eight of 22 major aquifer networks showed increases in concentrations of deethylatrazine, a degradation product of the herbicide atrazine.

Although the visual picture of mixing zones at stream confluences appears straightforward, such as this one at the confluence of Cement Creek and the Animas River in Colorado, the chemical reactions that occur make them extremely complex from a water-quality perspective.

Vegetation grows on an east-facing cliff along Bull Run near Sudley Springs in Manassas National Battlefield Park, Virginia. The cliffs are islands of specialized habitat; they support plant species found nowhere else in the park, including locally uncommon or rare species.

East-facing cliff approximately 30 meters downstream from Farm Ford along Bull Run in Manassas National Battlefield Park, Virginia.

Microscopic photograph of the cyanobacteria Dolichospermum circinale cells in curved filaments. This photograph is typical of the photographs in the field and laboratory guide to help identify cyanobacteria under microscopes. Figure 40 from USGSOpen-File Report 2015–1164.

Dusty conditions prior to road treatment on the auto tour loop at Loess Bluffs National Wildlife Refuge in July 2014. Loess Bluffs was the site of a large-scale field test of two dust suppressant products, with monitoring of product performance and environmental safety.

U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientists collecting a groundwater sample from a well at the USGS Bemidji Crude-Oil Spill Research Site, Minnesota. The scientists monitored in real time the dissolved oxygen, pH, specific conductance, and temperature of the water as the well is pumped so they can know when to collect representative sample.

Close up of the cyanobacteria Dolichospermum lemmermannii in a harmful algal bloom

Experimental setup for small-scale transport test designed to assess the effectiveness of the "colmation layer" at the bottom sediments of Ashumet Pond (Cape Cod, Massachusetts) for filtering out cyanobacteria and viruses.

U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientists collecting water-quality samples from shallow groundwater under Ashumet Pond, Cape Cod, Massachusetts.

Crude-oil recovery system implemented at the Bemidji, Minnesota, research site, 1999 to 2003. The crude-oil in the unsaturated zone above the water table contained a mixture of crude oil, air, and water in the sediment pore spaces (Delin and Herkelrath, 2014).

U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientist collects periphyton samples from Nantahala river near Hewitt, North Carolina

U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientist measuring dissolved oxygen in a stream water sample. The scientist is part of a USGS team of scientists that are investigating the potential environmental effects of activities at an oil and gas wastewater injection facility in West Virginia.

Scientist holding an adult Pacific lamprey collected at Bonneville Dam. The dam is on the Columbia River between the states of Oregon and Washington.

U.S.

A view of the New River from the New River Gorge Bridge, West Virgina. Wolf Creek is a tributary of the New River. Photo: Denise M. Akob, USGS.