Unified Interior Regions
Region 5: Missouri Basin
USGS Science Centers in the Missouri Basin Region
For more information on what each center is doing in the Missouri Basin, please follow the links below!
Wyoming - Montana Water Science Center
Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center
Regions L2 Landing Page Tabs
Gigapixel Imagery of Glacier National Park
View and dynamically explore high resolution gigapixel images of Glacier National Park with GigaPan panoramas taken by CCME staff. This collection of images serves as landscape documentation and as an interactive forum for public exploration of Glacier National Park’s changing landscapes. Search “ccme” at http://gigapan.org By accessing these links you are...
Repeat Photography Project
Repeat photography provides objective visual evidence of landscape change. USGS scientists created approximately sixty repeat photography pairs that document glacier change in Glacier National Park. These photograph pairs are available as a collection hosted by the USGS Photographic Library and are publicly available for download. Modern (1997 to 2019) photographs were taken from precisely...
Going-to-the-Sun Road Avalanche Forecasting Program
As the most popular attraction in Glacier National Park (GNP), the Going-to-the-Sun Road traverses scenic alpine zones and crosses the Continental Divide at Logan Pass (2026m or 6,647' elevation). The Park closes a 56km (34.8 mile) section of the road each winter due to inclement weather, heavy snowfall, and avalanche hazards. Annual spring opening of the road is a highly anticipated event...
Brief History of Glaciers in Glacier National Park
The history of glaciation in Glacier National Park spans thousands of years of glacial growth and recession, carving the steep and striking mountain features we see today. Glaciers have been present within the boundaries of present-day Glacier National Park since as early as 6,500 years ago (Munroe and others, 2012). These modest glaciers varied in size, tracking climatic trends, but did not...
Status of Glaciers in Glacier National Park
Glaciers on the Glacier National Park (GNP) landscape have ecological value as a source of cold meltwater in the otherwise dry late summer months, and aesthetic value as the park’s namesake features. USGS scientists have studied these glaciers since the late 1800s, building a body of research that documents widespread glacier change over the past century. Ongoing USGS research pairs long-term...
Alpine Climatology of Glacier National Park
Glacier National Park is a topographically diverse region, making localized effects of elevation, aspect, and cold air drainage several of many important factors that necessitate a diversity of long-term climate monitoring sites. Additionally, many studies have shown more rapid warming at higher elevations across the Intermountain West, but with relatively few high-elevation stations available...
Snow and Avalanche Research
Snow scientists with the USGS are unraveling specific weather, climate, and snowpack factors that contribute to large magnitude avalanches in an effort to understand these events as both a hazard and a landscape–level disturbance. The Snow and Avalanche Project (SNAP) advances our understanding of avalanche-climate interactions and wet snow avalanches, and improves public safety through...
Secondary Glacier Network
The Secondary Glacier Network includes six glaciers (Chaney, Grinnell, Stanton, Agassiz, Swiftcurrent, Jackson-Blackfoot Glaciers) that form a north-south transect of approx. 60 km through the region, with Sperry Glacier just south of center. While these glaciers will be monitored less frequently than the benchmark glacier, Sperry, this network will provide data about the variability of...
Benchmark Glacier: Sperry
Sperry Glacier was chosen as the benchmark glacier for the glacier monitoring studies, due to the combination of its topographic characteristics, historic data, and access. Annual mass balance measurements began in 2005. Sperry Glacier joined the long-established USGS Benchmark Glacier Research program in 2013 where common field and analysis methods enable regional comparison and improved...
Glacier Research
Climatic warming since the end of the Little Ice Age has resulted in substantial glacier ice loss around the world. Most glaciers have undergone thinning and many exhibit retreat at their margins. Glacier loss triggers a cascade of hydrological and ecological effects that impact plants, animals and can create human hazard and economic hardship. USGS scientists are using a variety of methods...
Glacier Monitoring Studies
The purpose of the CCME's glacier monitoring studies is to systematically monitor changes in Glacier National Park’s namesake glaciers and to determine the causes of changes, assess their ecological and hydrological effects, and predict future changes and effects.
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Restoring Montana Pothole Wetlands - Demonstration Sites and Adaptive Management
Geologic processes from the last ice age have generated extensive areas of pothole wetlands in several Montana landscapes. The Laurentide ice sheet, originating in the Northwest Territories, provided the dominant force in eastern Montana. Similar landscapes developed in the broad valleys of western Montana through the actions of the Cordilleran ice sheet, originating in the mountains of...
Processing a Drift Sample
Student Contractor Garrett Cook processes a drift sample collected on June 27 shortly after the free embryos and beads were released. Note the small cluster of pallid sturgeon free embryos and green beads in the lower portion of the sorting tray. These embryos and beads were elements of the Upper Missouri River drift experiment.
Dye Delivery
The rhodamine-WT dye was injected in the river uniformly across the channel.
Dye Preparation
USGS scientists prepare to mix rhodamine-WT dye for the dye trace experiment. The suits are to keep the harmless dye off of clothing.
Red dye-tracer study in June 2016 on the Missouri River in Montana
USGS scientists conducted a dye-tracer study in June 2016 on the Missouri River about 10 miles downstream of Fort Peck Dam, Montana. The public can expect to see the Yellowstone River turn a similar color in the vicinity of the injection site when scientists conduct a dye study near Glendive, Montana in late June, 2017.
Fish Swimming on Gravel Bed
Fish swim along the gravel bed bottom of the North Fork of the Flathead River.
Harmful algal bloom turns Lake Milford water emerald green
Harmful algal blooms turn water in Milford Lake emerald green
Blackfeet Environmental Office personnel groundwater sampling
USGS hydrologist trains Blackfeet Enviromental Office staff to collect groundwater samples on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation
Montana wetland
Panoramic view of a Montana wetland
Mother grizzly and cub at Gibbon River, Yellowstone National Park
A USGS grizzly bear researcher snapped this picture of a mother grizzly bear and her cub in Yellowstone National Park. Adult females are the most important segment of the grizzly bear populations because they are the reproductive engine.
Perchlorate and Selected Metals in Water and Soil within Mount Rushmore National Memorial
Author interview on report "Perchlorate and selected metals in water and soil within Mount Rushmore National Memorial, South Dakota, 2011–15," U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2016-5030. An environmental concern to water resources within Mount Rushmore National Memorial has been the annual aerial display of fireworks at the memorial for the
Sediment sampling Neosho River
USGS Hydrologist lowers a D-96 sediment sampler into the Neosho River using a small crane from on top a bridge at Burlingame Kansas.
Neosho River at Neosho Rapids
Trees line both banks of the murky Neosho River at Neosho Rapids. Some tree debris floats in the middle of the river.
U.S. Geological Survey scientist Dr. Thomas J. Roffe received the Department of the Interior’s Superior Service Award for his outstanding contributions to wildlife health and natural resources management in the Greater Yellowstone Area during a recent meeting of the Greater Yellowstone Interagency Brucellosis Committee.
U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientist, Dr. Daniel Fagre, received the Department of the Interior’s Superior Service Award for his outstanding leadership of the Global Change Research Program in Glacier National Park, Montana.
Recent advances in genetic technology that allow scientists to study bear populations without handling bears is the topic of Katherine Kendall’s lecture scheduled for April 5 in Room 3004 at the Main Interior Building at 1849 C St., N.W., Washington, D.C. Reporters are invited to attend and cover the event. Kendall will be available to address questions following her lecture.
Recent advances in genetic technology that allow scientists to study bear populations without handling bears is the topic of Katherine Kendall’s lecture scheduled for April 1st at the U.S. Geological Survey’s (USGS) Visitor Center. Reporters are invited to attend and cover the event. Kendall will be available to address questions following her lecture.
A recent die-off of salamanders in Utah has prompted USGS wildlife health officials to issue an October 21, 1998 wildlife health alert. The incident followed salamander die-offs earlier this summer in Maine and North Dakota. In all three cases a virus is believed to be responsible.
Scientists at the U.S. Geological Survey are gaging, measuring and assessing the water levels that increased as a result of the flash floods that occurred last Sunday and Monday in the Kansas City, Mo. area, killing 11 people.
Water quality in the South Platte River Basin has been adversely affected by agriculture and urban development, according to the results of a 5-year investigation of water quality by the U.S. Geological Survey.
Although agriculture and urban activities have substantially affected water quality in several areas of the South Platte River Basin, concentrations of pesticides and volatile organic chemicals (VOCs), such as MTBE, are generally below levels of concern for human health, according to the results of a 5-year investigation of water quality by the U.S. Geological Survey.
The flood may be over but the hydrologic work continues on and is more critical than ever, was the message that U.S. Geological Survey Director Gordon Eaton gave to the troops in Bismarck Friday (Aug. 1, 1997).
As the unprecedented floodwaters of the Red River slowly begin to subside in Grand Forks, N. Dak., crews from the U.S. Geological Survey are tracking the northward movement of the water, taking measurements to help improve forecasts of the flood for evacuations upstream.
The current floods in North Dakota far exceed previous floods that occurred in 1950, 1969, 1978, 1979 and 1996, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
The flow of the Red River officially broke the 100-year-old record on Thurs. April 17, 1997, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
Contacts
Locations
Dakota Water Science Center- Huron Programs Office
Phone: (605) 352-4241
Fax: (605) 352-4304
Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center
custserv@usgs.gov
Phone: 800-252-4547
Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center (NOROCK) Headquarters
Phone: 406-994-7544
Fax: 406-994-6556
Nebraska Water Science Center
Phone: (402) 328-4100
Fax: (402) 437-5139
Kansas Water Science Center
Phone: (785) 842-9909
Fax: (785) 832-3500
Dakota Water Science Center- Bismarck
Phone: (701) 250-7400
Fax: (701) 250-7429
Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center
Phone: 701-253-5500
Fax: 701-253 5553
Wyoming-Montana Water Science Center - Helena Office
Phone: (406) 457-5900
Fax: (406) 457-5990
Dakota Water Science Center- Grand Forks Field Office
Phone: (701) 775-7221
Fax: (701) 775-1114
Dakota Water Science Center- Rapid City
Phone: (605) 394-3200
Fax: (605) 355-4523
Dakota Water Science Center- Pierre Field Office
Phone: (605) 224-8440
Fax: (605) 224-8478
Organic Geochemistry Research Laboratory (OGRL)
Phone: (785) 832-3564
Wyoming-Montana Water Science Center - Billings Office
Phone: 406-656-1444
Wichita Field Office
Phone: (316) 773-3225
Hays Field Office
Phone: (785) 623-2848
North Platte Field Office
Phone: (308) 532-5323
Fax: (308) 532-5603
Yankton, South Dakota Field Research Station
Phone: 605-665-9217