usgs

U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)

Bringing the beauty of earth science to your stream. Posts do not = endorsement: on.doi.gov/pgwu0Y. Comment policy: usgs.gov/laws/comment_policy.html usgs.gov
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Marree Man Geoglyph — In June 1998, a pilot discovered a strange sight in the Australian outback that wasn't there before—a huge outline of what appeared to be an Aboriginal man throwing either a boomerang or a stick. It turned out to be a geoglyph, which is a design on the ground typically made of natural elements and best viewed from above. This geoglyph was distinctive and large enough to be clearly visible in Landsat images. ▫️ Read more about the Marree Man and the current status at on.doi.gov/marreeman ▫️ #USGS #science #landsat #Australia #outback #aboriginal #boomerang #geoglyph #satellite #lookingdown
Gigantic Landslide — Yes, it's a doozy! This aerial photograph shows a mammoth landslide that came off of Blackhawk Mountain, on the north side of the San Bernardino Mountains, an estimated 17,000 years ago! How's that for a #TBT? The landslide spread across the Lucerne Valley in Southern California. Photo by: Doc Searls. ▫️ The USGS has a unique role in landslide research. Our Landslide Hazards Program conducts research in order to make accurate landslide hazard maps and forecasts of landslide occurrences by answering these major questions: Where and when will landslides occur? How big will the landslides be? How fast and how far will they move? What areas will the landslides affect or damage? How frequently do landslides occur in a given locality? ▫️ Learn more at http://landslides.usgs.gov ▫️ #USGS #science #landslides #research #forecast #ThrowBackThursday #California #mountain #aerial #SanBernardino
Jordan Pond — Jordan Pond, a mountain lake in Acadia National Park, Maine, formed by a glacier and known for its clear waters. In the distance are two small peaks known as “The Bubbles”. Alex Bryan, a climatologist with the DOI Northeast Climate Science Center (managed by USGS) is implementing scenario planning techniques to help Acadia National Park identify potential future climate conditions, enabling managers to start planning for how to best protect the park's resources now. Photo by: Rebecca Lloyd, USGS. #USGS #science #AcadiaNationalPark #NationalParks #climate #climatechange #DOI #NPS #Maine #water
A Noon Meal in Hayden's Camp -- For our #TBT we share an image taken in 1870 of the members of the U.S. Geological and Geographical Survey of the Territories (Hayden Survey), made while in camp at Red Buttes at the junction of the North Platte and Sweetwater Rivers in Wyoming. Ferdinand V. Hayden sits at the far end of the table in a dark jacket while William Henry Jackson, the photographer, is standing at the far right. ◽️ The Hayden Survey explored the region of northwestern Wyoming which later became Yellowstone National Park in 1872. ◽️ Standing left to right: John "Potato John" Raymond and "Val," cooks (just out of frame); Sanford R. Gifford, landscape painter; Henry W. Elliott, artist; James Stevenson, assistant; H.D. Schmidt, naturalist; E. Campbell Carrington, zoologist; L.A. Bartlett, general assistant; William Henry Jackson, photographer. Sitting left to right: C.S. Turnbull, secretary; J.H. Beaman, meteorologist; Ferdinand.V. Hayden, geologist in charge; Cyrus Thomas, agriculturist; Raphael, hunter; A.L. Ford, mineralogist. ◽️ To view a complete image, please see http://on.doi.gov/HaydenSurvey ◽️ Photo credit: William Henry Jackson ◽️ #USGS #science #HaydenSurvey #WHJackson #blackandwhite #history #Wyoming #TBT #YellowstoneNationalPark
Colorful Wolf -- Sarcoptic mange is a highly contagious canine skin disease caused by mites that burrow into the skin causing infections, hair loss, severe irritation and an insatiable desire to scratch. The resulting hair loss and depressed vigor of an infected animal leaves them vulnerable to hypothermia, malnutrition and dehydration, which can eventually lead to death. ▫️ Thermal imagery of wolves allows scientists to document the extent of hair loss caused by mange and the actual loss of heat associated with the different stages of infection. ▫️ This project provides a foundation for future long-term monitoring that will be useful to state and federal management of wolves in the Montana, Wyoming, and Idaho wolf recovery areas. ▫️ Learn more about the gray wolf studies in Yellowstone National Park here: http://on.doi.gov/wolfmange ▫️ Photo credit: Catherine Haase, USGS ▫️ #USGS #science #thermalimagery #mange #diseaseecology #GreaterYellowstoneEcosystem
#SciSelfieSunday — Streamgaging in a winter wonderland. ❄️ USGS Idaho Water Science Center hydrographer Erin Murray found plenty of snow when she visited USGS streamgage station 13240000, Lake Fork Payette River near McCall, Idaho on December 12. The station has been in continuous service since October 1945 and is funded by the USGS National Streamflow Information Program. ❄️ #usgs #science #womeninscience #winter #idaho #winteriscoming #selfiesunday #snow #streamgaging
Water Use, 1950 - Present — As competition for the Nation’s finite water resources becomes more intense, the need to understand the human influences on the limited water supply in the hydrologic cycle becomes more urgent. Integrating human water use information into our understanding of the natural system increases our ability to provide science-based information to water resource managers, allowing them to make more informed management decisions. Explore water use by state from 1950-present using the USGS-developed interactive data visualization at: http://on.doi.gov/wateruse #USGS #science #water #wateruse #animation #watersupply #map #hydrologiccycle
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Tufted Puffin — A beach littered with bird carcasses is a sobering sight. Since mid-October, hundreds of dead seabirds have washed ashore the north and east sides of St. Paul Island, Alaska, an otherwise serene volcanic island landscape in the Bering Sea. ▫️ Most of the carcasses being found are tufted puffins, a charismatic species of seabird with striking, silky tassels of feathers positioned like ponytails behind their white-masked eyes. However, horned puffins, murres and crested auklets have washed ashore as well, according to biologists from the Aleut Community of the St. Paul Island Tribal Government Ecosystem Conservation Office (ACSPI ECO). ▫️ Learn more about why these birds may have died at http://on.doi.gov/seabirddieoff ▫️ Photo credit: Sarah Schoen, USGS ▫️ #USGS #science #seabirds #birds #puffins #Alaska​ #starvation​
Cosmic Organism? — Is this finally photographic proof of life on another planet? Nahhhh...sorry folks, not this time. So what is it then?? ▫️ Bueller? Bueller? ▫️ This fantastic looking "creature" is actually a photograph of spatter from a fissure eruption on Kilauea Volcano taken at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park on November 18, 1924. You can view more historical photography at: on.doi.gov/HistoricalPhotos. To learn more about volcanoes, you can follow USGS Volcanoes on Facebook. ▫️ #USGS #science #volcanoes #lava #Hawaii #HVO #historical #history #historicalphotography
Streamgage in Connecticut — A beautiful capture of a streamgage at Bunnell Brook near Burlington, CT. ▫️ A weir structure controls the height of the water, so a stable relation between stream stage and flow can be maintained. The gage house is the concrete structure in the photo, and has been used to collect streamflow data since 1931. Recent drought conditions have reduced the flow to a trickle, and daily streamflows in October, 2016 were a new record low for October. ▫️ In addition to a long streamflow record, water sampling has been done on this site routinely since the early 1970s. These long records have made this stream important in understanding long-term trends in streamflow and water quality. A recent analysis of streamflow and water quality (http://on.doi.gov/sir20155189), that included this site, determined that (with the exception of this year) streamflows at this site have been increasing in the the summer and fall, since the 1970s. The study also determined that nitrogen and chloride loads have been increasing, but phosphorus loads have decreased since the 1970s. ▫️ Increasing nitrogen loads may be due to increasing suburban development, including additional septic systems and lawn areas that receive fertilizers. While uncertain in this watershed, decreases in phosphorus have been noted statewide, and may relate to a ban on phosphate laundry detergents, and the loss of agricultural land since the 1970s. The increase in chloride is likely due to increasing use of deicing salts in the watershed with increased development. ▫️ Photo credit: Henry Witt, USGS. ▫️ #USGS #science #water #streamgage #fall #autumn #publication #nitrogen #NewEngland #Connecticut #runoff #environment
Reynolds Glacier Opening — How about a view looking out the mouth of Reynolds Glacier in Glacier National Park? Glacier National Park is iconic of the combined impacts of climate change and snow & ice loss – over 80 percent of the park’s glaciers have been lost since the mid-19th century. ▫️ Two rare alpine insects – native to the northern Rocky Mountains and dependent on cold waters of glacier and snowmelt-fed alpine streams – are imperiled due to climate warming induced glacier and snow loss according to a new study. ▫️ Read more about the study at: http://on.doi.gov/InsectsClimate. ▫️ Photo by: Joe Giersch, USGS. ▫️ #USGS #science #climatechange #climate #Montana #glaciers #RockyMountains #biology #insects #GlacierNationalPark #NationalParks #stream #water #globalchange @glaciernps
Did you know we can study groundwater from above the ground surface using geophysics? In this photo, USGS scientists Eric White and Marty Briggs conduct field work in Alaska to improve our understanding of how groundwater and permafrost change across the seasons due to climate change. The flowing water visible in the background is groundwater discharging at a spring. During the winter, the water from the spring freezes, causing thick accumulations of ice called aufeis. White (left) is collecting radar, and Briggs (right) is collecting broadband electromagnetic induction data in the foothills of the Brooks Range in Alaska. #water #groundwater #science #aquifer #Alaska #geophysics #hydrogeophysics #usgs #permafrost #climatechange #landscape #mountains #coldweather #brooksrange
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