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The Southwest Region includes California, Nevada, and Arizona. The Regional Office, headquartered in Sacramento, provides Center oversight and support, facilitates internal and external collaborations, and works to further USGS strategic science directions.
News
The Ups and Downs of Groundwater Levels after the July 2019 Ridgecrest, CA Earthquakes
Effects from the two July 2019 Ridgecrest, CA earthquakes were observed in several USGS continuous groundwater-level monitoring sites in California, Nevada, and Arizona.
GCMRC Updates
The Grand Canyon Monitoring and Research Center currently has 11 active science projects as a part of its Triennial Work Plan (FY2018-2020) for work conducted as the science provider to the Glen Canyon Dam Adaptive Management Program. New developments, recent publications and other current activities will be listed here. Check here to find out the latest information from the Center.
Salinity Cycles in Lower Colorado River Caused by Precipitation Patterns in Upper Basin
A new study shows that mysterious cycles in salinity in the lower Colorado River are a result of precipitation patterns in the headwaters of the upper basin more than a thousand river miles away. The salinity levels generally repeat about every 10 years.
Publications
Bat community response to silvicultural treatments in bottomland hardwood forests managed for wildlife in the Mississippi Alluvial Valley
Silvicultural treatments (e.g., selective timber harvests) that are prescribed to promote wildlife habitat are intended to alter the physical structure of forests to achieve conditions deemed beneficial for wildlife. Such treatments have been advocated for management of bottomland hardwood forests on public conservation lands in the Mississippi...
Ketzler, Loraine P.; Comer, Christopher E.; Twedt, Daniel J.
Groundwater-storage change and land-surface elevation change in Tucson Basin and Avra Valley, south-central Arizona--2003-2016
The U.S. Geological Survey monitors groundwater-storage change and land-surface elevation change caused by groundwater withdrawal in Tucson Basin and Avra Valley—the two most populated alluvial basins within the Tucson Active Management Area. The Tucson Active Management Area is one of five active management areas in Arizona established by the...
Carruth, Robert L.; Kahler, Libby M.; Conway, Brian D. Geochemistry and hydrology of perched groundwater springs: assessing elevated uranium concentrations at Pigeon Spring relative to nearby Pigeon Mine, Arizona (USA)
The processes that affect water chemistry as the water flows from recharge areas through breccia-pipe uranium deposits in the Grand Canyon region of the southwestern United States are not well understood. Pigeon Spring had elevated uranium in 1982 (44 μg/L), compared to other perched springs (2.7–18 μg/L), prior to mining operations at the nearby...
Beisner, Kimberly R.; Paretti, Nicholas V.; Tillman, Fred; Naftz, David L.; Bills, Donald; Walton-Day, Katie; Gallegos, Tanya J.
RPIF Digitized Film Collection
The RPIF's 15-mm film collection contains historic films related to astronaut training, equipment field tests, geological expiditions and more. Select from the videos on the right to play it. Scroll down for more videos. Videos may take a few minutes to load.
Terrestrial Analog Sample Collections
The Astrogeology Terrestrial Analog Sample Collections include three individual sample collections: the Meteor Crater Sample Collection, the Flynn Creek Crater Sample Collection, and the Shoemaker Sample Collection (embed links to individual pages; add buttons to click to go to individual pages).
Click Related Science tab above to navigate to the individual...
Concealed Rare Earth Element (REE) Terranes in the Southern Basin and Range Geologic Province
The project is developing an understanding of the types, sizes, and spatial distribution of rare earth element (REE) related deposits in the southern Basin and Range geologic province to help ensure the availability of rare earth elements to the U.S.
Lunar Legacy at the USGS Astrogeology Science Center
Click on the links below to explore USGS Astrogeology Center's involvement in the Apollo program and lunar legacy:
GCMRC Online Maps
The Grand Canyon Monitoring and Research Center maintains an enterprise GIS platform built upon ESRI ArcGIS Server and Portal applications. This enterprise system allows for spatial data, maps and analytical tools to be served through online applications. The Geospatial Science and Technology project provides access to this content through different avenues. Online maps can be accessed...
GCMRC Data Releases
Data releases made available by GCMRC can be found here as they are published via the USGS Fundamental Science Practices (FSPs). Individual science product links will take users to the USGS ScienceBase website for each entry.
Click on Data and Tools Tab to see list of Data Releases.
Baerbel Lucchitta
Dr. Baerbel Lucchitta was one of the first women in the field of Astrogeology. She started her career by mapping the Moon and instructing the Apollo Astronauts. She worked extensively on the Valles Marineris canyons on Mars, is a vigorous protagonist of glacial flow and other ice-related features on Mars, and was awarded the Geological Society of America, Planetary Geology Division, G.K....
GCMRC Scientist & Staff Directory
Below is a list of GCMRC scientists and key project support staff with their contact information provided. Names and positions are linked to each individual's USGS staff profile page (where applicable), so click there to find out more about each person's background, research interests and science products. Clicking on email addresses will generate a new email message to that individual....
GCMRC Data and Tools
The Grand Canyon Monitoring and Research Center offers a collection of data resources and online tools -- including web maps, applications, and other content -- that convey scientific information related to on-going monitoring of the Colorado River. Some applications are a culmination of long-term monitoring work, while others are developed around more a specific set of information usually...
Grand Canyon Monitoring and Research Projects
The Grand Canyon Monitoring and Research Center currently functions under a Triennial Work Plan (TWP) which is thoroughly reviewed and vetted both internally within the Center and through the GCDAMP Technical Work Group (TWG) and the Adaptive Management Work Group (AMWG). These advisory panels have been a part of the Glen Canyon Dam...
United States Assessments of Undiscovered Oil and Gas Resources
USGS Energy Resources Program provides periodic assessments of the oil and natural gas endowment of the United States and the World (click here for information about World Oil and Gas Assessments). This website provides access to new, prioritized, assessment results and supporting data for the United States, as part...
Beginning in November of 2015, a project was undertaken to reanalyze approximately 60,000 archived sample splits collected as part of the National Uranium Resource Evaluation (NURE) Hydrogeochemical and Stream Sediment Reconnaissance (HSSR) project from selected areas in Arizona, California, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah. A small amount (approximately 0.25 g) of sieved -75 micron s
Groundwater age distribution and susceptibility to natural and anthropogenic contaminants were assessed for selected principal aquifers of the Western United States: the Central Valley aquifer system (CVAL), the Basin and Range basin-fill aquifers (BNRF), the Rio Grande aquifer system (RIOG), the High Plains aquifer (HPAQ), the Columbia Plateau basaltic-rock aquifers (CLPT), and the Colorado Plat
Streamflow and basin-characteristic data are needed for a variety of scientific applications including estimation of flow in ungaged basins and hydro-ecological classification of rivers. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the Bureau of Reclamation and the Southern Rockies Landscape Conservation Cooperative (SRLCC), selected a subset of streamgages across the SRLCC domain tha
The Geospatial team of the Grand Canyon Monitoring and Research Center maintains an enterprise GIS system built upon ESRI ArcGIS Server and Portal applications. This web application provides access to many of the most commonly used GIS layers and base data information used by GCMRC in support of on-going science projects.
Click here to launch the Base Map Viewer (2.0) in a separate window.
The Geospatial team of Grand Canyon Monitoring and Research Center maintains an enterprise GIS system built upon ESRI ArcGIS Server and Portal applications. From this platform, geospatial content can be consumed in a variety of forms, from custom-built web applications to content hosted on ESRI's ArcGIS Online to direct access of web map services provided here on our REST services page.
This application highlights modeled flows of the Colorado River for a discharge of 41,000 cubic feet per second (cfs) that is approximate to recent (2012 - 2018) and future anticipated water releases associated with a High Flow Experiments conducted from Glen Canyon Dam near Page, Arizona. These data are to help visualize the water levels during High Flow Events in relation to other map layers.
GCMRC and Northern Arizona University have engaged in long-term monitoring of 45 sandbar sites along the Colorado River in Grand Canyon for close to three decades. Remote cameras have been established to monitor sandbar changes in between site surveys that occur every Fall. This application provides access to thousands of photos, with an option to view photos around specific high flow events.
The Geospatial Data Abstraction Library is a translator library for raster geospatial data formats that is released under an X/MIT style Open Source license by the Open Source Geospatial Foundation. As a library, it presents a single abstract data model for all supported formats. It also comes with a variety of useful commandline utilities for data translation and processing...
Our Web Mapping Services (WMS) and Web Feature Services (WFS) are based on Open Geospatial Consortium standards and allow capable mapping clients to view full-resolution planetary mosaicked Basemaps. Besides being available for community use, these services are critical for many of our others sites including Planetary Nomenclature, Planetary Geologic Mapping web site ...
The NWIS mapper provides access to over 1.5 million sites contained in the USGS National Water Information System (NWIS), including sites where current and historical surface-water, groundwater, springs, and atmospheric data has been collected. Users can search by site type, data type, site number, or place.
This data release includes elemental analysis of soil samples collected at breccia-pipe uranium mines, at one undeveloped breccia-pipe uranium deposit, and at a reference site in northern Arizona. Samples were collected near the Arizona 1, Canyon, Kanab North, and Pinenut uranium mines, over the EZ2 breccia-pipe uranium deposit, and at the Little Robinson Tank reference site. Samples were collec
GIS Data for Northern Arizona Oil and Gas Assessments
This map shows the provinces assessed by the USGS for undiscovered oil and gas resources.
The USGS Astrogeology Mapping, Remote-sensing, Cartography, Technology, and Research (MRCTR, pronounced "Mercator") GIS Lab provides web-based resources aimed at the planetary research community. The lab supports Geographic Information Systems (GIS) graphical, statistical, and spatial tools for analyses of planetary data, including the distribution of planetary GIS tutorials, tools, programs...
This mosaic represents the best geodetic map of Mercury's surface to date. MESSENGER's three flybys alone provide 90.90% of the data in the global mosaic (see Table above). Although MESSENGER went in to safe mode during the third flyby, the approach imaging was acquired and contributes ~6.82% additional coverage from earlier versions. Only the poles remain to be imaged, some of which...
This project focused on geometric restoration of hyperspectral imagery from the Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3 or M3) instrument that flew as a guest instrument on the Indian Space Research Organization’s (ISRO) Chandrayaan-1 (Ch1) spacecraft (e.g., Goswami and Annadurai, 2009; Pieters et al., 2009; Boardman et al., 2011; Green et al., 2011). The primary objective of this work is to geometrically...
This page introduces the Kaguya Multiband Imager derived spectral and derived mineral maps by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and the University of Hawaii. The mosaics were created from topographically-corrected MI reflectance data acquired by the JAXA SELENE/Kaguya mission (see Ohtake et al., 2013) from the Kaguya Archive MI MAP processing level version 2 (MI MAP_02) products.
The Clementine near-infrared (NIR) images have been made available in two near-global (70° N to 70° S) reduced-resolution mosaics. The two versions include a standard calibrated and empirically calibrated multi-spectral (6-band) ISIS cube at 500 m/pixel spatial resolution.
New Horizons launched on Jan. 19, 2006 as part of NASA’s New Frontiers Program. The spacecraft will help scientists back on Earth study the surface and atmosphere of the dwarf planet Pluto, its moons and objects in the Kuiper belt—a region of our solar system beyond Neptune containing tens of thousands of objects. The USGS Astrogeology Science Center is committed to NASA’s New Horizons mission.
From the USGS press release:
The first topographic map of Mercury was released by the U.S. Geological Survey, Arizona State University, Carnegie Institute of Washington, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory and NASA. This high-resolution map provides the first comprehensive view of Mercury’s entire surface, illustrating the planet’s craters, volcanoes and tectonic landforms...
Moon Apollo Image Processing
In the early 1970s, specialized cameras onboard the Command Modules of the last three Apollo missions (15, 16, 17) photographed nearly 25% of the Moon in stunning detail. Today, scientists from Flagstaff’s U.S. Geological Survey, Arizona State University, and NASA are working together to reconstruct the lunar surface from these nearly 50-year-old photographs.
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) launched "KAGUYA (SELENE)" to obtain scientific data of the lunar origin and evolution and to develop the technology for the future lunar exploration. With permission from JAXA, researchers at the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Astrogeology Science Center have compiled and are releasing multiple near-global mosaics derived from data acquired by the...
This product is a global thermal inertia mosaic of Mars generated from high-resolution Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) nighttime infrared images (Christensen et al., 2004; Fergason et al., 2006a) that allows the identification, assessment, and global correlation of martian surface materials. The higher spatial resolution of THEMIS data (100 m per pixel), relative to Thermal Emission...
In 2003-2005, the USGS worked under the guidance of NASA's Mars Critical Data Products Initiative to conduct research on how controlled large area or global 2001 Mars Odyssey THEMIS IR image mosaics could be generated. The products listed here represent a sampling of the significant data files generated during that research.
Groundwater-storage change and land-surface elevation change in Tucson Basin and Avra Valley, south-central Arizona--2003-2016
The U.S. Geological Survey monitors groundwater-storage change and land-surface elevation change caused by groundwater withdrawal in Tucson Basin and Avra Valley—the two most populated alluvial basins within the Tucson Active Management Area. The Tucson Active Management Area is one of five active management areas in Arizona established by the...
Carruth, Robert L.; Kahler, Libby M.; Conway, Brian D. Bat community response to silvicultural treatments in bottomland hardwood forests managed for wildlife in the Mississippi Alluvial Valley
Silvicultural treatments (e.g., selective timber harvests) that are prescribed to promote wildlife habitat are intended to alter the physical structure of forests to achieve conditions deemed beneficial for wildlife. Such treatments have been advocated for management of bottomland hardwood forests on public conservation lands in the Mississippi...
Ketzler, Loraine P.; Comer, Christopher E.; Twedt, Daniel J.
Magnetic monitoring in Saguaro National Park
On a sandy, arid plain, near the Rincon Mountain Visitor Center of Saguaro National Park, tucked in among brittlebush, creosote, and other hardy desert plants, is an unusual type of observatory—a small unmanned station that is used for monitoring the Earth’s variable magnetic field. Named for the nearby city of Tucson, Arizona, the observatory...
Love, Jeffrey J.; Finn, Carol A.; Gamez Valdez, Yesenia C.; Swann, Don Geochemistry and hydrology of perched groundwater springs: assessing elevated uranium concentrations at Pigeon Spring relative to nearby Pigeon Mine, Arizona (USA)
The processes that affect water chemistry as the water flows from recharge areas through breccia-pipe uranium deposits in the Grand Canyon region of the southwestern United States are not well understood. Pigeon Spring had elevated uranium in 1982 (44 μg/L), compared to other perched springs (2.7–18 μg/L), prior to mining operations at the nearby...
Beisner, Kimberly R.; Paretti, Nicholas V.; Tillman, Fred; Naftz, David L.; Bills, Donald; Walton-Day, Katie; Gallegos, Tanya J.
Element concentrations in surface soils of the Coconino Plateau, Grand Canyon region, Coconino County, Arizona
This report provides the geochemical analyses of a large set of background soils collected from the surface of the Coconino Plateau in northern Arizona. More than 700 soil samples were collected at 46 widespread areas, sampled from sites that appear unaffected by mineralization and (or) anthropogenic contamination. The soils were analyzed for 47...
Van Gosen, Bradley S.
Historical files from Federal Government mineral exploration-assistance programs, 1950 to 1974
The Defense Minerals Administration (DMA), Defense Minerals Exploration Administration (DMEA), and Office of Minerals Exploration (OME) mineral exploration programs were active over the period 1950–1974. Under these programs, the Federal Government contributed financial assistance in the exploration for certain strategic and critical minerals. The...
Frank, David G. Mapping and monitoring Mount Graham red squirrel habitat with Lidar and Landsat imagery
The Mount Graham red squirrel (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus grahamensis) is an endemic subspecies located in the Pinaleño Mountains of southeast Arizona. Living in a conifer forest on a sky-island surrounded by desert, the Mount Graham red squirrel is one of the rarest mammals in North America. Over the last two decades, drought, insect...
Hatten, James R. Riparian restoration framework for the Upper Gila River, Arizona
This technical report summarizes the methods and results of a comprehensive riparian restoration planning effort for the Gila Valley Restoration Planning Area, an approximately 53-mile portion of the upper Gila River in Arizona (Figure 1-1). This planning effort has developed a Restoration Framework intended to deliver science-based guidance on...
Orr, Bruce K.; Leverich, Glen L.; Diggory, Zooey E.; Dudley, Tom L.; Hatten, James R.; Hultine, Kevin R.; Johnson, Matthew P.; Orr, Devyn A.
Probability and volume of potential postwildfire debris flows in the 2011 Wallow burn area, eastern Arizona
This report presents a preliminary emergency assessment of the debris-flow hazards from drainage basins burned in 2011 by the Wallow wildfire in eastern Arizona. Empirical models derived from statistical evaluation of data collected from recently burned drainage basins throughout the intermountain western United States were used to estimate the...
Ruddy, Barbara C.
Probability and volume of potential postwildfire debris flows in the 2011 Horseshoe II burn area, southeastern Arizona
This report presents a preliminary emergency assessment of the debris-flow hazards from drainage basins burned in 2011 by the Horseshoe II wildfire in southeastern Arizona. Empirical models derived from statistical evaluation of data collected from recently burned drainage basins throughout the intermountain western United States were used to...
Ruddy, Barbara C.
Probability and volume of potential postwildfire debris flows in the 2011 Monument burn area, southeastern Arizona
This report presents a preliminary emergency assessment of the debris-flow hazards from drainage basins burned by the Monument wildfire in southeastern Arizona, in 2011. Empirical models derived from statistical evaluation of data collected from recently burned drainage basins throughout the intermountain Western United States were used to...
Ruddy, Barbara C.; Verdin, Kristine L.
Hydrological, geological, and biological site characterization of breccia pipe uranium deposits in Northern Arizona
On July 21, 2009, U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar proposed a two-year withdrawal of about 1 million acres of Federal land near the Grand Canyon from future mineral entry. These lands are contained in three parcels: two parcels on U.S. Bureau of Land Management land to the north of the Grand Canyon (North and East Segregation Areas) and...
Alpine, Andrea E.This is the home page for ISIS, a digital image processing software package. The focus of the software is to manipulate imagery collected by current and past NASA and International planetary missions sent throughout our Solar System.
Outstanding in the Field (Ep 5): Fish in the Grand Canyon
The USGS Ecosystems Mission Area brings you Outstanding in the Field, a series of stories about our science, our adventures, and our efforts to better understand our fish and wildlife and the ecosystems that support them. In this episode we describe some of the one-of-a-kind native fish species that call the Grand Canyon segment of the Colorado River home.
Image of the Week - Moon Craters in Arizona
Before landing on the surface of the moon in 1969, astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin needed a training ground that matched their destination's cratered surface.
In the U.S., that turned out to be northern Arizona. Starting in 1967, the U.S. Geological Survey used hundreds of pounds of dynamite to blast holes into the surface of ancient lava fields south of
...
GCMRC sediment monitoring application landing page
Image screen shot of GCMRC sediment monitoring application
A partnership to protect critical infrastructure (Audio-Described)
This video is an introduction to the partnership between the USGS Arizona Water Science Center and the Arizona Department of Transportation, or ADOT, as it is referred to throughout the video. These two agencies are working together, using cutting edge technology and methods, to understand how flood flows interact with and impact critical infrastructure. These data will
...
A partnership to protect critical infrastructure
This video is an introduction to the partnership between the USGS Arizona Water Science Center and the Arizona Department of Transportation, or ADOT, as it is referred to throughout the video. These two agencies are working together, using cutting edge technology and methods, to understand how flood flows interact with and impact critical infrastructure. These data will
...
National Oil and Gas Assessment Provinces
This is a graphic from the USGS National Oil and Gas Assessment Explorer application, which allows user to drill into 70 oil and gas assessment provinces throughout the United States.
Flooding at Vekol Wash, Arizona
Flooding at Vekol Wash today, south of Phoenix, following remnant rains from Hurricane Rosa.
Remote Camera, 30-mile Camp (River MIe 30.7)
Remote Camera, 30-mile Camp (River MIe 30.7)
A USGS guide for finding and interpreting high-water marks (AD)
High-water marks provide valuable data for understanding recent and historical flood events. The proper collection and recording of high-water mark data from perishable and preserved evidence informs flood assessments, research, and water resource management. This video provides guidance for skilled high-water mark identification, including marks left behind in natural and
...
David Scott and James Irwin in the Lunar Roving Vehicle "Grover"
In preperation for Apollo 15, David Scott and James Irwin trained with a training version of the Lunar Rover known as the "Grover". Apollo 15 was the first mission to bring a rover. This allowed the astronauts to cover a larger distance and explore a larger area.
RestoreNet garden testing seedling establishment.
The RestoreNet gardens test seedlings of priority restoration species across the Southwest. This is a recently installed garden located in the juniper woodlands of the Colorado Plateau. The experiemental network will support land managers by providing insight into various restoration techniques, including testing seedlings vs seeds.
A RestoreNet Garden on the Colorado Plateau
A completed restoration field trial site just after installation. Half of the site is seeded, and the other half had plants and weed cloth (white fabric) installed. RAMPS will be collecting data on this site for
...Effects from the two July 2019 Ridgecrest, CA earthquakes were observed in several USGS continuous groundwater-level monitoring sites in California, Nevada, and Arizona.
The Grand Canyon Monitoring and Research Center currently has 11 active science projects as a part of its Triennial Work Plan (FY2018-2020) for work conducted as the science provider to the Glen Canyon Dam Adaptive Management Program. New developments, recent publications and other current activities will be listed here. Check here to find out the latest information from the Center.
A new study shows that mysterious cycles in salinity in the lower Colorado River are a result of precipitation patterns in the headwaters of the upper basin more than a thousand river miles away. The salinity levels generally repeat about every 10 years.
Mercury concentrations within Lake Powell are highest in side canyons within the lower portion of the reservoir, according to a new U.S. Geological Survey report. This finding is part of a study to better understand why mercury concentrations in striped bass are higher in the lower part of the reservoir.
Laura Norman's Aridland Water Harvesting Study helps lead a tour of a restoration and monitoring project at the Boy Scouts of America, Heard Scout Pueblo (HSP) in Phoenix, Arizona.
Adaptation and assessment practitioners gathered at the inaugural Southwest Adaptation Forum (SWAF) in October 2018, to identify shared challenges, lessons learned, and opportunities for future collaboration.
Reporters: RSVP to Visit Coring Site on Lake Powell
Reporters: Do you want to accompany a USGS field crew as they measure flooding? Please contact Jennifer LaVista or Jim Leenhouts
Clarifying Latitude and Longitude for Planets besides Earth
Note to Editors: In the public interest, and in accordance with FAA regulations, the USGS is announcing this low-level airborne project. Your assistance in informing the local communities is appreciated.
Salinity loads that originate from groundwater within the Upper Colorado River Basin have decreased from 1986-2011, according to a new U.S. Geological Survey study done in cooperation with the Colorado River Basin Salinity Control Program.
About 70 percent of wild prairie dogs successfully ingested baits containing an oral sylvatic plague vaccine, or SPV, that were distributed throughout their habitats, according to a new U.S. Geological Survey study.
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Locations
Southwest Climate Adaptation Science Center
Astrogeology Science Center
Phone: 928-556-7000
Fax: 928-556-7014
Western Geographic Science Center - Tucson Project Office
Western Geographic Science Center - Flagstaff Project Office
Arizona Water Science Center, Tucson Office
Phone: (520) 670-6671
Fax: (520) 670-5592
Yellowstone Volcano Observatory (YVO)
yvowebteam@usgs.gov
Phone: 360-993-8906
Southwest Biological Science Center - Tucson, AZ, Research Station
Phone: (520) 670-6671
Fax: (520) 670-5592
Southwest Biological Science Center - Flagstaff, AZ, Research Station
Phone: 928-556-7094
Fax: 928-556-7092
Arizona Water Science Center, Flagstaff Office
Phone: (928) 556-7136
Fax: (928) 556-7112
Arizona Water Science Center, Tempe Office
Phone: (480) 736-1093
Fax: (480) 736-1356
Arizona Water Science Center, Yuma Office
Phone: (928) 782-6024
Fax: (928) 782-0268