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Real-Time Data Links
The U.S. Caribbean-Florida Water Science Center operates and maintains approximately 929 real-time sites in Florida, Puerto Rico, and U.S. Virgin Islands which provide long-term, accurate, and unbiased information that meets the needs of many diverse users. The USGS collects the streamflow data needed by Federal, State, and local agencies for planning and operating water-resources projects and...
Gulf Coast Petroleum Systems Project - Research
This site highlights the research on the processes that impact the formation, accumulation, occurrence and alteration of hydrocarbon energy resources of the Gulf Coast of Mexico. This portion of the project also conducts assessments of undiscovered, technically recoverable hydrocarbon resources (click here for...
Reconstructing millennial-scale hydrologic variability of nearshore environments of south Florida during the Holocene- Lauren Toth
This internship will provide an opportunity to use the USGS’s extensive coral-reef core archive and geochemical laboratory facilities to develop novel paleoclimate and paleoceanographic reconstructions of coral-reef habitats in south Florida. This cutting-edge research will be potentially transformative to our understanding of the millennial-scale evolution of the environments of south Florida...
Natural Drought and Flood Histories from Lacustrine Archives
Previous work performed as part of the USGS Holocene Synthesis project illuminated complex centennial-scale patterns of drought and wetter-than-average conditions across the North American continent interior during the past two millennia, where paleorecord data coverage is sparse. In order to explain the patterns of naturally-occurring drought, floods, and storms for the past, identified by...
Understanding Drivers of Cyanotoxin Production in the Lake Okeechobee Waterway
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and other researchers combined field and laboratory approaches in two studies to understand the factors that drive cyanobacterial bloom development and associated cyanotoxin production in Lake Okeechobee, the St. Lucie River and Estuary, and the Indian River Lagoon in response to the large-scale Lake Okeechobee cyanobacteria bloom in 2016.
Fine-scale Benthic Habitat Mapping
Both ATRIS configurations was deployed in Dry Tortugas National Park (DRTO) to fill information gaps in the spatial coverage of existing habitat maps.
Sea Level Rise and Climate: Impacts on the Greater Everglades Ecosystem and Restoration
The Greater Everglades Ecosystem covers much of south Florida, and the highest areas are only a few meters above sea level. Predictions of sea level rise and changes in storm intensity for the 21st century are particularly concerning to the urban population of Miami and the east coast, but also represent a challenge to Everglades National Park and Biscayne National Park resource...
Coral Reef Ecosystem Studies (CREST)
The specific objectives of this project are to identify and describe the processes that are important in determining rates of coral-reef construction. How quickly the skeletons of calcifying organisms accumulate to form massive barrier-reef structure is determined by processes of both construction (how fast organisms grow and reproduce) and destruction (how fast reefs break down by mechanical...
Black-band disease in the Florida Keys
Photos of corals affected by black-band disease in the Florida Keys.
Joint Ecosystem Modeling: Cape Sable Seaside Sparrow Helper
The Sparrow Helper tool allows for the evaluation of water management scenarios by generating, plotting, and mapping hydrologic metrics across a range of time scales to predict impacts of proposed water depth changes to sparrow subpopulations.
Joint Ecosystem Modeling: Wader Distribution & Evaluation Modeling (WADEM)
WADEM (Wader Distribution Evaluation Modeling) is a JEM model that estimates species-specific habitat suitability across the landscape for Great Egret (Ardea alba), White Ibis (Eudocimus albus), and Wood Stork (Mycteria americana).
Environmental and Public Health Microbiology Laboratory — St. Petersburg, Florida
About the Laboratory
The microbiologists at the Environmental and Public Health Microbiology Laboratory (EPHML) develop analytical methods for the identification and quantitation of pathogenic microorganisms that can impact the health of humans and other organisms. This laboratory also develops methods for accessing aquatic, terrestrial and atmospheric drivers of toxins...
This single-celled alga is a natural ornament
It looks like a holiday ornament, but this lovely object is a single-celled freshwater alga from the desmid family, found in the marshes of Florida’s Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge. USGS biologist Barry Rosen photographed it at 200x magnification using ultraviolent light and a fluorescence microscope. Desmids range in size from under 10 microns—
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Elkhorn coral in Biscayne National Park
The CMHRP is testing the calcification rates of different genetic strains of threatened Elkhorn coral (Acropora palmata) to advise local and Federal agencies engaged in coral reef restoration. Elkhorn coral is the sole Florida-Caribbean species responsible for creating the reef crest, which is the geological feature responsible for protecting shorelines from wave
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Low dunes near Cape Canaveral launch pads often overwash during storms
Low dunes near Cape Canaveral launch pads 39A and 39B often overwash during storm events, transporting sand landward. Critical infrastructure may be buried or flooded. In addition, significant landward transport of sand may lead to extensive shoreline erosion.
Estimated and measured bathymetry offshore of Madeira Beach, Florida
Estimated and measured ocean depths (bathymetry) from Madeira Beach, Florida. Each panel shows same geographic area. m = meters. Left: Snapshot transformed from original oblique camera view to overhead “map” view. Middle: Bathymetry estimated by applying cBathy algorithm to July 2017 video imagery. Right: Bathymetry measured with sonar in February 2017. Despite being based
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Time series of Grecian Rocks coral reef
Time series of the coral reef at Grecian Rocks (Key Largo, FL) illustrating an example of the dramatic decline in live coral on Florida Keys reefs in recent decades. From Shinn and Kuffner (2017).
Ultraviolet light gives desmid alga cell a bright red glow
Illuminated with ultraviolet light, this living desmid cell has a bright red chloroplast. USGS biologist Barry H. Rosen, an expert on aquatic microorganisms, takes exquisite microscopic photos as part of his study of these single-celled green algae, which he has collected in a nearly pristine area of the northern Everglades. This cell got smooshed (the technical
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Serene Sirens: USGS Sea Cow Science
A USGS video about manatees reveals that while the animals may act like the cows of the sea, they also have more than a bit of the magical siren or mermaid about them. Go for a serene swim.
USGS Hurricane Preparedness
Before a hurricane, USGS Scientists undertake a data collection effort of a grand scale. They install a temporary mobile network of sensors along the coasts to collect additional data on the intensity of storm surge, one of the most dangerous elements of a hurricane. This effort provides critical information that allows various USGS partners and emergency responders to
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Image of the Week - Irma Churns Up Sediment in the Florida Keys
Hurricane Irma churned up sediment around the Florida keys as shown by these Landsat images.
At the USGS EROS Center, we study land change, operate the Landsat satellites, and maintain the longest, continuously acquired collection of images of the Earth's land surface.
USGS EROS Center (https://eros.usgs.gov/
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Irma Churns Up Sediment in the Florida Keys
Hurricane Irma crossed the Florida Keys the morning of September 10, 2017, as a Category 4 hurricane with winds of 130 miles per hour. Besides damage done to structures on the islands, the storm also stirred the waters.
A natural color Landsat image acquired four days after the storm contrasts with an image
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A natural marvel in a single cell
This single-celled freshwater algae wasa collected as part of the first-ever study of the green algae family called desmids in Florida’s Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge, in the northern Everglades. USGS biologist Barry H. Rosen, an expert on freshwater algae who leads the study, used a technique called differential interference microscopy to highlight the relief of
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A glimpse of the microbial world's hidden beauty
To collect, identify and document these single-celled algae called desmids, USGS biologist Barry H. Rosen has traveled by airboat into the interior of Florida’s Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge, where decaying marsh grasses created a mosaic of peat soils and the soft, slightly acidic water where desmids grow. Rosen thinks the area may have some of the world’s greatest
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At 12:32 am Alaska time on January 23, 2018, a magnitude 7.9 earthquake shook Alaska residents out of their beds and set off fears of a tsunami all down the West Coast. Fortunately, the tsunami was only a few inches in height, but within an hour of the earthquake in Alaska, waves of a different sort were hitting far away in Florida.
Florida's second-largest turtle rescue of 21st century is “exhausting, inspiring,” USGS biologist says
A new article compairs pH, dissolved oxygen, temperature, and salinity data from 10 Florida shellfish estuaries and shellfish bed stations.
It may be hard to believe the legend that sailors long-at-sea once considered manatees to be mermaids. The manatee nickname – the “Sea Cow” – which comes from the herbivores’ affinity for grazing on vegetation and their slow, ambling way just makes more sense. But a U.S. Geological Survey video reveals that while they may be cow-like, they also have more than a bit of the magical mermaid to them.
Coastal communities count on beaches for recreation and for protection from large waves, but beaches are vulnerable to threats such as erosion by storms and flooding. Whether beaches grow, shrink, or even disappear depends in part on what happens just offshore. How do features like shifting sandbars affect waves, currents, and the movement of sand from the beach to offshore and back?
Reporters: Do you want to accompany a USGS field crew as they work in the field to document how high the flood waters and storm surge from Hurricane Irma reached around the Jacksonville, Tampa and Fort Myers Areas?
If so, please contact Jeanne Robbins, jrobbins@usgs.gov, 919-571-4017.
Editor’s note: this news release will be updated online with more information on the streamgage records being set in Florida as it becomes available
To learn more about USGS’ role providing science to decision makers before, during and after Hurricane Irma, visit the USGS Hurricane Irma page.
To learn more about USGS’ role providing science to decision makers before, during and after Hurricane Irma, visit the USGS Hurricane Irma page.
A carbonatite here, a glacial moraine there, a zig-zagging fault or two, even a behemoth of a batholith. The geology of the 50 States is an enormous patchwork of varied forms, beautiful in their variance but challenging to present as a single map.
Larger-than-average low and no oxygen area may affect the region’s shrimp fisheries
A new U.S. Geological Survey study that looked at the extensive harmful algal bloom that plagued Florida last year found far more types of cyanobacteria present than previously known.
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Locations
Wetland and Aquatic Research Center - Gainesville, FL
Phone: 352-378-8181
Fax: 352-378-4956
Caribbean-Florida Water Science Center - Florida Office
Phone: (813) 498-5000
Fax: (813) 498-5002
St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center
Phone: (727) 502-8000
Fax: (727) 502-8181
USGS-St. Petersburg Carbon Analytical Laboratory
USGS Everglades Research Offices
Phone: 305-242-7834
Caribbean-Florida Water Science Center - Fort Myers office
Phone: (239) 275-8448
Fax: (239) 275-6820
Caribbean Florida Water Science Center - Tallahassee Field office
Phone: (850) 553-3640
Fax: (805) 553-3641
Caribbean-Florida Water Science Center - Orlando Office
Phone: (407) 803-5500
Fax: (407) 803-5501
Caribbean-Florida Water Science Center Davie office
Phone: (954) 377-5900
Fax: (954) 377-5901
