Unified Interior Regions

The Present and Future of Geothermal Energy

by John Sass, Geophysicist

• 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

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

An underwater volcanic landscape tells a complex tale

by Charles R. Bacon, Geologist
Visualizations presented by David W. Ramsey, Geologist

• 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.

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

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 using a Kodiak Trawl in the Sacramento River aboard the USGS Research Vessel Sentinel.

New Estimates of Earthquake Hazard and Risk Across the Bay Region

By Michael Blanpied, Geophysicist

• A USGS-led Working Group has used new ideas about Bay Area faults and earthquakes to revise the probabilities for future quakes
• The slow movement of the Earth.s plates builds up stress that is relieved in violent

Integrating and Sharing Geographic Information in the Public Domain

By Ken Osborn, Cartographer 

• Begun by the USGS in 2001, The National Map is a 10-year vision for a seamless, constantly updated, national geospatial database
• This vast public database will be continually updated through local

Methane and the Future of Natural Gas

By Keith A. Kvenvolden, Geochemist 

• The Earth--or "Gaia," the Earth Goddess of Ancient Greece-- exhales more than 1 million tons of methane each day
• Mud volcanoes around the world emit about 5 million tons of methane each year as part of Gaia's breath
• Energy

Sagebrush-dominated ecoregions in the western United States (sagebrush cover types shown in various shades of yellow, pink, and blue-grey).

Recent Discoveries and Upcoming Missions

By Michael H. Carr, Planetary Geologist

• Thirty years of Mars exploration have revealed a spectacularly diverse planet
• Dry river valleys and layered sediments suggest a warm, wet past
• Huge floods may have created transient oceans
• Towering volcanoes, deep