Images

Collecting samples (sediment, aquatic vegetation, benthic invertebrates, zooplankton, forage fish, and predatory fish) to evaluate δ 15N ratios in the food web within Liberty Bay to evaluate urbanization effects on the nearshore ecosystem. (Coastal Habitats in Puget Sound program).

GPS unit on well head at a private drinking water well.

Sample collected from Madison Springs Hut in the White Mountains (~ 5,000 ft above sea level).

Old dug well with granite top in front yard of home; currently uses drilled well.

This picture was taken at our juvenile Chinook tagging shed (old town Sacramento) looking upstream at our release location for our study.

A scientist creates a quality control sample for a study of MTBE, (methyl tert-butyl ether) a fuel oxygenate used in gasoline.

Alk titration in the field as part of NAWQA studies.

Many species of birds rely on wetlands such as this bald cypress swamp, one of the ecosystems currently being studied by scientists at the USGS NWRC.

Baldcypress forest along the banks of Rainey Lake, remnant of a dwindling habitat that is being studied by scientists at the NWRC.

Bald Cypress trees are iconic symbols of wetlands, but their distribution and range may be vulnerable to climate change impacts.

USGS biological sampling trap collecting emerging insects to determine the quantity and quality of insects as potential food resources available to insect-eating birds.

A USGS technician finishes construction on a monitoring station used to monitor surface salinity and temperature below Faka Union Canal Weir #1, Florida. By measuring hydrologic conditions here, researchers found that freshwater flow rates help maintain warm water pockets in downstream areas of the canal.

Great Lakes water availability studies conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey aim to help characterize how much water the Basin has now, how water availability is changing, and how much water it can expect to have in the future.

Diatoms are algae that reflect the biotic condition of streams, lakes and estuaries. Diatoms are important indicator organisms because they are sensitive to natural and human impacts, and monitoring their condition provides information about ecosystem health. A scanning electron micrograph (SEM) shows one valve of an unusual species within the genus Aneumastus.

Diatoms are algae that reflect the biotic condition of streams, lakes and estuaries. Diatoms are important indicator organisms because they are sensitive to natural and human impacts, and monitoring their condition provides information about ecosystem health. A large, living Pleurosira laevis cell has many disc shaped chloroplasts.

Colorado River view.

Beth Stettner checks out the location of the IWRSS MOU signing.

Storm clouds moving in over the park.

Storm clouds moving in over the park entrance.

As part of an international collaboration, the USGS assessed water availability in Kabul, Afghanistan. The report can be found online.

Asbury (Abby) H. Sallenger has been named one of the authors of a chapter in the next IPCC report, due to be published in 2014. Sallenger has been assigned to co-author Chapter 5 of the Fifth Assessment Report, entitled Coastal Systems and Low-Lying Areas.