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Photos, videos, audio files, and webcam photos described and linked on this webpage come from a wide variety of USGS science activities and presentations done by USGS Science Center staff members in the Southwest Region.
Havasu Creek spilling over Havasu Falls, downstream from Supai Village on the Havasupai Nation.
U.S. Geological Survey employees (from left to right) Matthew Clark, Laura Shriver, Morgan Cheyney, and Sarah Birchard after collecting data for the Land Treatment Digital Library at the Bureau of Land Management Phoenix District Office.
U.S. Geological Survey employees (from left to right) Matthew Clark, Laura Shriver, Morgan Cheyney, and Sarah Birchard after collecting data for the Land Treatment Digital Library at the Bureau of Land Management Phoenix District Office.
Image for the USGS Colorado River Basin Actionable and Strategic Integrated Science and Technology (ASIST) Initiative, geonarrative about the intersection of water use for copper mining and historic drought in the Lower Colorado River Basin (primarily Arizona), April 7, 2026.
Image for the USGS Colorado River Basin Actionable and Strategic Integrated Science and Technology (ASIST) Initiative, geonarrative about the intersection of water use for copper mining and historic drought in the Lower Colorado River Basin (primarily Arizona), April 7, 2026.
Laura Shriver, RAMPS coordinator, gives a tour of a Northern Arizona RestoreNet site to Northern Arizona University students. Photo by Jessica Archibald (Diablo Trust).
Laura Shriver, RAMPS coordinator, gives a tour of a Northern Arizona RestoreNet site to Northern Arizona University students. Photo by Jessica Archibald (Diablo Trust).
Researchers from the U.S. Geological Survey and University of Arizona collaborate with Diablo Trust ranchers on range improvement and restoration efforts on Northern Arizona rangelands. Photo by Jessica Archibald (Diablo Trust).
Researchers from the U.S. Geological Survey and University of Arizona collaborate with Diablo Trust ranchers on range improvement and restoration efforts on Northern Arizona rangelands. Photo by Jessica Archibald (Diablo Trust).
A RestoreNet site in Northern Arizona with late summer monsoon rain clouds in the background. Photo by Laura Shriver.
A RestoreNet site in Northern Arizona with late summer monsoon rain clouds in the background. Photo by Laura Shriver.
Schematic flowchart showing relations between porphyry copper mining, drought, water resources, ecosystems, health, and economic factors in the Lower Colorado River Basin and adjoining areas
Schematic flowchart showing relations between porphyry copper mining, drought, water resources, ecosystems, health, and economic factors in the Lower Colorado River Basin and adjoining areas
Most of the world’s beaches have regular cycles of erosion and recovery, but new USGS research is showing that these cycles may be considerably different from common perceptions.
Most of the world’s beaches have regular cycles of erosion and recovery, but new USGS research is showing that these cycles may be considerably different from common perceptions.
The USGS EROS Landsat archive recently reached a milestone of 12 million Landsat Collection 2 Level-1 products. These are available for download at no charge. The image representing this milestone displays a sprawling desert landscape and contains a multitude of agricultural, geological, and urban features.
The USGS EROS Landsat archive recently reached a milestone of 12 million Landsat Collection 2 Level-1 products. These are available for download at no charge. The image representing this milestone displays a sprawling desert landscape and contains a multitude of agricultural, geological, and urban features.
Creating a binational sponge city in the desert: Flooding in the binational cities at Ambos Nogales on the Arizona-Sonora portion of the US-Mexico border has caused damage, ruined livelihoods and taken lives for hundreds of years.
Creating a binational sponge city in the desert: Flooding in the binational cities at Ambos Nogales on the Arizona-Sonora portion of the US-Mexico border has caused damage, ruined livelihoods and taken lives for hundreds of years.
Flooding in the binational cities at Ambos Nogales on the Arizona-Sonora portion of the US-Mexico border has caused damage, ruined livelihoods and taken lives for hundreds of years.
Flooding in the binational cities at Ambos Nogales on the Arizona-Sonora portion of the US-Mexico border has caused damage, ruined livelihoods and taken lives for hundreds of years.
The 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, measuring magnitude 6.9, was the strongest to hit the San Francisco Bay Area since the Great San Francisco earthquake of 1906. Although it provided extensive data on ground shaking, the available observations don’t fully capture all the quake's important features.
The 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, measuring magnitude 6.9, was the strongest to hit the San Francisco Bay Area since the Great San Francisco earthquake of 1906. Although it provided extensive data on ground shaking, the available observations don’t fully capture all the quake's important features.
Mercury contamination from historic gold mining represents a potential risk to human health and the environment. There is a lack of public awareness of the history mercury use in gold mining and how it contributed to this situation, and also what the present concerns are. Specifically, the public is not aware of locations and levels of contamination.
Mercury contamination from historic gold mining represents a potential risk to human health and the environment. There is a lack of public awareness of the history mercury use in gold mining and how it contributed to this situation, and also what the present concerns are. Specifically, the public is not aware of locations and levels of contamination.
