Images

USGS employee surveys streamgage datum for the Snake River near Alpine, Wyoming to ensure real-time stage and streamflow data on the web are accurate.

A small stream, Violet Creek, winds its way through Hayden Valley in Yellowstone National Park.

Rim Fire in Yosemite National Park.

Another view of the Fissure 8 channel, looking upstream. On the right, a lower ledge along the channel wall represents the level of lava in the channel during the later stages of the flow. USGS photo by M. Patrick.

A view into the Absaroka Mountains in northeastern Yellowstone National Park. While the Absarokas of today look a little different due to glacial activity, these are the same mountains that existed over the last 53 million years, well before the arrival of the Yellowstone hot spot.

A map series showing a subset of the Puerto Rico bathymetric study area. Panels compare a “simple mosaic” formed by overlaying the most recent dataset on top of the older dataset (left panel) with the same dataset processed with the DEM fusion method (right panel).

Photo of mountains from Crested Butte, CO.

Hydrologic Technicians, Michael Willis and Rogelio Hernandez kayaking on the Rio Grande to collect samples prior to herbicide treatment on invasive Arundo Cane.

In this photo, USGS intern Brett Trottier (right) is learning how to prepare and deploy geophysical equipment from USGS hydrologist Eric White (left). The towed transient electromagnetic (tTEM) system is used to map the shallow subsurface to help us understand geologic and hydrogeologic conditions.

View of the recently cleared Boiling Pots on the Wailuku River in Hilo. The pots, each about 15 m (50 ft) in diameter, are eroded into a 10,000 year old Mauna Loa lava flow. When the water is low, the river does not flow over some of the pot rims but it continues to flow through them. USGS photo.

Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) electronics technician Steven Fuke stands near a solar panel system that powers a volcano-monitoring station. 

HVO geologists visited the lower East Rift Zone lava flow field this past week to make measurements and observations, to better understand and reconstruct the dynamics of the Fissure 8 lava flow. This photo shows the channel wall in the braided channel region of the flow.

Rain on mountain snow caused the streamflow in Dinwoody Creek to more than quintuple in 24 hours resulting in some of the highest flows recorded in the 52 years of data collection at the site. Real-time and historical data at: http://ow.ly/DLpH50An6q6

Collecting samples for sediment analysis and measuring streamflow on the Shoshone River below Willwood Dam to describe hydrology and sediment transport during high flows due to releases from Buffalo Bill Dam. Data available at: http://ow.ly/TreW50AnYML

Collecting samples for sediment analysis and measuring streamflow on the Shoshone River below Willwood Dam to describe hydrology and sediment transport during high flows due to releases from Buffalo Bill Dam. Data available at: http://ow.ly/TreW50AnYML

A USGS employee collecting data for the Lake Tahoe Nearshore Nutrient Source Identification Project.

Mineral elements provide the color in fireworks. Barium produces bright greens; strontium yields deep reds; copper produces blues; and sodium yields yellow. Other colors can be made by mixing elements: strontium and sodium produce brilliant orange; titanium, zirconium, and magnesium alloys make silvery white; copper and strontium make lavender.

Passive sediment sampling on Littlefield Creek

Researchers instruct volunteers on how to collect dragonfly larvae in Glacier NP as a part of the Dragonfly Mercury Project.

Peter Spatz making an ADCP measurement from the cable way at streamgage 13142500 Big Wood River below Magic Dam near Richfield, ID.

Sugar Creek, near New Palestine, Indiana. Sugar Creek is part of a long-term USGS stream monitoring project, and was one of 72 U.S.