USGS
Volcano Watch — Remembering the destructive Kalapana earthquake 50 years ago
By kmulliken@usgs.gov from All News. Published on Nov 20, 2025.
Fifty years ago this month, the largest Hawaii earthquake of the 20th and 21st centuries occurred. Earthquake shaking, as well as ground subsidence and local tsunami, contributed to a catastrophic sequence of events on November 29, 1975.
Media Alert: Low-level airplane flights to scan geology over parts of four Midwestern states
By samgott@usgs.gov from All News. Published on Nov 19, 2025.
RESTON, Va. — The U.S. Geological Survey plans low-level airplane flights over a broad region in Missouri, Illinois, Iowa, and Wisconsin to image geology using airborne geophysical technology. The survey will begin this month and take approximately a year to complete, weather and wildfire restrictions permitting.
Measuring Erosion Rates
By sshukla@usgs.gov from All News. Published on Nov 19, 2025.
USGS scientists completed the first phase of a long-term erosion assessment of South Cow Mountain using airborne lidar and Structure-from-Motion models derived from historic aerial photographs. This analysis quantifies terrain change and evaluates whether erosion intensity is spatially associated with off-highway vehicle activity, providing data to support Bureau of Land Management decisions.
Landsat 9 Returns to Normal Operations Following Brief Safehold
By lowen@contractor.usgs.gov from All News. Published on Nov 19, 2025.
Landsat 9’s image collection was briefly interrupted in October after a sensor monitoring the position of the solar array began sending noisy data, triggering the satellite to enter safe mode.
Western Fisheries Research Center Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) Meeting - December 2, 2025
By nkohli@usgs.gov from All News. Published on Nov 18, 2025.
The Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) is responsible for oversight of the animal care and use program and the components as described in the Public Health Service Policy on Humane Care and Use of Laboratory Animals and the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals.
Photo & Video Chronology — November 17, 2025 — Surveying the hazardous closed area of Kīlauea summit
By kmulliken@usgs.gov from All News. Published on Nov 18, 2025.
On November 17, 2025, U.S. Geological Survey Hawaiian Volcano Observatory staff conducted fieldwork in the closed area of Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park, noting evidence of several hazards associated with the recent lava fountaining episode.
Hazard-ception: Fires are a hazard for monitoring California's hazardous volcanoes
By jlball@usgs.gov from All News. Published on Nov 18, 2025.
While volcanoes are certainly one of California's most prominent natural hazards, they are by far one of the least common. Seasonal hazards such as landslides, blizzards, and fires occur in many of the same locations as our volcanoes, as was evident last week with the Pack Fire south of Long Valley.
EESC in the News: PFAS Found in Cape Cod Bass May Help Inform Public Health Decisions
By meganevans@usgs.gov from All News. Published on Nov 18, 2025.
By Sam Norton
FishSens Magazine October 20, 2025
Why are PFAS Found in Aquatic Environments Near Cape Cod?
WGSC in AAAS Science Advances
By dsorenson@usgs.gov from All News. Published on Nov 18, 2025.
WGSC in AAAS Science Advances
Revised Schedule for the FY 2026 Community for Data Integration Request for Proposals
By lhsu@usgs.gov from All News. Published on Nov 17, 2025.
The FY 2026 CDI Request for Proposals schedule has been revised.
A mission to repair one of the most interesting GPS monitoring stations in Yellowstone
By mpoland@usgs.gov from All News. Published on Nov 17, 2025.
Many of the monitoring sites in Yellowstone National Park are located in remote areas. When they go offline, a lot of preparation and effort is necessary to bring them back to functionality.
Call for Proposals and How-To Seminar for FY 2026
By lhsu@usgs.gov from All News. Published on Nov 14, 2025.
The Powell Center invites researchers to submit proposals for two-year synthesis projects on any Earth or environmental science topic.
Interior Department releases final 2025 List of Critical Minerals
By samgott@usgs.gov from All News. Published on Nov 14, 2025.
Editor’s note: Posted November 14 following the end of the lapse in appropriations.
The Department of the Interior, through the U.S. Geological Survey, published the final 2025 List of Critical Minerals November 6, outlining 60 minerals vital to the U.S. economy and national security that face potential risks from disrupted supply chains.
Photo & Video Chronology — November 13, 2025 — Kīlauea summit eruption episodes 34-36
By kmulliken@usgs.gov from All News. Published on Nov 13, 2025.
The summit eruption of Kīlauea continues, with 36 episodes of lava fountaining since the eruption began on December 23, 2024. Within the past month and a half, fountaining episodes 34, 35, and 36 occurred at the summit of Kīlauea.
Volcano Watch — Catching up on Kīlauea: 36 episodes and counting
By kmulliken@usgs.gov from All News. Published on Nov 13, 2025.
The summit eruption of Kīlauea continues, with 36 episodes of lava fountaining since the eruption began on December 23, 2024. Let’s catch up on the events and hazards associated with the volcano’s most recent few eruptive episodes, and review the current status of Kīlauea.
Media Alert: Low-level flights to image geology over eastern Maine
By samgott@usgs.gov from All News. Published on Nov 13, 2025.
RESTON, Va. — Low-level flights begin as soon as early November over eastern Maine from the Down East coast up into northern Aroostook County to image geology using airborne geophysical technology. Surveying is expected to continue until snow hinders data quality, and will resume in the spring and summer of 2026 as needed to avoid adverse weather conditions.
In Virginia, flooding aggravates woes of troubled Appomattox River
By mnewbrough@usgs.gov from All News. Published on Oct 28, 2025.
Bay Journal — by Lauren Hines-Acosta — October 28, 2025
Massive new study says ospreys are thriving in some parts of the Chesapeake Bay – but not enough
By mnewbrough@usgs.gov from All News. Published on Oct 02, 2025.
WHRO — by Katherine Hafner — October 2, 2025
RAMPS Newsletter - Fall 2025
By lshriver@usgs.gov from All News. Published on Oct 01, 2025.
In this edition: Staff updates, field trips, and a new publication on bridging seed selection theory and practice
Media Alert: Low-level flights to image geology over portions of the Blue Mountains in northeastern Oregon and western Idaho
By samgott@usgs.gov from All News. Published on Sep 30, 2025.
RESTON, Va. — Low-level helicopter flights begin in early October over portions of the Blue Mountains and adjacent areas in northeastern Oregon and western Idaho to image geology using airborne geophysical technology. Surveying is expected to continue until snowfall hinders data quality, and resume next Spring and Summer.
Media Alert: Low-level flights to image geology, map critical minerals over parts of Central and Eastern Nevada
By samgott@usgs.gov from All News. Published on Sep 30, 2025.
RESTON, Va. — Low-level Helicopter flights are planned over a broad region in Nevada to image geology using airborne geophysical technology. The survey will be conducted starting in October for approximately four months, weather and wildfire restrictions permitting.
Low-level fixed-wing, helicopter flights to image geology over parts of Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina
By samgott@usgs.gov from All News. Published on Sep 30, 2025.
RESTON, Va. — Low-level airplane and helicopter flights are planned over broad regions of North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia to image geology using airborne geophysical technology. The airborne survey will resume in early October and continue through Spring, weather and wildfire restrictions permitting.
Photo & Video Chronology — September 25, 2025 — Measuring tephra cone changes at Kīlauea summit after episode 33
By kmulliken@usgs.gov from All News. Published on Sep 30, 2025.
On September 25, USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory geologists surveyed the elevation along a transect across the new tephra cone formed by the recent lava fountaining episodes at the summit of Kīlauea.
Paleomagnetic analysis is (super) cool with a cryogenic magnetometer
By jlball@usgs.gov from All News. Published on Sep 30, 2025.
A cryogenic magnetometer may sound like something out of a scifi show, but it's actually an important tool for figuring out the eruption histories at volcanoes.
Upcoming CDI Monthly Meetings
By lhsu@usgs.gov from All News. Published on Sep 30, 2025.
CDI Monthly Meetings are held on the second Wednesday of the month, from 11-12:30 pm Eastern Time.
FORT Science in Action, Part 21: Pollinator research in support of agricultural economies and food security
By edietrich@usgs.gov from All News. Published on Sep 30, 2025.
Domesticated and native bees provide economic services valued in excess of $10 billion in the U.S. annually. They are also irreplaceable for many crops and thus central to our agricultural heritage. FORT researchers work closely with partners nationwide to improve pollinator health and conservation, ensuring future economic and food security.
Regional View, Reliable Data: Introducing the USGS 250K Topo
By srodriguez@usgs.gov from All News. Published on Sep 30, 2025.
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has launched the 250K Topo, a new digital map product designed to support regional planning, land and resource management, and emergency response coordination.
Fall 2025 Newsletter - In The Flow
By dfisher@usgs.gov from All News. Published on Sep 29, 2025.
In this Fall 2025 edition: DC Metro July Flooding • Westernport Flooding Record • New Water Dashboard • New Gages • New Videos • New Publications
Watershed mapping project shows rapid loss of forests, offers new view of Va.’s changing landscapes
By mnewbrough@usgs.gov from All News. Published on Sep 29, 2025.
Virginia Mercury — by Evan Visconti — September 29, 2025
USGS and BLM publish a science synthesis on risks of spreading invasive annual grasses in MT, ND & SD through vegetation treatments
By twojtowicz@usgs.gov from All News. Published on Sep 29, 2025.
The USGS is working with federal land management agencies to develop a series of structured science syntheses (SSS) to support National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) analyses. This new synthesis is the fifth publication in the SSS series and provides science to support NEPA analyses for agency decisions regarding invasive annual grasses.
