Map margin information
Ever wonder what all those little numbers are on the borders of your map? Here are the facts...
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Search indexed USGS publications on groundwater, aquifers, geologic maps, mineral resources and earthquakes. Explore source records by subject and place.
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National Wetlands Inventory products
Marshes, swamps, ponds, and bogs are teeming biological nurseries for migratory birds, fish, and aquatic plants. They also provide natural flood and erosion control. These predominantly wet areas, or wetlands as they are commonly called, now represent only about 5 percent of the land surface of the lower 48 States. Out of 221 million acres of wetlands that once existed in the conterminous United States, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) estimates that only about 103.3 million acres remain. Each year, development, drainage, and agriculture eliminate another 290,000 acres-an area a little less than half the size of Rhode Island. From the 1950's to the 1970's, conversion of wetlands to farmland caused 87 percent of all wetland losses. The FWS has long recognized the importance of America's wetlands because they form breeding and wintering grounds for great numbers of migratory birds. In 1977, the FWS began the National Wetlands Inventory (NWI), a systematic effort to classify and map America's remaining wetlands.
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Commerical Remote Sensing Data Contract
The U. S. Geological Survey's (USGS) Commercial Remote Sensing Data Contracts (CRSDCs) provide government agencies with access to a broad range of commercially available remotely sensed airborne and satellite data. These contracts were established to support The National Map partners, other Federal Civilian agency programs, and Department of Defense programs that require data for the United States and its territories. Experience shows that centralized procurement of remotely sensed data leads to considerable cost savings to the Federal government through volume discounts, reduction of redundant contract administrative costs, and avoidance of duplicate purchases. These contracts directly support the President's Commercial Remote Sensing Space Policy, signed in 2003, by providing a centralized mechanism for civil agencies to acquire commercial remote sensing products to support their mission needs in an efficient and coordinated way. CRSDC administration is provided by the USGS Mid-Continent Mapping Center in Rolla, Missouri.
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A New Method for Mapping Population Distribution
Human population counts are collected and commonly displayed uniformly across areas, such as U.S. Census Bureau block-groups and tracts. The limitation inherent in this type of representation is the assumption that people are evenly distributed across each areal unit, when in actuality many areas such as parks, open spaces, and industrial zones are uninhabited. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has developed a geospatial tool that uses a 'dasymetric' mapping method to redistribute census population values to homogenous, inhabited, zones, enhancing visualization and accuracy.
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3D Elevation Program—Virtual USA in 3D
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) 3D Elevation Program (3DEP) uses a laser system called ‘lidar’ (light detection and ranging) to create a virtual reality map of the Nation that is very accurate. 3D maps have many uses with new uses being discovered all the time.
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Glaciers of Greenland
Landsat imagery, combined with aerial photography, sketch maps, and diagrams, is used as the basis for a description of the geography, climatology, and glaciology, including mass balance, variation, and hazards, of the Greenland ice sheet and local ice caps and glaciers. The Greenland ice sheet, with an estimated area of 1,736,095+/-100 km2 and volume of 2,600,000 km3, is the second largest glacier on the planet and the largest relict of the Ice Age in the Northern Hemisphere. Greenland also has 48,599+/-100 km2 of local ice caps and other types of glaciers in coastal areas and islands beyond the margin of the ice sheet.
Professional Paper↗
The crystal structure of cesium biuranyl trisulphate, Cs2(UO2)2(SO4)3
The crystal structure of the new compound Cs(UO 2 ) 2 (SO 4 ) 3 has been determined by X-ray diffraction methods. The compound is tetragonal, space group P 4 2 1 m "> P42 1 m ( D 2 d 3 ), with a = 9·62 ± 0·02, c = 8·13 ± 0·01 A ̊ "> c = 8·13 ± 0·01Å , and Z = 2; s.g. (calc.) = 4·80 ± 0·03, s.g. (obs.) = 4·74 ± 0·05. The compound forms plates parallel to (001) bounded by the form (110). Intensity data were obtained from Buerger precession photographs of the ( hk 0) and (0 kl ) reciprocal lattice nets. No corrections for absorption were made. The co-ordinates of the U and Cs atoms were obtained by interpretation of the Patterson projections normal to (001) and (100) and a plausible structure was derived from electron density projections. The final parameters of the structure were determined from subtraction electron density maps, least squares analysis of the structure factors, and spatial considerations. The compound has a layer structure consisting of (UO 2 ) 2 (SO 4 ) 3 ] n 2 n − sheets paralle to (001), tied together by cesium ions. The UO 2 2+ group is co-ordinated by five sulphate oxygens which form a nearly plane pentagon approximately normal to the uranyl axis. The Cs 2 atom is co-ordinated by twelve oxygen atoms and the Cs 1 atom by eight oxygen atoms. X-ray and optical data are also given for the compound Rb 2 UO 2 (SO 4 ) 2 ·2H 2 O.
Journal of Inorganic and Nuclear Chemistry↗
USGS ShakeCast
Automating, Simplifying, and Improving the Use of ShakeMap for Post-Earthquake Decisionmaking and Response. ShakeCast is a freely available, post-earthquake situational awareness application that automatically retrieves earthquake shaking data from ShakeMap, compares intensity measures against users facilities, and generates potential damage assessment notifications, facility damage maps, and other Web-based products for emergency managers and responders.
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Annual NLCD (National Land Cover Database)—The next generation of land cover mapping
Introduction The widely used National Land Cover Database (NLCD) has long been the foundational land cover source for scientists, resource managers, and decision makers across the United States. In 2024, a reinvention as Annual NLCD added the key improvement of annual time steps to show decades of change at a higher frequency than the intervals of 2–3 years used in the legacy NLCD. Annual NLCD was derived primarily from the long Landsat satellite data record, and it includes data from other sources. The first release in 2024 of Annual NLCD provides Collection 1.0 of products encompassing land cover and land change from 1985 through 2023 for the conterminous United States (CONUS). The Annual NLCD Collection 1.0 consists of six operational products that map the unique characteristics of land cover. A map created from Annual NLCD shows 16 land cover classes for the CONUS in 2023.
conterminous United States↗
Maps showing mineral resource potential of the Virgin Mountains Instant Study Area, Clark County, Nevada
The Virgin Mountains Instant Study Area contains about 30,000 acres (12,000 ha) in southeastern Nevada. In accordance with the Federal Land Policy and Management Act (P.L. 94-579), the U.S. Bureau of Mines examined mines, prospects, and mineralized zones, and the U.S. Geological Survey made regional geologic, geophysical, and geochemical investigations. Tungsten and sheet mica have been produced from the study area, and oil and gas lease applications have been filed on 20,300 acres (8,200 ha). Sixteen mining claims are presently held.
Nevada↗
Preliminary surficial geologic map of Leuhman Ridge and the surrounding area, Edwards Air Force Base and Air Force Research Laboratory, Kern and San Bernardino Counties, California
This preliminary geologic map presents mapping of the Leuhman Ridge area of Edwards Air Force Base, California, conducted between April 2020 and June 2021. The report focuses on surficial materials and bedrock to evaluate potential faults and other geologic features that may influence groundwater movement. The preliminary work confirms that the Spring Fault, previously mapped by Dibblee (1960, 1967), is a Quaternary-active fault but does not find convincing evidence to support the existence of the Leuhman Fault (Dibblee, 1960; 1967) within the map area. Several more possible and probable faults are identified by a combination of geomorphic lineaments and brecciated rock. Pleistocene and Holocene eolian deposits are widespread, manifesting as sand sheets, dunes, and admixtures into alluvial fans. Also, an incised pediment forms much of the upland south of Leuhman Ridge. In general, field observations indicate that Quaternary alluvial and eolian deposits are thin; this suggests that secondary bedrock porosity and permeability, defined by degree of weathering and fracture density that includes fault-related fracturing, are more important factors in the location and flow patterns of groundwater.
California↗
Recurrent eruption and subsidence at the Platoro caldera complex, southeastern San Juan volcanic field, Colorado: New tales from old tuffs
Reinterpretation of a voluminous regional ash-flow sheet (Masonic Park Tuff) as two separate tuff sheets of similar phenocryst-rich dacite erupted from separate source calderas has important implications for evolution of the multicyclic Platoro caldera complex and for caldera-forming processes generally. Masonic Park Tuff in central parts of the San Juan field, including the type area, was erupted from a concealed source at 28.6 Ma, but widespread tuff previously mapped as Masonic Park Tuff in the southeastern San Juan Mountains is the product of the youngest large-volume eruption of the Platoro caldera complex at 28.4 Ma. This large unit, newly named the “Chiquito Peak Tuff,” is the last-erupted tuff of the Treasure Mountain Group, which consists of at least 20 separate ash-flow sheets of dacite to low-silica rhyolite erupted from the Platoro complex during a 1 m.y. interval (29.5−28.4 Ma). Two Treasure Mountain tuff sheets have volumes in excess of 1000 km 3 each, and five more have volumes of 50–150 km 3 . The total volume of ash-flow tuff exceeds 2500 km 3 , and caldera-related lavas of dominantly andesitic composition make up 250-500 km 3 more. A much greater volume of intermediate-composition magma must have solidified in subcaldera magma chambers. Most preserved features of the Platoro complex-including postcollapse asymmetrical trap-door resurgent uplift of the ponded intracaldera tuff and concurrent infilling by andesitic lava flows-postdate eruption of the Chiquito Peak Tuff. The numerous large-volume pre-Chiquito Peak ash-flow tuffs document multiple eruptions accompanied by recurrent subsidence; early-formed caldera walls nearly coincide with margins of the later Chiquito Peak collapse. Repeated syneruptive collapse at the Platoro complex requires cumulative subsidence of at least 10 km. The rapid regeneration of silicic magmas requires the sustained presence of an andesitic subcaldera magma reservoir, or its rapid replenishment, during the 1 m.y. life span of the Platoro complex. Either case implies large-scale stoping and assimilative recycling of the Tertiary section, including intracaldera tuffs.
Colorado↗
Global maps of critical mineral production in 2023
Introduction The global production of many mineral commodities, especially critical minerals, is concentrated in a few countries that have mineral resources and the infrastructure necessary to mine and process those resources. For this reason, the type and amount of mineral production differ by country. For example, many countries produce such metallic ores as gold and silver, whereas only a few countries produce magnesium, niobium, platinum-group metals, and rare earths. The concentration of mining and processing in certain countries necessitates the existence of a global supply chain. A mineral supply chain is the sequence of mining and processing of minerals and manufacturing of products. Mineral supply chains are global in scale, complex, and dynamic. Supply chain data can be used to understand how a country’s mineral resources and various economic, technical, and environmental factors affect the complexity of global supply chains. This fact sheet summarizes the world’s leading countries (those accounting for 5 percent or more of a commodity’s global production in 2023) for production of select mineral commodities (mainly critical minerals) in the mining and processing stages. These countries and the minerals they produce are synthesized on global maps to communicate the status of, and potential risk to, mineral commodity supply chains from geographic production concentration. Trade data from United Nations Statistics Division (2025) is used to support assessments of the observed production data.
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Extent of the Last Glacial Maximum (Tioga) glaciation in Yosemite National Park and vicinity, California
Yosemite National Park, located in the central Sierra Nevada in California, is an icon of the U.S. National Park system. It is famous for its many spectacular geologic features, which include the towering cliffs and hanging waterfalls of Yosemite Valley and the rounded granite domes, deep blue lakes, and jagged peaks and spires of the high country. More subtle but just as spectacular are the vast areas of polished granite, linear scratches, and isolated boulders scattered across the landscape. All of these features owe their origin, at least in part, to glaciers. Glaciers originating at the crest of the Sierra Nevada flowed down preexisting river canyons numerous times throughout the Quaternary Period (the past 2.6 million years). Although the field evidence for past glaciations is necessarily incomplete, at least seven distinct glacial periods have been identified in the Sierra Nevada, spanning a minimum of 1.5 million years. This map shows the extent of alpine icefields and associated valley glaciers in Yosemite National Park and vicinity during the most recent large glaciation, known as the Last Glacial Maximum, a globally recognized cold period characterized by low sea levels and the growth of ice sheets and mountain glaciers. In the Sierra Nevada, the Last Glacial Maximum glaciation is referred to as the Tioga glaciation. By virtue of being the most recent of the large Pleistocene glaciations, the evidence for the Tioga glaciation is abundant and relatively well preserved in the Yosemite landscape. The Tioga glaciation likely involved at least two, and perhaps as many as four, major glacial advances spanning the interval from approximately 27,000 to 15,000 years ago; the largest of these, representing the maximum ice extent shown on the map, occurred from approximately 21,000 to 18,000 years ago. Although it is possible that the various Tioga-age glaciers in the study area attained their maximum extents at slightly different times during the Last Glacial Maximum, for the purposes of this map we assume that they reached their maximum extents simultaneously. The maximum ice extent shown here may have occupied certain areas only briefly. During the maximum extent of the Tioga glaciation, glaciers and ice fields covered most areas in and around Yosemite National Park above 2,700 meters elevation, having a profound impact on the Yosemite landscape. In addition to sculpting most of the granite monoliths for which the park is famous, glaciation also dictated the distribution of many geological, hydrological, and ecological features. Thus, the lasting effects of Tioga glaciation are still readily observable in Yosemite National Park today.
California↗
Geologic map of the Topock 7.5’ quadrangle, Arizona and California
The Topock quadrangle exposes a structurally complex part of the Colorado River extensional corridor and also exposes deposits that record landscape evolution during the history of the Colorado River. Paleoproterozoic gneisses and Mesoproterozoic granitoids and intrusive sheets are exposed through tilted cross-sectional thicknesses of many kilometers. Intruding them are a series of Mesozoic to Tertiary igneous rocks including dismembered parts of the Late Cretaceous Chemehuevi Mountains Plutonic Suite. Plutons of this suite in Arizona, if structurally restored for Miocene extension, formed cupolas capping the Chemehuevi Mountains batholith in California. Thick (1–3 km) Miocene sections of volcanic rocks, sedimentary breccias, conglomerate, and sandstone rest nonconformably on the Proterozoic rocks and record the structural and depositional evolution of the Colorado River extensional corridor. Four major Miocene low-angle normal faults and a steep block-bounding fault that developed during this episode divide the deformed rocks of the quadrangle into major structural plates and tilted blocks in and east of the Chemehuevi Mountains core complex. The low-angle faults attenuate crustal section, superposing supracrustal and upper crustal rocks against gneisses and granitoids originally from deeper crustal levels. The transverse block-bounding Gold Dome Fault Zone juxtaposes two large hanging-wall blocks, each tilted 90°, and the fault zone splays at its tip into folds in layered Miocene rocks. A synfaulting intrusion occupies the triangular zone where the folded strata detached from an inside corner along this fault between the tilt blocks. Post-extensional upper Miocene to Quaternary strata, locally deformed, record post-extensional landscape evolution, including several Pliocene and younger aggradational episodes in the Colorado River valley and intervening degradation episodes. The aggradational sequences include (1) the Bouse Formation, (2) fluvial deposits correlated with the alluvium of Bullhead City, (3) the younger fluvial boulder conglomerate of Bat Cave Wash, (4) the fluvial Chemehuevi Formation and related valley-margin deposits, and (5) fluvial Holocene deposits under the river and the valley floor. These fluvial records of Colorado River deposition are interspersed with piedmont alluvial fan deposits of several ages.
Arizona, California↗
Hazard maps help save lives and property
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The National Map: Tactical Planning and Performance Monitoring in Fiscal Year 2008 and 2009
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The National Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Database
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Nonindigenous Aquatic Species (NAS) Program maintains a database that monitors, records, and analyzes sightings of nonindigenous aquatic plant and animal species throughout the United States. The program is based at the USGS Wetland and Aquatic Research Center in Gainesville, Florida. The initiative to maintain scientific information on nationwide occurrences of nonindigenous aquatic species began with the Aquatic Nuisance Species Task Force, created by Congress in 1990 to provide timely information to natural resource managers. Since then, the NAS database has been a clearinghouse of information for confirmed sightings of nonindigenous, also known as nonnative, aquatic species throughout the Nation. The database is used to produce email alerts, maps, summary graphs, publications, and other information products to support natural resource managers.
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