Images

Mineral origin: Hallman Beam Mine, Cherryville, NC
Primary mineral commodity: Lithium
Uses: batteries for cell phones, laptops, and electric and hybrid vehicles

USGS scientists recently collected peat and lake core samples from the swamp to help reconstruct natural, environmental conditions over the past 12,000 years. 

Centuries of ditching, draining and harvesting resources have greatly altered the Great Dismal Swamp in Virginia.

The desmid family of single-celled green algae are never found in abundance, says USGS biologist Barry Rosen. They inhabit the soft, slightly acidic water of wetlands that depend on rainwater, like Florida’s Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge. They don’t “bloom” en masse, but their presence is an indicator of good water quality.

This is a sample of rutile, one of the primary mineral sources of titanium. While as a metal, titanium is well known for corrosion resistance and for its high strength-to-weight ratio, approximately 95% of titanium is consumed in the form of titanium dioxide (TiO₂), a white pigment used in paints, paper, and plastics.

Schematic showing how sediment on the seafloor moves in response to a force created by the combined action of tides, ocean waves, and wind-driven currents.

Ocoee River, Tennessee

Frosted flatwoods salamander, St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge, Florida

Black and white Tegu lizard in the Florida Everglades grass. 

Frosted flatwoods salamander in St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge, Florida

JJ Thordsen (USGS) and a wireline operator retrieving downhole vacuum sampler from a characterization well near a CO2 injection well at Citronelle oil field, Alabama.

The use of acoustic Doppler current profilers (ADCPs) from a moving boat is now a commonly used method for measuring streamflow. The technology and methods for making ADCP-based discharge measurements are different from the technology and methods used to make traditional discharge measurements with mechanical meters.

USGS research oceanographers Jenna Brown and Joe Long installed this video camera atop the Shoreline Island Resort hotel in Madeira Beach, Florida. Starting in February 2017, the camera has recorded video for 17 minutes every hour during daylight hours.

Lush thicket of staghorn coral in the Dry Tortugas National Park

Jessica Cain and Ryan Rasmussen, Hydrologic Technicians, measure water quality at Jordan Lake, 2016. 

This U.S. Geological Survey storm-tide sensor was installed on a pier pylon near Big Talbot Island State Park in Duval County, Florida, in preparation for Hurricane Matthew's arrival. 

Aerial photograph looking west along Dauphin Island, Alabama, taken in September 2016.

Boat owners sought protection for their vessels in sheltered Hurricane Hole, but Hurricane Irma sunk and beached many boats, likely damaging corals. Photo: Caroline Rogers, USGS, 2017

In July of 2016, a team from the Climate and Land Use Research and Development Program took a trip to South Carolina to study outcrops of the “Canepatch” and “Socastee” formations along the Intra-Coastal Waterway, near Myrtle Beach. The age of these fossiliferous marine units has been controversial for several decades.

In July of 2016, a team from the Climate and Land Use Research and Development Program took a trip to South Carolina to study outcrops of the “Canepatch” and “Socastee” formations along the Intra-Coastal Waterway, near Myrtle Beach. The age of these fossiliferous marine units has been controversial for several decades.

In July of 2016, a team from the Climate and Land Use Research and Development Program took a trip to South Carolina to study outcrops of the “Canepatch” and “Socastee” formations along the Intra-Coastal Waterway, near Myrtle Beach. The age of these fossiliferous marine units has been controversial for several decades.