USGS Frequently Asked Questions - Frequently Asked Questions

What software can I use to view scanned and digitized images?

Wednesday, April 04, 2012

Any programs that will accept a TIFF image. Here are some commercial and freeware software for viewing images. Commercial software that can be utilized for viewing: ERDAS Imagine, Adobe Photo Shop and ENVI. Freeware such as: dlgv32 Pro, PCI Geomatica Freeview and Windows Picture and Fax.

Can you release some of the pressure at Yellowstone by drilling into the volcano?

Thursday, November 29, 2012

No. Scientists agree that drilling into a volcano would be of questionable usefulness. Not withstanding the enormous expense and technological difficulties in drilling through hot, mushy rock, drilling is unlikely to have much effect. At near magmatic temperatures and pressures, any hole would rapidly become sealed by minerals crystallizing from the natural fluids that are present at those depths.

Why is the USGS resource assessment so low, when compared with the Energy Information Administration and the petroleum industry’s assessments?

Thursday, September 13, 2012

This question cannot be answered clearly, because the methodologies used by these and other entities to estimate resource volumes are not publically available to compare step-by-step. The USGS does not include previously discovered and booked reserves in its estimates. It also does not include reserves that have already been produced. Nor does it include resources which might become technologically recoverable in the future, but are not presently as such.

What is a glacier?

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

A glacier is a large, perennial accumulation of crystalline ice, snow, rock, sediment, and often liquid water that originates on land and moves down slope under the influence of its own weight and gravity. Typically, glaciers exist and may even form in areas where: (1) mean annual temperatures are close to the freezing point; (2) winter precipitation produces significant accumulations of snow; and (3) temperatures throughout the rest of the year do not result in the complete loss of the previous winter’s snow accumulation. Over multiple decades this continuing accumulation of snow results in the presence of a large enough mass of snow for the metamorphism from snow to glacier ice process to begin.

Glaciers are classified by their size (i.e. ice sheet, ice cap, valley glacier, cirque glacier), location, and thermal regime (i.e., polar vs. temperate). Glaciers are sensitive indicators of changing climate.

Learn more about glaciers at the following USGS Web site: http://www.usgs.gov/global_change/glaciers/default.asp and from the National Snow and Ice Data Center Web site.

What does the "Topo Map Name" mean in the Geographic Names Information System?

Friday, December 28, 2012

The field entitled "Topo Map Name"; indicates the name of a USGS standard topographic map. If the map name is known and entered in this field (data may be entered in other fields also), the query will return the features that are wholly or partially located on the map (and that meet the other query parameters). Note that map names frequently are used in different states. Therefore, after entering the map name, click the "Check Map State" box. A list of States using that map name will be returned. Select the desired State from the list.A USGS topographic map usually is named for the most prominent feature within the bounds of the map, which frequently is a community. Please note that although the features returned by the query are located on the map that may be named after a prominent community, this does not indicate that the features are "in" that community. The standard topographic maps are in most cases a 7.5 minutes by 7.5 minutes box, covering approximately 60 square miles.

Where do earthquakes occur?

Friday, October 05, 2012

Earthquakes can strike any location at any time. But history shows they occur in the same general patterns year after year, principally in three large zones of the earth. The world's greatest earthquake belt, the circum-Pacific seismic belt, is found along the rim of the Pacific Ocean, where about 81 percent of the world's largest earthquakes occur. It has earned the nickname "Ring of Fire". The belt extends from Chile, northward along the South American coast through Central America, Mexico, the West Coast of the United States, and the southern part of Alaska, through the Aleutian Islands to Japan, the Philippine Islands, New Guinea, the island groups of the Southwest Pacific, and to New Zealand. This earthquake belt was responsible for 70,000 deaths in Peru in May 1970, and 65 deaths and a billion dollars' damage in California in February 1971.
Why do so many earthquakes originate in this belt? This is a region of young, growing mountains and deep ocean trenches which invariably parallel mountain chains. Earthquakes necessarily accompany elevation changes in mountains, the higher part of the earth's crust, and changes in the ocean trenches, the lower part.
The second important belt, the Alpide, extends from Java to Sumatra through the Himalayas, the Mediterranean, and out into the Atlantic. This belt accounts for about 17 percent of the world's largest earthquakes, including some of the most destructive, such as the Iran shock that took 11,000 lives in August 1968, and the Turkey tremors in March 1970 and May 1971 that each killed over 1,000. All were near magnitude 7.
The third prominent belt follows the submerged mid-Atlantic Ridge.The remaining shocks are scattered in various areas of the world. Earthquakes in these prominent seismic zones are taken for granted, but damaging shocks occur occasionally outside these areas. Examples in the United States are New Madrid, Missouri, and Charleston, South Carolina. Many years, however, usually elapse between such destructive shocks.

Why are some roads and trails in Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park closed?

Wednesday, December 05, 2012

Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park monitors SO2 and vog within park boundaries and issues air quality advisories or mandates closures if necessary. Roads and trails downwind of and leading to Halema`uma`u Crater were closed by park officials in February 2008 when SO2 emissions reached levels that became potentially hazardous to human health. Most areas have been re-opened but may be closed if conditions become unsafe. Learn more:

Closed Areas and Advisories in Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park

Could the Yellowstone volcano have an eruption that is not catastrophic?

Thursday, November 29, 2012

Yes. Over the past 640,000 years since the last giant eruption at Yellowstone, approximately 80 relatively nonexplosive eruptions have occurred and produced primarily lava flows. This would be the most likely kind of future eruption. If such an event were to occur today, there would be much disruption of activities in Yellowstone National Park, but in all likelihood few lives would be threatened. The most recent volcanic eruption at Yellowstone, a lava flow on the Pitchstone Plateau, occurred 70,000 years ago.

What was the maximum displacement on the rupture surface between the plates from the magnitude 9.0 earthquake off the west coast of northern Sumatra?

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

The maximum displacement estimated from a preliminary study of the seismic body waves is 20 meters.

How can I find out-of-print USGS publications?

Thursday, April 11, 2013

Out-of-print USGS publications and maps, depending on series and date, can be obtained in various ways:

Check the USGS Publications Warehouse for online availability.
Borrow from your local public, academic, or corporate library through a request for interlibrary loan.
Purchase through used book and map dealers.

Locating out-of-print publications:

The U.S. Geological Survey Libraries contain sets of all USGS publications and many state geological survey publications. You may go to a USGS library, or request the local library to borrow the publication from the USGS.
Out-of-print publications also may be found at the state geological surveys, and at larger state and university libraries. Some have interlibrary loan capabilities, but publications can at least be read or copied on-site.
Federal and state government publications also are made available to the public at Depository Libraries across the country.

Learn more:
National Geologic Map Database
Find A Map Dealer In Your Area
USGS Store
USGS Store / Map Locator & Downloader
BookFinder.com