Unified Interior Regions
Massachusetts
Massachusetts, officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous state in the New England region of the eastern United States. Several large bays distinctly shape its coast. Boston is the largest city at the innermost point of Massachusetts Bay and the mouth of the Charles River. There are 50 cities and 301 towns in Massachusetts, grouped into 14 counties.
Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center
384 Woods Hole Rd.
Woods Hole, MA 02543
Phone: 508-548-8700
Fax: 508-457-2310
New England Water Science Center - Massachusetts
10 Bearfoot Road
Northborough, MA 01532
Phone: (508) 490-5000
Fax: (508) 490-5068
States L2 Landing Page Tabs
New England WSC Seminar series Detenbeck 20170419
Watershed managers are challenged by the need for predictive temperature models with sufficient accuracy and geographic breadth for practical use. We described thermal regimes of New England rivers and streams based on a reduced set of metrics for the May–September growing season (July or August median temperature, diurnal rate of change, and magnitude and timing of growing season maximum)...
Evaluation of Potential Offshore Wind Projects in the Northeastern U.S. on Endangered Roseate Terns: Who is at Risk and When?
The Challenge: Terns in coastal areas of the Northeastern US likely will be impacted by construction and operation of offshore wind turbines. The “Cape Cod & Islands” (CCMA) area of Massachusetts is a particularly important area for the endangered Northwest Atlantic Roseate Tern (ROST) population as most ROSTs from throughout the breeding range (Nova Scotia to Long Island, New York)...
New England WSC Seminar series Cerutti 20170222
Prior to 2007, the year before oil reached $100 per barrel for the 1st time in history, MassDEP processed less than ten Underground Injection Control (UIC) registration applications per year for geothermal well installations. That number quickly increased to multiple hundreds per year.
Seabird Research Program
The Seabird Research Program at PWRC is focused on studying the ecology of species present across the Atlantic Coast. This program was a natural progression of PWRC's historic work studying the coastal ecology of wildlife in and around the Chesapeake Bay. We now focus on the three key areas on a variety of species: physiology, avoided bycatch, and movement ecology.
New England WSC Seminar series Vogel 20170201
Over half a century ago, the Harvard Water Program introduced the field of operational or synthetic hydrology, providing stochastic streamflow models (SSMs) which could generate equally likely synthetic streamflow traces useful for hydrologic risk management. This presentation advances the modern equivalent of SSMs, termed ‘stochastic watershed models’ (SWMs), which could provide useful input...
New England WSC seminar series LeBlanc 20161207
The Cape Cod unconsolidated sand and gravel aquifer is pitted with more than 400
groundwater-flow-through kettle lakes. In groundwater-flow models of western and central
Cape Cod, about 25 percent of the total simulated recharge to the aquifer from precipitation
discharges into lakes and subsequently seeps back into the groundwater before discharging to
streams and the...
HDgov: Multi-agency Website for Human Dimensions of Natural Resources
HDgov is an interactive and mobile-responsive online portal to interagency, academic, and non-government resources focused on the human dimensions of natural resource management. The web portal provides easy access to tools, publications, data, and methods that help ensure that the people side of natural resources is considered throughout the entire natural resource management process. The...
National Park Service Visitor Spending Effects
The National Park Service (NPS) manages the Nation’s most iconic destinations that attract millions of visitors from across the Nation and around the world. Trip-related spending by NPS visitors generates and supports a considerable amount of economic activity within park gateway communities. USGS economists collaborate with the National Park Service social science program to estimate NPS...
North American Waterfowl Management Plan
The ultimate success of North American Waterfowl Management Plan (NAWMP) depends on maintaining relevance to stakeholders and society. In order to be relevant, a first step is to better understand what people value in regard to waterfowl and their habitats.
USGS Scientists Measure New Bacterial Nitrogen Removal Process in Groundwater
For the first time, U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Virginia Institute of Marine Science, and the University of Connecticut scientists have detected active anammox bacteria in groundwater.
Sewage-Contaminated Ground Water
The USGS is investigating a wastewater plume in a shallow aquifer near Cape Cod, Massachusetts, to increase the understanding of the physical, chemical, and microbiological processes that affect the fate and transport of contaminants in groundwater.
Flood Science- Northeast Region Capability Team
One of the critical roles that USGS personnel play in their day-to-day activities is to respond in a timely and professional manner to floods that can occur at any time of the year and for a variety of reasons. The Flood Science Capability Team examines the cause and effect...
FEMA Bridge Survey
Surface Water Modeling for FEMA Flood Insurance Rate Maps.
USGS employees survey a bridge.
Surficial Geology Map of Nantucket and Marthas Vineyard, MA
Map showing the surficial geology from this study and Baldwin and others (2016) with equivalent onshore geology (adapted from Stone and DiGiacomo-Cohen, 2009). The areal extents over which offshore subsurface geologic units crop out at the sea floor were interpreted from seismic-reflection data.
Toni Lyn Morelli, Research Ecologist
Biography of scientist featured in Circular 1443 about STEM and related careers in USGS, to be used for recruitment into STEM careers.
Sediment textures distribution from Nantucket and Marthas Vineyard, MA
The distribution of sediment textures within the study area. The bottom-type classification is from Barnhardt and others (1998) and is based on 16 sediment classes. The classification is based on four sediment units that include gravel (G), mud (M), rock (R), and sand (S). If the texture is greater than 90 percent, it is labeled with a single letter. If the composition of
...Nantucket and Marthas Vineyard geologic illustrations
Geologic sections (C-C', D-D', and E-E') illustrating the general distributions and thicknesses of seismic stratigraphic units and major unconformities in the Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket study areas. The geologic sections were produced from chirp seismic-reflection profile interpretations.The Ul unconformity is a dashed line to denote that it is
...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.
Groundwater site inspection, Petersham, Massachusetts
Shown in this photo is Hydrologic Technician Sam Banas performing an electric tape down measurement of a groundwater well. The site ID is: 422906072124301 MA-PHW 16 Petersham, MA
Social benefits of marshes
Photo of a boardwalk over a saltmarsh creek showing people.
Economic benefits of marshes
Photo showing floating cages for oyster farming in a marsh creek exposed at low tide.
Saltmarsh vegetation
Photo showing different species of salt tolerant plants near a saltmarsh.
School of juvenile fish in water next to marsh vegetation
Photo showing school of juvenile fish in water next to marsh vegetation.
A saltmarsh platform
Photo of a saltmarsh platform showing vegetation on on top of the banks of a tidal creek. It shows the general setting of a saltmarshes that experience wet and dry periods with the tides within a day.
Levels of chloride, a component of salt, are elevated in many urban streams and groundwater across the northern U.S., according to a new government study. Chloride levels above the recommended federal criteria set to protect aquatic life were found in more than 40 percent of urban streams tested. The study was released today by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).
Residents with private wells in Essex, Middlesex, and Worcester counties are needed for a study about arsenic and uranium. In early March, some 1600 residents will receive letters asking them to help scientists determine if arsenic or uranium concentrations are elevated in their well water.
The letters will come from the U.S. Geological Survey. Instructions and sampling kits will be provided.
Presidential Rank Award -- Top Federal Honor -- Given to USGS Deputy Director Robert Doyle (archive)
U.S. Geological Survey Deputy Director Robert Doyle has been selected as a Distinguished recipient of the Presidential Rank Award, a prestigious award that commends outstanding leadership and long-term accomplishments.
Low levels of certain man-made chemicals remain in public water supplies after being treated in selected community water facilities.
A previously undescribed, cold-loving fungus has been linked to white-nose syndrome, a condition associated with the deaths of over 100,000 hibernating bats in the northeastern United States. The findings are published in this week's issue of Science.
Investigations continue into the cause of a mysterious illness that has resulted in the deaths of thousands of bats since March 2008. At more than 25 caves and mines in the northeastern U.S, bats exhibiting a condition now referred to as "white-nosed syndrome" have been dying.
New USGS research indicates that climate change may impact water supply from the Colorado River basin. This could greatly impact the more than 25 million people, including residents of Los Angeles and Las Vegas, who rely on this source for water and power.
USGS Scientists Prominent at AAG Convention
WOODS HOLE, Mass.— For the fourth consecutive year, federal and university researchers have surveyed two areas on Georges Bank where an invasive colonial sea squirt continues to thrive on the gravel bottom.
A West Indian manatee has been sighted in various waters of the northeastern United States in the last 5-6 weeks. It took in the sights along the Hudson River traveling up into Harlem, visited Cape Cod, Mass., and was most recently sighted in Warwick, Rhode Island, in Greenwich Bay.
Many private ground-water wells in New Hampshire and Maine may have arsenic at concentrations close to or above Federal safety standards for public water supplies. A recently released study by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) shows the likely locations of elevated arsenic.
Many private ground-water wells in New Hampshire and Maine may have arsenic at concentrations close to or above Federal safety standards for public water supplies. A recently released study by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) shows the likely locations of elevated arsenic.
Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center
384 Woods Hole Rd.
Woods Hole, MA 02543
Phone: 508-548-8700
Fax: 508-457-2310
New England Water Science Center - Massachusetts
10 Bearfoot Road
Northborough, MA 01532
Phone: (508) 490-5000
Fax: (508) 490-5068