By aliford@usgs.gov from All News. Published on Oct 25, 2024.

Join us for a Powell Center seminar on Tuesday, November 5th, from 10-11am MT/12-1pm ET.

By lrussell@usgs.gov from All News. Published on Oct 25, 2024.

RESTON, Va. – The U.S. Geological Survey has announced it will invest approximately $2.6 million in Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding to collect high-resolution geophysical data focused on areas with potential for critical mineral resources over southern New Mexico.  

By kmulliken@usgs.gov from All News. Published on Oct 24, 2024.

The recent eruption at Nāpau Crater was the first on Kīlauea’s middle East Rift Zone (ERZ) in six years. We often remember the Pu‘u‘ō‘ō and Maunaulu eruptions when thinking about the middle East Rift Zone, but many lesser-known eruptions occurred on the rift zone in the past 200 years, including 11 during the 1960s!

By jkfitzpatrick@usgs.gov from All News. Published on Oct 24, 2024.

PEMBROKE, N.H. — Approximately 71 to 95 million people in the Lower 48 states – more than 20% of the country’s population – may rely on groundwater that contains detectable concentrations of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, also known as PFAS, for their drinking water supplies. These findings are according to a U.S Geological Survey study published Oct. 24.

By jlawson@contractor.usgs.gov from All News. Published on Oct 24, 2024.

On your next drive, really look at what covers the landscape: Sprawling housing developments? Crowded skyscrapers? Parking lots? Farm fields? Forests? Rivers?

The USGS has led the way in accurately mapping this land cover across the country with the National Land Cover Database (NLCD) for more than two decades. Now NLCD debuts big improvements under a new name: Annual NLCD.

By granderson@usgs.gov from All News. Published on Oct 24, 2024.

RESTON, Va. — The U.S. Geological Survey today released a newly updated and improved National Land Cover Database, known as Annual NLCD, which offers insights into the changing characteristics of landscapes across the conterminous United States from 1985 to 2023.

By kmulliken@usgs.gov from All News. Published on Oct 23, 2024.

USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory scientists conducted maintenance on a webcam on the East Rift Zone of Kīlauea, where a recent interferogram shows magma continues to accumulate underground. 

By edietrich@usgs.gov from All News. Published on Oct 23, 2024.

Two major hurdles in the effective control of invasive grasses are: (1) Anticipating the timing of key stages that are susceptible to management actions, and (2) accurately mapping where treatments are most needed over vast landscapes in real time. To address these hurdles, researchers created range-wide phenology forecasts for two problematic invasive annual grasses: cheatgrass and red brome.

By kmulliken@usgs.gov from All News. Published on Oct 22, 2024.

The 2022 eruption of Mauna Loa volcano, Island of Hawaiʻi, was the first eruption on the volcano since 1984, producing a 17 km lava flow that threatened a major highway. USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory staff used nearly two dozen webcameras to monitor the eruption; images taken by these cameras during the eruption are provided in this data release. 

By smieszek@usgs.gov from All News. Published on Oct 22, 2024.

USGS visited Namibia and Botswana during September 10-27, 2024, to assess water security challenges as part of the U.S. Ambassador’s Water Experts Program. 

By lcastrolindarte@usgs.gov from All News. Published on Oct 21, 2024.

RESTON, Va. — Using a combination of water testing and machine learning, a U.S. Geological Survey-led study estimated between 5 and 19 million tons of lithium reserves are located beneath southwestern Arkansas. If commercially recoverable, the amount of lithium present would meet projected 2030 world demand for lithium in car batteries nine times over. 

By cduzet@contractor.usgs.gov from All News. Published on Oct 21, 2024.

Southeast CASC researchers use modern portfolio theory, a financial strategy, as an approach to manage conservation risk in the face of future uncertainty for Puerto Rico’s endangered coquí llanero frog. 

By rpowers@usgs.gov from All News. Published on Oct 21, 2024.

Scientists used climate projections to predict which parts of western North America may be habitable for 130 lizard and snake species later in the century. They found that for many, the future may be North. That could mean big changes for agencies that manage these species and their habitats.

By hkoehler@usgs.gov from All News. Published on Oct 21, 2024.

DENVER — Hotter areas can actually be the biggest winners when it comes to the difference a tree can make when temperatures are sizzling. 

By hkoehler@usgs.gov from All News. Published on Oct 21, 2024.

DENVER — Las regiones más cálidas pueden ser las que más se benefician cuando se trata de la diferencia que puede hacer un árbol cuando las temperaturas son altas. 

By mpoland@usgs.gov from All News. Published on Oct 21, 2024.

At the beginning of 2024, the water level at Nuphar Lake, near Norris Geyser Basin was on the rise. By the end of that summer, however, the water has receded, and the shoreline was marked by a ring of dead trees. What happened to cause these changes?

By jrichie@usgs.gov from All News. Published on Oct 20, 2024.

On September 27, 2024, the name Barlow was officially adopted by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) for a prominent, ~87 km-diameter crater located in the northern portion of Sinai Planum (11.65°S, 270.09°E) on Mars. The name approval commemorates Dr. Nadine Barlow (1958–2020), Northern Arizona University professor and noted leader in the field of Mars crater studies.

By cduzet@contractor.usgs.gov from All News. Published on Oct 18, 2024.

The 2024 Climate Adaptation Leadership Award from the Association of Fish & Wildlife Agencies recognized the Southeast and South Central CASCs in the “Broad Partnerships” category and a former Northeast CASC Fellow as an “Emerging Leader.”   

By cduzet@contractor.usgs.gov from All News. Published on Oct 18, 2024.

Pacific Islands CASC-supported researchers find that untreated wastewater can reach the ocean in as little as six hours as they explore the impact of sea-level rise on wastewater systems and coastal pollution in Hawai'i.

By ppearsall@usgs.gov from All News. Published on Oct 18, 2024.

For nearly a century, two dams on the Elwha River blocked the natural flow of sediment and wood, leading to a highly altered river environment. Removal of the dams unleashed large quantities of sediment and wood that had been trapped behind the reservoirs. This debris was carried downstream, reshaping the river’s course and impacting its ecosystems.

By mbouchard@usgs.gov from All News. Published on Oct 18, 2024.

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and NASA have officially opened a Request for Proposal (RFP) for the 2025-2029 Landsat Science Team. This team will play a pivotal role in shaping the future of the Landsat program, supporting the ongoing operations of Landsat 8 and 9 while contributing to the development of Landsat Next, which is set to launch in 2030/2031.

By shouse@usgs.gov from All News. Published on Oct 18, 2024.

Title:  The use of vaccination to mitigate white-nose syndrome in bats 

Date:  October 25, 2024, at 2:00-2:30 pm Eastern/11:00 -11:30 am Pacific 

Speakers: 
Dr. Camille Hopkins, Wildlife Disease Specialist, USGS Ecosystems Mission Area
Dr. Tonie Rocke, Research Epidemiologist, National Wildlife Health Center

By kmulliken@usgs.gov from All News. Published on Oct 17, 2024.

The intense seismicity and ground deformation along the East Rift Zone of Kīlauea in the past couple of months is interpreted to indicate intrusion of magma. Some of this magma can leak to the surface in eruptions, but there are less likely long-term consequences that have historical analogues.

By edietrich@usgs.gov from All News. Published on Oct 17, 2024.

After over a century of human-driven fire suppression in the American Southwest, forest fires in recent decades are growing in extent and severity. Historically, dry conifer forests burned on a regular basis, raising the question of whether current wildfire regimes are a return to the norm. To study this, researchers used tree rings to explore 300 years of forest fire history across the Southwest.

By jrichie@usgs.gov from All News. Published on Oct 17, 2024.

Two important missions launched in October and U.S. Geological Survey is here to give you a ride-along! ESA’s (European Space Agency) Hera will investigate the damage to Dimorphos, a small body impacted by a NASA spacecraft to test Planetary Defense mitigation strategies. NASA’s Europa Clipper will explore Jupiter’s icy moon, Europa, through a series of flybys.

By lrussell@usgs.gov from All News. Published on Oct 17, 2024.

Editor: In the public interest and in accordance with Federal Aviation Administration regulations, the USGS is announcing this low-level airborne project. Your assistance in informing the local communities is appreciated. 

By lrussell@usgs.gov from All News. Published on Oct 17, 2024.

Members of the news media are invited to attend a media day at the Dubuque Regional Airport to see firsthand the aircraft and equipment that will be used to image geology during a U.S. Geological Survey Earth Mapping Resources Initiative (Earth MRI) low-level airborne survey of the tristate region later this month. 

By evarelaminder@usgs.gov from All News. Published on Oct 17, 2024.

Congratulations to Steve Jackson, Scientist Emeritus and former Director of the Southwest and South Central Climate Adaptation Centers, for being awarded the American Quaternary Association's 2023 Distinguished Career Award!

By edietrich@usgs.gov from All News. Published on Oct 16, 2024.

The 2024 Special Issue of the Rangeland Ecology and Management journal features 20 peer-reviewed articles that delve into the science of how, where and why practitioners are deploying the Sagebrush Conservation Design (SCD) to conserve the sagebrush biome. Here, we highlight USGS contributions to the Special Issue, which provides an actionable path forward to fight common threats across the biome.

By krossos@usgs.gov from All News. Published on Oct 16, 2024.

The U.S. Geological Survey New England Water Science Center has officially snipped the ribbon for their new Connecticut office, which was co-located to the campus of Goodwin University last year.