Images

Grey Tree Frog

USGS scientists extracted DNA from aquifer materials and analyzed the DNA for microbial community composition using several methods.

John Clune and Connie Loper, PA Water Science Center, processing an emerging-contaminants bed-sediment sample at Rock Creek near Gettysburg, PA.

John Clune, PA Water Science Center, processing an emerging-contaminants bed-sediment sample at Lititz Run.

John Clune, PA Water Science Center, collecting an emerging-contaminants bed-sediment sample at the Susquehanna River at Danville,PA.

Cement Creek following storm event in July, 2004. Note the orange discoloration of the stream derived from weathering of bedrocks and from mined areas. This type of event happens frequently in the Animas Watershed near Silverton, Colorado. View is to the south, with Kendall Mountain in the distance.

Photo of Foster's Tern (Sterna forsteri) while hunting. Forster’s terns are among the most at-risk wildlife species to mercury toxicity in western North America.

Hilltop view of the Ravenswood ponds (right side of levee) in South San Francisco Bay. These former salt-production ponds were subsequently slated for a major wetland restoration project. 

Municipal biosolids being loaded onto spreader for land application

Potential pathways for veterinary medicines in soil and water

USGS researchers Jennifer Agee and Le Kieu sampling surface sediment in a vegetated Louisiana saltmarsh. Photographer: M. Marvin-DiPasquale.

USGS scientists collecting water-quality samples for the analysis of wastewater related contaminants, Boulder Creek, Colorado.

Map showing the location of the total chlorinated ethene plume and monitoring wells at Submarine Base Kings Bay, Georgia. The map showes the location of the plume prior to a series of in situ oxidation source-removal actions. Figure 17 from USGS WRIR 03-4057.

This photo shows a road salt storage stockpile that is awaiting use for pavement deicing, Port of Milwaukee, WI. 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.

Picture showing equipment used to collect water for analyses of viruses.

USGS scientist performing a routine calibration of an instrument used to collect air samples at a gasoline spill site in Galloway Township, New Jersey. The air samples were analyzed for volatile organic compounds (VOCs).

Salt scar near Lake Skiatook, Oklahoma, caused by a produced-water spill

Plant foliage samples being placed in direct sunlight for water extraction by solar distillation. Water vapor released from the foliage condenses as liquid on the inside surface of the sample bag.

Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center

The abandoned Silver Ledge mine in the Upper Animas River watershed, Colorado. The Animas River watershed was one of two pilot watersheds studied as part of the USGS Abandoned Mine Lands Initiative.

U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientists conducted a unique study, which demonstrated that the ecology of natural groundwater bacteria changed after exposure of the bacteria to the antibiotic sulfamethoxazole (SMX).