Images

Teachers take a guided walk on the Hummocks Trail, learning about the depositional features of the May 18, 1980 eruption.

Todd Cullings, with the Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument, leads teachers in activities they can do with students before hiking the Hummocks Trail.

USGS scientists, Steve Rubin and Karl Stenberg, collecting samples to determine the distribution of benthic invertebrates in the Skagit River delta during an extreme low-tide. Information on the distribution and abundance of invertebrates will help resource managers better understand how fish, such as Chinook salmon use the delta.

The September Lobe monitoring station is part of the network of monitoring stations that detects and reports subtle changes in the volcanic vent area. At 2150 m (about 7100 ft) elevation, maintenance is performed during good weather to keep the station fully functional.

To monitor volcanoes, scientists rely on remote monitoring equipment that can operate 24-hours a day and 365-days a year to deliver real-time data. When scientists design and install monitoring stations, they must consider the remoteness of sites, terrain, and winter conditions. Here, rime ice coats a telemetry system that transmits data near Mount St.

Sample bottle carousel from automated ISCO pump sampler deployed on the Elwha River, Washington to obtain suspended sediment samples.

Lakes and drainages within the watershed of Mount St. Helens.

View upslope to the headscarp of the Red Bluffs landslide, seen from the surface of the Crescent Lake landslide, in the Columbia Gorge.

Mount St. Helens and the industrial waterfront area of North Portland, Oregon along the Willamette River in the foreground. Excess sediment from volcanoes can significantly impact river traffic.

The May 18, 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens had a dramatic impact on the North Fork Toutle River. The debris avalanche, lateral blast and ashfall produced a substantial amount of sediment, which continues to be washed into the river and transported downstream.

Logs float in Spirit Lake near the Spirit Lake gaging station and outflow tunnel. View is to the south with Mount St. Helens in the background.

Dendronotid nudibranch on hydroids - Scuba divers from the U.S. Geological Survey’s Western Fisheries Research Center, Washington Sea Grant, EPA and the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe collected data and images from a long-term study of the Elwha River dam removals and the resulting effects on the nearshore ecosystem.

The USGS, in collaboration with UNAVCO and the University of Colorado, uses these data to measure channel erosion and deposition in the reach.

Unknown lake in Mt. Rainier National Park

Beam trawling in Lower Granite Reservoir on the Snake River.

Pacific sand lance captured in a beach seine. Sand lance are a forage fish that underpin Puget Sound food webs and are intimately connected to Puget Sound beaches. The fish spend a portion of their time buried in the sand and eggs are laid on the upper beach, making healthy beaches critical to the success of this species.

Back at the USGS Cascades Volcano Observatory office, these data are merged with airborne LiDAR data to calculate lake volume.

USGS research ecologist Jeff Duda collects discharge data on a side channel of the Elwha River. Two large dams on the Elwha River are being incrementally removed from 2011 to 2013 to restore river function in an important salmon-bearing river.

USGS Western Fisheries Research Center scientists haul a beach seine over an eelgrass bed while conducting a survey for juvenile surf smelt on Bainbridge Island, WA.

USGS Western Fisheries Research Center scientists deploy a beach seine while conducting a survey for juvenile surf smelt in Eagle Harbor, WA.  

Juvenile sand lance collected in a beach seine by USGS Western Fisheries Research Center scientists while conducting a survey for juvenile surf smelt on Bainbridge Island, WA.  Like surf smelt, sand lance are an important forage fish in Puget Sound.