Images

Collecting a sample for detection of N. fowleri in a Teton County hot spring

USGS scientist collects noble gas sample from spring site near Roaring Judy, Colorado. Groundwater discharge that flows into the Upper Colorado River Basin varies in response to drought, which is likely due to aquifer systems that contain relatively young groundwater, according to a new U

Spring sampling location along Little Sandy River in southern Wyoming. Groundwater discharge that flows into the Upper Colorado River Basin varies in response to drought, which is likely due to aquifer systems that contain relatively young groundwater, according to a new U.S.

Water quality and sampling equipment deployed at spring site near Roaring Judy, Colorado. Groundwater discharge that flows into the Upper Colorado River Basin varies in response to drought, which is likely due to aquifer systems that contain relatively young groundwater, according to a new U.S

Filling the teflon churn with water sampled from Laramie River near Laramie

An American bullfrom is native to most eastern states, but considered invasive in the moutain west.

In the summer of 1988, a wildfire ravaged the world's first national park, consuming 1.2 million acres in and around the Greater Yellowstone Park ecosystem.

USGS scientists preparing for filming with BBC/PBS documentary crew making "The Great Yellowstone Thaw"

USGS research vessel with Teledyne Odom Hydrographic ES3PT–M integrated multibeam echo sounder and motion sensor submerged on the port side, and Trimble SPS461 GPS receivers mounted on each side of vessel.

USGS scientist Sarah Hawkins, lead scientist for the Mancos Shale assessment, examining a core drilled by the USGS Core Research Center. This core provided valuable data for the assessment. Image credit: Joshua Hicks, USGS.

The USGS Core Research Center collaborated with the USGS Energy Resources Program to drill a core from the Mancos Shale to aid in the oil and gas assessment. Image Credit: Joshua Hicks, USGS.

The Great Basin area in the northern Snake Range near the Utah/Nevada boarder. 

The Great Basin area in the northern Snake Range near the Utah/Nevada boarder. 

The Great Basin area in the northern Snake Range near the Utah/Nevada boarder. 

The Great Basin area in the northern Snake Range near the Utah/Nevada boarder. 

The Great Basin area in the northern Snake Range near the Utah/Nevada boarder. 

USGS research vessel collecting bathymetry data at Clear Creek Reservoir.

The Needles district of Canyonlands serves as a stunning backdrop to our study site in the high desert grassland of the Colorado Plateau. Researchers at Canyonlands Research Station are testing the effect of experimentally imposed altered precipitation regimes on plant reproductive success, mortality, and biomass.

Water flowing on the Colorado River near Moab, Utah. 

The entire Colorado River Basin currently supports 50 million people, and that amount is expected to increase by 23 million between 2000 and 2030. A new USGS study shows more than half of the streamflow in the Upper Colorado River Basin originates as groundwater. 

Biological soil crusts, or biocrusts, are lichens, mosses, and cyanobacteria that grow on the soil surface and are common in the spaces between native plants in arid and semi-arid systems. Biocrusts reduce soil erosion, contribute to nutrient and water cycling, and reduce evaporation and invasion by exotic plants.

Intensely altered propylitic rocks (red and yellow) in the Red Mountain mining district, overprinting the regional, propylitically altered igneous rocks (grayish-green), peaks at top of image. View to west.