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Each week we write about the science behind environmental protection. Previous Science Wednesdays.By Jonathan Herrmann, P.E., BCEEI have spent almost my entire career in EPA’s Office of Research and Development. During that time, I’ve been involved in many areas of research related to…
Continuous real-time water quality information is at http://water.usgs.gov/waterwatch/wqwatch/ . These data are limited to measurable characteristics such as temperature, turbidity, specific conductance (salinity), dissolved oxygen, and pH (acidity). WaterQualityWatch is a USGS web site that…
The water cycle, also known as the hydrologic cycle, describes the continuous movement of water on, above, and below the surface of the Earth. For a summary go to water cycle . Learn more at http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/watercycle.html .
Visit the USGS National Wildlife Health Center (NWHC) web pages at http://www.nwhc.usgs.gov/ . The National Wildlife Health Center was established in 1975 as a biomedical laboratory dedicated to assessing the impact of disease on wildlife and to identifying the role of various pathogens in…
You may view, download, and order USGS topographic maps (including historical USGS topographic maps) directly from the USGS Store Web site. First go to the online USGS Store: http://store.usgs.gov Once at this site, located within the brown, left-column of the page, select ' Map Locator…
Historical USGS topographic maps are important map resources that are not readily available. Therefore, the USGS has begun a project to convert all these historical printed topographic quadrangles to digital formats (initially GeoPDF). Learn more at http://nationalmap.gov/historical/ . …
A landslide is defined as, the movement of a mass of rock, debris, or earth down a slope. (Cruden, 1991). Landslides are a type of "mass wasting" which denotes any down slope movement of soil and rock under the direct influence of gravity. The term "landslide" encompasses events…
During the three giant caldera-forming eruptions that occurred between 2.1 million and 640,000 years ago, tiny particles of volcanic debris ( volcanic ash ) covered much of the western half of North America, likely a third of a meter deep several hundred kilometers from Yellowstone and several…
Lava and Lava Flows The temperature of basalt lava at Kilauea reaches 1,160 degrees Celsius (2,120 degrees Fahrenheit). -- USGS/VHP Website, 1998 The tube system (lava tubes) of episode 53 (Pu'u O'o eruption, Hawaii) carried lava for 10 kilometers (6 miles) from the vent to the sea. So…
A digital orthophoto quadrangle (DOQ) is a computer-generated image of an aerial photograph in which displacements caused by terrain relief and camera tilts have been removed. It combines the image characteristics of a photograph with the geometric qualities of a map.
The USGS Publications Warehouse ( http://pubs.usgs.gov/ ) has released a new interface and a variety of new content and features. The new version of this tool now includes citations for USGS-authored content including journal articles, books, book chapters, proceedings, and other research…
Mussels are also called 'bivalves'. This means they have two shells or valves (a right valve and a left valve). The zebra mussel gets its name because of the dark, striped pattern on each valve. Usually the shell is a light color (tan, beige) with the zig-zag stripes. However, some are…