Images

Meet the GeoGirls, their high school mentors, teacher mentors and scientists at the GeoGirls media day on August 1, 2018.

GeoGirls use ground-penetrating radar to locate rock and ash layers from past eruptions at Mount St. Helens (Mount Adams is pictured in the background).

Mount St. Helens, Washington seen from the flank of Mount Adams to the east.

At Mount St. Helens, the GeoGirls explore the Ape Cave lava tube and learn how to interpret the layers left in the rock wall. 

Left to right: In July 2017 Tim Elfers (USGS), Hannah Drummond (WA State Dept. of Ecology), Heather Weiner (WA State Dept. of Ecology), Andrew Stevens (USGS), and Andy Ritchie (USGS) used handheld computers and backpack-mounted GPS equipment to record topography along a beach near the mouth of the Elwha River.

Shoreline traps in Lookout Point Reservoir, Oregon.

Juvenile Chinook salmon on the Middle Fork Willamette River, Oregon.

Columbia River mouth bathymetry from USGS data release

On an average day during the fire season, multiple wildfires burn in the western United States. For example, 216 fires were active on July 7, 2017. Firefighters were battling 27 of these fires through ground and air support.

Aerial view of the May 18, 1980, eruption of Mount St. Helens as seen from the southwest. Columns of ash and volcanic gas reached heights of more than 24 km (80,000 ft) during the eruption.

USGS geologist Don Swanson (in red) and his colleague, Jim Moore, view a car filled with ash deposits from the May 18, 1980, eruption of Mount St. Helens. Additional photos of the 1980 eruption of Mount St.

Mount St. Helens monitoring station SEP during temporary installation of a 20 foot mast to restore data flow after heavy snow buried the site and cut off seismic data transmission.

Mount St. Helens monitoring station SEP buried in about 10-15 ft of snow. Station stands approximately 8 ft tall and is located to the right of the person in this photo. April 21, 2018

Aerial image of an oil tanker in Prince William Sound, Alaska.

Oil Tanker in Prince William Sound.

USGS Hydrologic Technician Kim Cesal measuring 3170 cfs at 12409000 Colville River at Kettle Falls, WA. This measurement is the highest made at the gaging site. The gage has been in operation since October 1922. The gage was installed to monitor flows from Meyer Falls Dam and Power Generation.

University of Washington's research vessel R/V Barnes is loaded with the USGS multichannel seismic system components GeoEel, Chirp, and boom plates.

Clearing snow from solar panels which provide power to an instream Passive Integrated Transponder tag detection system in the Wind River, WA. The system detects tagged juvenile and adult Steelhead for population assessment and migratory data.

GeoGirls hike onto the Pumice Plain to learn more about Mount St. Helens’ historical

eruptions.

Researchers survey Elwha River elevation and depths. Clockwise from upper left: setting up a traditional survey instrument above the river; measuring river depths from a kayak with sonar and GPS; walking the beach with GPS backpacks; and determining offshore depths using a personal watercraft with GPS and sonar.

A sample of pyrite and quartz. Iron pyrite, also known as Fool's Gold due to its resemblance to gold, often occurs in quartz veins. Pyrite is an important source of sulfur dioxide, which is primarily used to create sulfuric acid, an important industrial acid.