Unified Interior Regions
California
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.
States L2 Landing Page Tabs
PubTalk 1/2004 — Roving Around Mars
Adventures in Exploring the Red Planet
By Devon M. Burr & Michael H. Carr, Planetary Geologists
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- January 2004 will see two NASA rovers land on Mars to analyze rock and soil and measure environmental conditions
- By January, a European Mars probe and a Japanese orbiter should also be studying the planet's
Post-fire Debris Flow
Debris Flow in Cable Canyon following the 2003 Old Fire in the San Bernardino Mountains, California.
Water quality sampling on San Francisco Bay
USGS conducts water quality sampling to describe changes in water quality along the deep channel of the San Francisco Bay-Delta system. Sampling includes continuious sampling and discrete sampling. Here a water discrete water sample is collected using a Niskin sampler at sunset in north San Francisco Bay.
Map of study areas in Sonoma and Mendocino Counties.
Map of study areas and key geographic features in Sonoma and Mendocino Counties.
Southern California Neighborhood Scarred by Wildfire
Southern California neighborhood scarred by wildfire.
PubTalk 12/2003 — What's Happening to Alaska's Glaciers?
Their Dynamic Response to Changing Climate and Other Factors
by Bruce F. Molnia, Research GeologistÂ
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- Although the oceans contain more than 95% of the Earth.s water, glaciers hold 75% of the fresh water
- If all the world's glaciers melted, sea level would rise more than 250 feet
- Of Alaska.s 2,000 or so
PubTalk 11/2003 — Clean Power from the Earth's Heat
The Present and Future of Geothermal Energy
by John Sass, Geophysicist
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- Since ancient times, people have sought out geothermal hot springs for bathing, cooking, and supposed healing effects
- In Iceland, nearly half the electrical power and all space heating are derived from geothermal sources
- For Iceland
Endangered California Condor
An endangered California condor flies over the Bitter Creek National Wildlife Refuge, California. USGS scientists are helping managers understand how California condors use their habitat, gaining valuable information that will help inform not only which potential energy development sites are likely to have the least impact on condors but also which areas of Oregon might be
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PubTalk 9/2003 — Beneath Crater Lake
An underwater volcanic landscape tells a complex tale
by Charles R. Bacon, Geologist
Visualizations presented by David W. Ramsey, Geologist
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- Crater Lake, a jewel of the National Park system, partly fills a caldera basin formed during a giant volcanic eruption 7,700 years ago
- Deepest of all U.S.
PubTalk 8/2003 — Human Footprints on the Web of Life
Biodiversity and Increasing Population and Development in California
by Robert N.Fisher, Research Zoologist
- Why does California lead the country in endangered species--why are so many reptiles and amphibians in decline?
- Learn about the California lizard that keeps Lyme disease in check and the butterflies that prevented
PubTalk 7/2003 — Molten Paradise
Video Presentation and Discussion
Featuring the award-winning USGS video Molten Paradise-Kilaea Volcano by Stephen Wessells, introduced and discussed by Robert I. Tilling, Volcanologist
See-
- The dramatic nonstop Pu'u O'o eruption, now entering its 21st year
- Rivers of glowing lava flow through underground
Trawling for Delta Smelt aboard the USGS Research Vessel Sentinel
Trawling for Delta Smelt using a Kodiak Trawl in the Sacramento River aboard the USGS Research Vessel Sentinel.
Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt today was joined by Congresswoman Anna Eshoo in announcing a long-term lease that will keep the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in its historic Menlo Park, Calif., location. USGS Acting Director Tom Casadevall joined Babbitt and Eshoo for the announcement at an all-employees meeting at the Menlo Park campus.
Many of the tarballs washing up on the shores of Monterey Bay are most likely from natural seeps from the floor of Monterey Bay and the continental shelf, rather than from ruptured oil tankers and other man-made occurrences, according to scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey in Menlo Park, Calif.
PUBLIC LECTURE: "Natural History of Coastal Redwoods -- Fire, Floods and Fog," is the subject of the U.S. Geological Survey’s FREE Public Lecture on THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 1998.Â
As heavy rains continue to pound northern and central California, hydrologists with the U.S. Geological Survey are reporting small stream flooding from Ventura County on the south to Eureka on the north.
A light earthquake, preliminary magnitude 4.1 according to the U.S. Geological Survey, occurred at 3:02 PM EST (12:02 PM local time) Monday, Dec 29, 1997. The epicenter is located 5 miles SE of Mammoth Lakes, or 33 miles WNW of Bishop, CA.Â
Just in time for Santa...Permafrost Map of North Polar Region Makes Debut in San Francisco (archive)
A striking full-color map showing permafrost and ground ice over the Arctic and surrounding continental land masses has been released by the U.S. Geological Survey and will be displayed at the American Geophysical Union meeting in San Francisco this week.Â
The ability to learn the magnitude and location of an earthquake almost as it’s happening and track rising flood waters are examples of the kind of "real-time" monitoring that enables anyone with a personal computer and access to the Internet to obtain information about natural hazards as they occur.
They don’t have bells and whistles, and you’ll probably never see one on "Baywatch," but the U.S. Geological Survey’s real-time, telemetered stream-gauges are proving their worth when it comes to saving lives and lessening flood damage
"Heavy breathing" at Yellowstone and heavy metals in the nation’s surface and ground-water are two subjects of more than 100 oral and poster presentations by scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey, at the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union (AGU) in San Francisco, Dec. 8-12.
Otis Redding may have waxed eloquently about "Sitting By the Dock of the Bay," but its flying over the floor of San Francisco Bay that has scientists at the U.S. Geological Survey humming a happy tune these days.
The Hayward Fault is still the most dangerous earthquake fault in the San Francisco Bay area, according to U.S. Geological Survey scientists who will present the results from their latest research on that fault at the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union, in San Francisco this week.
Free public lecture: U.S. Geological Survey Geologist Henry Moore presents the latest "dirt" on Mars; viewing Mars from Sojourner at 7 P.M. in the City Council Chambers, 701 Laurel Street, Menlo Park, Calif.
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Locations
Southwest Regional Director's Office
Phone: (916) 278-9551
Fax: (916) 278-9566
Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center
Phone: 831-460-7401
Fax: 831-427-4748
Sacramento Projects Office (USGS California Water Science Center)
Phone: 916-278-3000
Fax: 916-278-3070
Western Ecological Research Center - Headquarters
Phone: (916) 278-9485
Fax: (916) 278-9475
Geology, Minerals, Energy and Geophysics Science Center
Phone: (650) 329-4881
Earthquake Science Center
Western Geographic Science Center - Main Office
San Diego Projects Office (USGS California Water Science Center)
Phone: 619-225-6100
Fax: 619-225-6101
USGS California Volcano Observatory (CalVO package delivery)
askcalvo@usgs.gov
Phone: 650-329-5083
Truckee Field Office (USGS California Water Science Center)
Phone: 530-587-0910
Fax: 530-587-0914
Redding Field Office (USGS California Water Science Center)
Phone: 530-246-5282
Fax: 530-246-0717
Ukiah Field Office (USGS California Water Science Center)
Phone: 707-468-4040
Fax: 707-468-4022
Redlands Field Office (USGS California Water Science Center)
Phone: 909-798-3272
West Sacramento Projects Office (USGS California Water Science Center)
Phone: 916-617-2799
Eureka Satellite Office (USGS California Water Science Center)
Phone: 707-442-3169
Fax: 707-445-7860
Sacramento Field Office (USGS California Water Science Center)
Phone: 916-381-0207
Fax: 916-381-0556
Santa Cruz Field Office (USGS California Water Science Center)
Phone: 831-460-7494
Santa Maria Field Office (USGS California Water Science Center)
Phone: 805-928-9539
Fax: 805-928-9220
Poway Field Office (USGS California Water Science Center)
Phone: 858-679-4015
Fax: 858-679-4019
USGS Menlo Park Library
men_lib@usgs.gov
Phone: 650-329-5027
Fax: 650-329-5132