Unified Interior Regions
Region 7: Upper Colorado Basin
Map of Region 7 Upper Colorado River Basin
Map Showing USGS/DOI Unified Region 7 and parts of adjoining Regions
Key USGS Region 7 Upper Colorado Basin Contacts
Regional Director (Acting)-Peter Griffiths
Associate Regional Director, Operations-Peter Griffiths
USGS Region 7 Upper Colorado Basin Offices and Science Centers
Regions L2 Landing Page Tabs
USGS Science Centers in Region 7-Upper Colorado Basin conduct a large number of cooperative and collaborative projects with other agencies and partners. A sampling of those projects are shown below on this web page.
New Methods for Dating and Sequencing Ancient Earthquakes Along the Wasatch Fault Zone
Release Date: OCTOBER 12, 2018
Complex geologic sites, like those between the fault segments along the Wasatch fault zone in Utah, make the dating and ordering past earthquakes a difficult task. Two new methods were used to make this task easier and to get better results.
Water Use in Wyoming
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has compiled estimates of water use in Wyoming and the rest of the United States at 5-year intervals since 1950.
EcoFlows: Understanding Streamflow Dynamics in Small Mountain Streams
The WY-MT WSC is collaborating with the Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center to understand the dynamics of streamflows in small, mountain streams during the course of the year, and to describe the amount of variability associated with those measurments. These findings will assist fisheries biologists who are researching...
Reconstructing Ancient Human and Ecosystem Responses to Holocene Climate Conditions
This research project will reconstruct Holocene climatic conditions to better understand human adaptation and response to past environmental variability.
Bioactive Chemicals Research Laboratory
The Bioactive Chemicals Research Laboratory applies a collaborative transdisciplinary approach to conduct research to minimize the risk to human and aquatic organism health from exposure to contaminants in water supplies.
Geospatial Analyses and Applications — Salt Lake City, Utah
About the Laboratory
Scientists within the Geospatial Analyses and Applications Team develop and apply geospatial analytical methods to answer broad-scale questions about source-sink and cause-effect relationships between contaminants and vulnerable communities. Multivariate statistics are used to identify connections between landscape gradients and observational data....
Paleoflood Investigations to Improve Flood-Frequency Estimates for Eastern Colorado
The peak-streamflow regional-regression equations (PSRREs) in the Plains hydrologic region in eastern Colorado have the largest uncertainty of any hydrologic region in Colorado. Reliable peak-streamflow information is critical for the proper design of stream-related infrastructure, such as bridges and dams, and flood-plain inundation maps. In an effort to provide more reliable peak-streamflow...
Peak-streamflow , Mean-streamflow , and Low-streamflow Equations for Western Colorado
Reliable peak-streamflow data are critical to design transportation infrastructure, such as bridges, culverts, dams, and floodplain inundation maps. At gaged sites, where sufficient long-term streamflow data have been collected, statistics can be obtained from available publications, by an analysis of available data in the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) National Water Information System (NWIS)...
Gulf Coast Petroleum Systems Project - Assessments
This site highlights the assessments of the Gulf Coast Petroleum Systems Project. Scientifically robust assessments of undiscovered, technically recoverable hydrocarbon resources are published in a variety of USGS publications. This project also conducts research on the processes that impact the formation, accumulation, occurrence and alteration of hydrocarbon energy resources. The Gulf...
Upper Arkansas River Basin Toxics and Synoptic Studies
From 1986 to 2001, the Upper Arkansas Toxics Project focused on metal transport in streams affected by mining. Studies were conducted to quantify the physical, chemical, and biological processes affecting trace metal fate and transport.
Lake Powell Coring
In response to the August 5, 2015, Gold King Mine Spill from the Bonita Peak Mining District that resulted in the release of three-million gallons of mine-impacted waters, the Utah Water Science Center, in partnership with the Utah Division of Water Quality, National Park Service, and U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, cored the San Juan and Colorado River deltas in multiple locations in Lake Powell...
Colorado Plateau Regional Groundwater Availability
Study goals
This project seeks to quantify the status of groundwater as an integrated resource with surface water in the arid and semiarid region of the Colorado Plateau principal aquifer system. Surface-water resources that originate in this region are over allocated and serve 35 million people, 4.5 million acres of farmland, and are used to generate 12 billion...
USGS Science Centers in Region 7-Upper Colorado Basin collect a wide variety of natural resource data types including spatial, geologic, hydrologic, and biologic data. Data included in USGS-series publications that are not publically available in USGS databases are published in Data Releases. Tools are USGS products that can be used to analyze those types of data.
Downloadable Data for Eastern Great Basin Oil and Gas Assessments
Downloadable Data for Eastern Great Basin Oil and Gas Assessments
Downloadable Data for Wind River Basin Oil and Gas Assessments
Downloadable Data for Wind River Basin Oil and Gas Assessments
Downloadable Data for Bighorn Basin Oil and Gas Assessments
Downloadable Data for Bighorn Basin Oil and Gas Assessments
Integrated Software for Imagers and Spectrometers
This is the home page for ISIS, a digital image processing software package. The focus of the software is to manipulate imagery collected by current and past NASA and International planetary missions sent throughout our Solar System.
Current Streamflow and Water-Quality Monitoring at Select Sites in the Animas and San Juan River Basins, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah
The USGS monitors current streamflow and water-quality conditions at various sites in the Animas and San Juan River Basins in Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah, including areas below the Gold King Mine release area. These streamgages provide continuous data on streamflow and select water-quality constituents including specific conductance, water temperature, pH, and turbidity.
Astropedia Product Search
Search Astropedia for Products.
Synoptic Streamflow sites, New Fork and Green Rivers
Streamflow data were collected from New Fork and Green River sites during October 19-21, 2015 to describe changes in flow and input from groundwater
Geospatial Data and Surface-Water Model Archive for a Flood-Inundation Mapping Study of the South Platte River at Fort Morgan, Colorado, 2018
The development and generation of the datasets that are published in this data release, were based on the methods and findings of the report: Kohn, M.S. and Patton, T.T., 2018, Flood-Inundation Maps for the South Platte River at Fort Morgan, Colorado, 2018: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2018-5114, 14 p., https://doi.org/10...
Geospatial Data for a Flood-Inundation Mapping Study of the South Platte River at Fort Morgan, Colorado, 2018
The development and generation of the datasets that are published through this data release, were based on the results and findings of the report: Kohn, M.S. and Patton, T.T., 2018, Flood-Inundation Maps for the South Platte River at Fort Morgan, Colorado, 2018: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2018-5114, 14 p., https://doi.org/10...
Map Projection On the Web
While some instrument teams provide science-ready versions of their data, many other archives must first be processed by the individual researcher. POW provides users with calibrated cartographic images that can be used for geologic mapping, analysis in a Geographic Image System (GIS), change detection, merging of dissimilar instrument images, and use in a host of other scientific applications...
National Water-Quality Assessment Project (NAWQA)
Link to USGS National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Project pages.
Audiomagnetotelluric sounding data, stations 1-9, Taos Plateau Volcanic Field, New Mexico, 2009
This dataset includes the audio-magnetotelluric (AMT) sounding data collected in 2009 in and near the San Luis Basin, New Mexico. The U.S. Geological Survey conducted a series of multidisciplinary studies, including AMT surveys, in the San Luis Basin to improve understanding of the hydrogeology of the Santa Fe Group and the nature of the sedimentary deposits comprising the principal gro
USGS Science Centers in Region 7-Upper Colorado Basin produce hundreds of USGS-series publications, journal papers, and books each year that are subject to rigorous review by USGS specialists. The publications shown below on this page are related to study areas and staff members of USGS Science Centers in Region 7 compiled from the USGS Publications Warehouse.
Conditions and timing of high-grade metamorphism and ductile deformation of the southern segment of the Central Anatolian Ophiolite
Ophiolitic fragments scattered over a wide area of Central Anatolia exhibit varying degrees of metamorphism, from unmetamorphosed to upper amphibolite facies, although geochemical similarities suggest they are all part of the Central Anatolian Ophiolite (CAO). Magmatic crystallization of oceanic crust in the CAO at ~ 91 Ma coincided with high...
Radwany, Molly S.; Morgan, Leah E.; Whitney, Donna L. A 36-year record of rock avalanches in the Saint Elias Mountains of Alaska, with implications for future hazards
Glacial retreat and mountain-permafrost degradation resulting from rising global temperatures have the potential to impact the frequency and magnitude of landslides in glaciated environments. Several recent events, including the 2015 Taan Fiord rock avalanche, which triggered a tsunami with one of the highest wave runups ever recorded, have called...
Bessette-Kirton, Erin K.; Coe, Jeffrey A.
Hydrogeologic and geochemical characterization of groundwater resources in Pine and Wah Wah Valleys, Iron, Beaver, and Millard Counties, Utah
Pine and Wah Wah Valleys are neighboring structural basins that encompass about 1,330 square miles in Beaver, Iron, and Millard Counties in Utah, approximately 50 miles northwest of Cedar City, Utah, and 50 miles southeast of Baker, Nevada. Perennial streamflow is limited and only exists in higher-altitude reaches of small mountain streams in both...
Gardner, Philip M.; Marston, Thomas M.; Buto, Susan G.; Brooks, Lynette E. Towards understanding relationships between atmospheric pressure variations and long-period horizontal seismic data: A case study
Variations in atmospheric pressure have long been known to introduce noise in long-period (>10 s) seismic records. This noise can overwhelm signals of interest such as normal modes and surface waves. Generally, this noise is most pronounced on the horizontal components where it arises due to tilting of the seismometer in response to...
Alejandro, Alexis Casondra Bianca; Ringler, Adam T.; Wilson, David C.; Anthony, Robert E.; Moore, S.V. Mapping the 3-D extent of the Stillwater Complex, Montana—Implications for potential platinum group element exploration and development
Geophysical models characterize the exposed and interpreted buried extent of the Stillwater Complex, critical for understanding the origin of the layered mafic intrusion and its associated high-grade platinum group element resources. The 3D models, constrained by gravity, magnetic, xenolith, seismic, borehole, and rock property data indicate that...
Finn, Carol A.; Zientek, Michael L.; Parks, Heather L.; Peterson, Dana Elise
Causes of land change in the U.S. Interior Highlands, 2001–2011
The causes of land change from 2001 through 2011 for the Interior Highlands region of the south-central United States were assessed using satellite imagery, historical land-use and land-cover data, and digital orthophotos. The study was designed to develop improved regional land-use and land-cover change information, including identification of...
Drummond, Mark A.; Stier, Michael P.; McBeth, Jamie L.; Auch, Roger F.; Taylor, Janis L.; Riegle, Jodi L.
International geoscience collaboration to support critical mineral discovery
The importance of critical minerals and the need to expand and diversify critical mineral supply chains has been endorsed by the Federal governments of Australia, Canada, and the United States. The geoscience organizations of Geoscience Australia, the Geological Survey of Canada and the U.S. Geological Survey have created the Critical Minerals...
The grass is not always greener on the other side: Seasonal reversal of vegetation greenness in aspect-driven semiarid ecosystems
Our current understanding of semiarid ecosystems is that they tend to display higher vegetation greenness on polar-facing slopes (PFS) than on equatorial-facing slopes (EFS). However, recent studies have argued that higher vegetation greenness can occur on EFS during part of the year. To assess whether this seasonal reversal of aspect-driven...
Kumari, Nikul; Saco, Patricia M.; Rodriguez, Jose F.; Johnstone, Samuel A.; Srivastava, Ankur; Chun, Kwok P.; Yetemen, Omer Deep Learning as a tool to forecast hydrologic response for landslide-prone hillslopes
Empirical thresholds for landslide warning systems have benefitted from the incorporation of soil‐hydrologic monitoring data, but the mechanistic basis for their predictive capabilities is limited. Although physically based hydrologic models can accurately simulate changes in soil moisture and pore pressure that promote landslides, their utility...
Orland, Elijah; Roering, Joshua J.; Thomas, Matthew A.; Mirus, Benjamin B. Human behavioral response in the Ridgecrest earthquakes: Assessing immediate actions based on data from “Did You Feel It?”
Human behavioral response to earthquake ground motion has long been a subject of multidisciplinary interest and research. In most versions of seismic intensity scales, human perceptions and behavior are one component of the assignment of intensity. Public health research has shown that actions taken during earthquakes have a significant impact on...
Goltz, James D.; Park, Hyejeong; Quitoriano, Vince; Wald, David J.
Structure contour and overburden maps of the Niobrara interval of the Upper Cretaceous Cody Shale in the Bighorn Basin, Wyoming and Montana
The Bighorn Basin is a large intermontane sedimentary and structural basin that formed during the Laramide orogeny. The first commercial hydrocarbon production in the Bighorn Basin was established in 1906 from Cretaceous reservoirs at Garland field followed by the discovery of Greybull field in 1907. Since then, many important conventional...
Finn, Thomas M. Dating silica sinter (geyserite): A cautionary tale
We describe a new effort to date hydrothermal silica sinter deposits (geyserite) from the Upper Geyser Basin of Yellowstone National Park using 14C of co-deposited organic matter, U-series and cosmogenic 10Be methods. A majority of the samples were collected from stratigraphic sections, mainly at Riverside, Giant, and Castle Geysers. Ages obtained...
Churchill, Dakota M.; Manga, Michael; Hurwitz, Shaul; Peek, Sara; Licciardi, Joseph; Paces, JamesPhotos and videos described and linked on this webpage come from a wide variety of USGS science activities and presentations performed by USGS Science Center staff members in the Region 7-Upper Colorado Basin.
Measuring streamflow under ice, Pass Creek, nr Parkman, WY
Measuring streamflow under ice, Pass Creek, near Parkman, WY, station 06289600
Measuring streamflow in Goose Creek, near Acme, station 06305700
Measuring streamflow in Goose Creek, near Acme, station 06305700
Great Salt Lake, USGS boat at work
USGS scientists check breach on glass-calm Great Salt Lake in surreal light.
Reading stream stage at Bull Lake Creek above Bull Lake streamgage
The wire weight is lowered to determine stage of Bull Lake Creek above Bull Lake
Wire weight mounted on bridge crossing Blacks Fork, streamgage 0921920
Wire weight mounted on bridge crossing Blacks Fork, streamgage 09219200
Setting up to measure streamflow, Muddy Creek near Dad
Setting up to measure streamflow, Muddy Creek near Dad
Installing new radar sensor and staff plate, Big Sandy River
Installing new radar sensor and staff plate, Big Sandy River
Hydro Techs Perform Well Integrity Test
On September 19th, 2017 staff from the USGS NM WSC Albuquerque and Las Cruces offices visited a Climate Response Network (CRN) well just on the east side of the Organ Mountains outside of Las Cruces to receive training on integrity testing groundwater wells. What is integrity testing? Integrity testing involves adding a slug of clean water to a well and measuring how fast
...
Pipetting for DNA analysis - loop-mediated isothermal amplification
Pipetting for DNA analysis using loop-mediated isothermal amplification
Testing the feasibility of real-time eDNA monitoring
Elk are not concerned with our work. USGS and the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute conducted tests of the feasibility of real-time eDNA monitoring at USGS streamgage 06190540 Boiling River at Mammoth,YNP, September 13, 2017.
News items shown on this page are highlights of selected studies conducted and publications produced by USGS Science Center staff members in Region 7-Upper Colorado Basin.
The thawing of the planet’s permafrost is replumbing arctic environments, creating several hydrologic consequences and possibly some opportunities according to a new study published in Vadose Zone.
Science diplomacy is the use of collaborations among nations to address common scientific problems and to build constructive international partnerships. Researchers with the U.S. Geological Survey in Denver, Colorado recently used the science diplomacy tactic to initiate a ground-breaking international collaboration with the Nation of Cuba.
This is the second-largest assessment of potential shale & tight gas resources that the USGS has ever conducted.
First-of-its-kind survey shows that algal toxins are found nationwide
Forty years ago, water samples from around the country started flowing into the U.S. Geological Survey’s National Water Quality Laboratory in Colorado.
The U.S. Geological Survey and its partners have shown how brucellosis has impacted cattle, bison and elk in the greater Yellowstone area.
Groundwater and Surface Water Considered a Joint Resource
During winter, wolves infected with mange can suffer a substantial amount of heat loss compared to those without the disease, according to a study by the U.S. Geological Survey and its partners.
New research can help water managers along the Rio Grande make wise decisions about how to best use the flow of a river vital for drinking water, agriculture and aquatic habitat. These studies also show how conditions from the prolonged drought in the West have affected the Rio Grande watershed.
Globally there were 14,588 earthquakes of magnitude 4.0 or greater in 2015. This worldwide number is on par with prior year averages of about 40 earthquakes per day of magnitude 4.0, or about 14,500 annually. The 2015 number may change slightly as the final results are completed by seismic analysts at the NEIC in Golden, Colorado.
The north arm of the Great Salt Lake (GSL) has reached a new historic low. According to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the Utah Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands (FFSL), the lake's water level reached an elevation of 4,191.6 feet last month, one foot lower than the previous record.
CORVALLIS, Ore. — Ecosystem restoration is complex and requires an understanding of how the land, plants, and animals all interact with each other over large areas and over time. Today, the U.S. Geological Survey published part two of a three-part handbook addressing restoration of sagebrush ecosystems from the landscape to the site level.
This page includes links to Social Media accounts (top of page), Science Centers (middle of page), and Regional Office staff members (bottom of page) of the USGS Region 7--Upper Colorado Basin.
Contacts
Locations
Region 7 - Upper Colorado Basin
rgonzales-schreiner@usgs.gov
Phone: 703-648-7200
NSF Ice Core Facility
Phone: 303-202-4830
Geosciences and Environmental Change Science Center
Phone: 303-236-5345
New Mexico Water Science Center
Phone: (505) 830-7900
Fax: (505) 830-7998
Utah Water Science Center
angeroth@usgs.gov
Phone: (801) 908-5000
Fax: (801) 908-5001
Colorado Water Science Center - Main Office
gs-w-codist_webmaster@usgs.gov
Phone: 303-236-6900
Fax: 303-236-4912
Wyoming-Montana Water Science Center - Cheyenne Office
Phone: (307) 778-2931
Fax: (307) 778-2764
National Geospatial Technical Operations Center - Denver, CO
Geology, Geophysics, and Geochemistry Science Center
Phone: 303-236-1800
Fax: 303-236-3200
Geologic Hazards Science Center
Phone: 303-273-8500
North Central Climate Adaptation Science Center
Fort Collins Science Center
Phone: 970-226-9100
Fax: 970-226-9230
Colorado Water Science Center - Southeast Colorado Office: Pueblo, CO
gs-w-codist_webmaster@usgs.gov
Phone: 719-562-2840
Fax: 719-544-2463
Colorado Water Science Center - Western Colorado Office: Grand Junction
gs-w-codist_webmaster@usgs.gov
Phone: 970-628-7150
Fax: 970-245-1026
National Earthquake Information Center
Phone: 303-273-8500
Yellowstone Volcano Observatory (YVO)
yvowebteam@usgs.gov
Phone: 360-993-8906
Spectroscopy Lab
Molecular Ecology Lab (MEL)
Phone: 970-226-9100
Fax: 970-226-9230
Denver Microbeam Laboratory
Albuquerque Seismological Laboratory
Moab Field Office
wilkowsk@usgs.gov
Phone: 435-259-4430
Fax: 435-259-5420
Salt Lake Field Office
sjgerner@usgs.gov
Phone: 801-908-5000
Fax: 801-908-5001
Wyoming-Montana Water Science Center - Casper Office
Phone: 307-261-5485
Fax: 307-261-5487
Wyoming-Montana Water Science Center - Riverton Office
Phone: 307-856-3771
Fax: 307-857-3165
Roswell Field Office
Phone: 575-627-0324
Fax: 575-646-7949
Southwest Biological Science Center - Moab, UT, Research Station
Phone: 435-259-3121
USGS Everglades Research Offices
Phone: 305-242-7834
Colorado Water Science Center - Durango Field Office
gs-w-codist_webmaster@usgs.gov
Phone: 970-247-4222
Fax: 970-247-4296
Jackson, Wyoming Field Research Station
Phone: 307-733-2314
Las Cruces Field Office
Phone: (575) 646-8129
Fax: (575) 646-7949
Cedar City Field Office
baslaugh@usgs.gov
Phone: 435-586-4543
Fax: 435-586-4557
USGS Denver Library
den_lib@usgs.gov
Phone: 303-236-1000
Fax: 303-236-1013
The Core Research Center
CRC@USGS.GOV
Phone: 303-202-4851
Fax: 303-202-4856
Social Media
USGS Science Centers in Region 7-Upper Colorado Basin conduct a large number of cooperative, co-funded science and monitoring projects with many other Federal, Tribal, State, and local agencies. Please scroll below to see the agencies with which those Science Centers currently have cooperative agreements.