Images

This home, on the road from Dujiangyan to Guyuan, was damaged in the 12 May 2008 earthquake.

Volcanic-gas plume rises from Halema‘uma‘u Crater, Kīlauea Volcano, Hawai‘i

Scientists collecting samples of runoff from a test plot during a simulated rainfall event. The field received an application of biosolids, and the runoff samples were analyzed for organic chemicals that are commonly used in our everyday lives.

The narrow waters of Drake's Passage separate the U.S. Virgin Islands (foreground) from the British Virgin Islands in the distance.

The narrow waters of Drake's Passage separate the U.S. Virgin Islands (foreground) from the British Virgin Islands in the distance.

USGS Hydrologist, Andy Long, demonstrates an interactive groundwater-flow model in the USGS South Dakota Water Science Center laboratory to students attending Geology Camp with the South Dakota School of Mines in 2008.

Papaya tree (Carica papaya) with multiple unripened papayas growing in Virgin Islands National Park.

A plume of volcanic gases (chiefly water vapor, carbon dioxide, and sulfur dioxide), tiny lava and rock particles, and droplets drifts southwest in the tradewinds from Halema‘uma‘u Crater.

The Needles District, Canyonlands National Park. 

The Needles District, Canyonlands National Park

Graduate students hold a female king eider captured in June 2008 in northern Alaska. Researchers band the birds with a numbered metal band that allows individual identification. Female king eiders return to the same nesting area every year.

Graduate students take morphological measurements of every bird to estimate whether size affects migration strategy. Researchers measure the culmen length of a male king eider.

Graduate student, Megan Jones, changes the batteries on a remote sensor camera used to monitor predator movement in Conservation Reserve Program fields in southwest Wisconsin.

A sign from a rural home owner giving thanks to fire fighters who battled the Little Wolf fire that burned 15,000 acres in Western Montana in 1994. Wildfires continue to burn thousands of acres of forests and grassland along with homes each year across the nation.

Photograph of the Old Faithful Geyser erupting in Yellowstone Nationl Park. Old Faithful was named in 1870 during the Washburn-Langford-Doane Yellowstone expedition and was the first geyser in the Park to be named.

Photograph of the Old Faithful Geyser erupting in Yellowstone Nationl Park. Old Faithful was named in 1870 during the Washburn-Langford-Doane Yellowstone expedition and was the first geyser in the Park to be named.

USGS dive team members Marc Blouin and Glen Black carrying an ADCP (Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler) into Lake Michigan to measure currents throughout the summer season in order to improve predictive modeling at recreational beaches and better predict E. coli concentrations in the water, therefore improve safety of swimmers.

Collapsed brick wall alongside a Pengzhou street.

Partially collapsed residential building in Pengzhou.

Man standing in front of collapsed home in Pengzhou.

Long crack stretching over facade of apartment building in Pengzhou.