Images

Prop roots of the Red Mangrove (Rhizophora mangle) tree create thickets that harbor a wide variety of creatures both above and below the water.

A view of red mangrove trees and their prop roots above and below the water surface.

Trunks of forest trees, initially growing on a terrace above the Sandy River (Oregon) at Oxbow Regional Park, were buried by rapid deposition of sediment following a dome-building eruption at Mount Hood in 1781. Erosion during a flood about a week before the photo was taken exposed this "ghost forest".  

Trunks of forest trees, initially growing on a terrace above the Sandy River (Oregon) at Oxbow Regional Park, were buried by rapid deposition of sediment following a dome-building eruption at Mount Hood in 1781. Erosion during a flood about a week before the photo was taken exposed this "ghost forest".  

USGS Scientist Gari Mayberry discusses the volcano hazards in Tanzania with a scientist from the Geological Survey of Tanzania.

 USGS researchers deploying an instrumented minipod South of Fire Island, NY.

Prop roots extending into the water column are commonly colonized by a variety of colorful and bizarrely-shaped sponges.

A grooved brain coral, a massive starlet coral and a boulder brain coral growing under mangrove prop roots.

An adult male elephant seal at Año Nuevo State Natural Reserve in California. This "loser" has been pushed out to the periphery of the mating bull's harem.

The Souris River mostly covered in snow.

Cinder Cone erupted in the year 1666 in the Lassen Volcanic Region of northern California.

Activity at the west Waikupanaha ocean entry, where lava reached the ocean this past weekend, continues. The entry spans about 200 m, with many small lava streams entering the water.

USGS hydrologist Travis Smith standing in floodwaters in Hudson River at Hadley, NY

View of Carson Valley looking west to the Sierra Nevada Mountains.  The houses in the distance use a septic system for waste disposal and a domestic well for water supply.

As part of an investigation of the mechanisms of coastal change in the Carolinas, instrumented tripods were deployed on Diamond Shoals near Cape Hatteras, NC. These tripods recorded data quantifying the currents, waves, turbidity, temperature and salinity at several levels near the seafloor between January and April 2009.

Period of Record Flooding, April 29, 2011, Kevin Reisig wading to USGS stream gage 01318500 Hudson River at Hadley, NY. 

This photo shows a snow plow and road salt application truck that is used to clear snow and ice from roadways for improving traffic and pedestrian safety. The use of salt to deice pavement can be harmful to aquatic life in urban streams. The USGS is involved in studies that focus on the influence of winter runoff on aquatic ecosystems.

Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) image of diatoms with zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles. U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientists are studying the linkages between contaminant bioavailability and toxicity, especially in aquatic organisms exposed to metals and metallo-nanomaterials through solution and diet.

As part of an investigation of the mechanisms of coastal change in the Carolinas, instrumented tripods were deployed on Diamond Shoals near Cape Hatteras, NC.

This photo shows a mangrove ecosystem that may be unique in the Caribbean in terms of the abundance and diversity of corals.

Medicine Lake lies within the shallow basin of Medicine Lake caldera. Glass Mountain flow, draped over the east side of the volcano, is the youngest lava flow at the volcano. The northeasternmost dacite tongue extends nearly to the bottom of the photo (distal lobes are outlined to enhance visibility).