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At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
USGS2017

Born of fire: In search of volcanoes in U.S. national parks, four striking examples

Geologic features, particularly volcanic features, have been protected by the National Park Service since its inception. Some volcanic areas were nationally protected even before the National Park Service was established. The first national park, Yellowstone National Park, is one of the most widely known geothermal and volcanic areas in the world. It contains the largest volcanic complex in North America and has experienced three eruptions which rate among the largest eruptions known to have occurred on Earth. Half of the twelve areas established as national parks before the 1916 Organic Act which created the National Park Service are centered on volcanic features. The National Park Service now manages lands that contain nearly every conceivable volcanic resource, with at least seventy-six managed lands that contain volcanoes or volcanic rocks. Given that so many lands managed by the National Park Service contain volcanoes and volcanic rocks, we cannot give an overview of the history of each one; rather we highlight four notable examples of parks that were established on account of their volcanic landscapes. These parks all helped to encourage the creation and success of the National Park Service by inspiring the imagination of the public. In addition to preserving and providing access to the nation's volcanic heritage, volcanic national parks are magnificent places to study and understand volcanoes and volcanic landscapes in general. Scientists from around the world study volcanic hazards, volcanic history, and the inner working of the Earth within U.S. national parks. Volcanic landscapes and associated biomes that have been relatively unchanged by human and economic activities provide unique natural laboratories for understanding how volcanoes work, how we might predict eruptions and hazards, and how these volcanoes affect surrounding watersheds, flora, fauna, atmosphere, and populated areas.

Earth Sciences History↗
USGS2011

The periodic structure of the natural record, and nonlinear dynamics

Concepts of cyclicity in geology have involved many famous protagonists in the history of Earth sciences. Early in this century, sophisticated theories of terrestrial rhythms had been formulated by such pioneers as T. C. Chamberlin [1909], R. T. , Chamberlin [1914], Barrell [1917], Stille [1924], Joly [1925, 1930], Holmes [1926], Lull [1929], Schuchert [1932], Grabau [1940], and Umbgrove [1939 a,b, 1947] (see the review by Williams [1981]). The physical chemist S. Arrhenius [1908] had also formulated a general hypothesis for cosmological origins of terrestrial phenomena. Khain [1964] later proposed resonances between terrestrial and cosmological rhythms, and McCrea [1975] and Williams [1975] summarized evidence of galactic correlations with glaciation.

Eos, Transactions, American Geophysical Union↗
USGS2014

1964 Great Alaska Earthquake: a photographic tour of Anchorage, Alaska

On March 27, 1964, at 5:36 p.m., a magnitude 9.2 earthquake, the largest recorded earthquake in U.S. history, struck southcentral Alaska (fig. 1). The Great Alaska Earthquake (also known as the Good Friday Earthquake) occurred at a pivotal time in the history of earth science, and helped lead to the acceptance of plate tectonic theory (Cox, 1973; Brocher and others, 2014). All large subduction zone earthquakes are understood through insights learned from the 1964 event, and observations and interpretations of the earthquake have influenced the design of infrastructure and seismic monitoring systems now in place. The earthquake caused extensive damage across the State, and triggered local tsunamis that devastated the Alaskan towns of Whittier, Valdez, and Seward. In Anchorage, the main cause of damage was ground shaking, which lasted approximately 4.5 minutes. Many buildings could not withstand this motion and were damaged or collapsed even though their foundations remained intact. More significantly, ground shaking triggered a number of landslides along coastal and drainage valley bluffs underlain by the Bootlegger Cove Formation, a composite of facies containing variably mixed gravel, sand, silt, and clay which were deposited over much of upper Cook Inlet during the Late Pleistocene (Ulery and others, 1983). Cyclic (or strain) softening of the more sensitive clay facies caused overlying blocks of soil to slide sideways along surfaces dipping by only a few degrees. This guide is the document version of an interactive web map that was created as part of the commemoration events for the 50th anniversary of the 1964 Great Alaska Earthquake. It is accessible at the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Alaska Science Center website: http://alaska.usgs.gov/announcements/news/1964Earthquake/ . The website features a map display with suggested tour stops in Anchorage, historical photographs taken shortly after the earthquake, repeat photography of selected sites, scanned documents, and small-scale maps, as well as links to slideshows of additional photographs and Google Street View™ scenes. Buildings in Anchorage that were severely damaged, sites of major landslides, and locations of post-earthquake engineering responses are highlighted. The web map can be used online as a virtual tour or in a physical self-guided tour using a web-enabled Global Positioning System (GPS) device. This publication serves the purpose of committing most of the content of the web map to a single distributable document. As such, some of the content differs from the online version.

Alaska↗
USGS2021

Earth Resources Observation and Science Center hosting services

The Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center has a long history of leveraging technology in support of Earth science and business applications including data management, processing, and virtualization and complex solutions to visualize and distribute data. It is the aim of EROS to offer operational excellence and service as a key component to the Federal Cloud-Smart directives and Department of the Interior data center consolidation goals. The EROS Center offers space, network, security, and environmental controls and information technology service management. Included with leveraging technology, the EROS Center has industry-leading staff to assist with supporting Earth science and business applications.

Fact Sheet↗
USGS2017

Grand challenges for integrated USGS science — A workshop report

Executive Summary The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has a long history of advancing the traditional Earth science disciplines and identifying opportunities to integrate USGS science across disciplines to address complex societal problems. The USGS science strategy for 2007–2017 laid out key challenges in disciplinary and interdisciplinary arenas, culminating in a call for increased focus on a number of crosscutting science directions. Ten years on, to further the goal of integrated science and at the request of the Executive Leadership Team (ELT), a workshop with three dozen invited scientists spanning different disciplines and career stages in the Bureau convened on February 7–10, 2017, at the USGS John Wesley Powell Center for Analysis and Synthesis in Fort Collins, Colorado. The workshop focused on identifying “grand challenges” for integrated USGS science. Individual participants identified nearly 70 potential grand challenges before the workshop and through workshop discussions. After discussion, four overarching grand challenges emerged: Natural resource security, Societal risk from existing and emerging threats, Smart infrastructure development, and Anticipatory science for changing landscapes. Participants also identified a “comprehensive science challenge” that highlights the development of integrative science, data, models, and tools—all interacting in a modular framework—that can be used to address these and other future grand challenges: Earth Monitoring, Analyses, and Projections (EarthMAP) EarthMAP is our long-term vision for an integrated scientific framework that spans traditional scientific boundaries and disciplines, and integrates the full portfolio of USGS science: research, monitoring, assessment, analysis, and information delivery. The Department of Interior, and the Nation in general, have a vast array of information needs. The USGS meets these needs by having a broadly trained and agile scientific workforce. Encouraging and supporting cross-discipline engagement would position the USGS to tackle complex and multifaceted scientific and societal challenges in the 21st Century.

Open-File Report↗
USGS2011

Extreme volcanism on Io: Latest insights at the end of Galileo era

Galileo has now completed 7 years exploring Jupiter. The spacecraft obtained breathtaking views of the four major satellites, and studied Jupiter's clouds and atmospheric composition, rings, small satellites, and magnetic field. It had five successful close flybys and many distant observations of Io. Scientists already knew from Voyager and Earth‐based astronomy that Io is by far the most volcanically active object in the solar system. Galileo has given us stunning color panoramas of Io's surface and unprecedented close views of erupting volcanoes (Figure 1) and the largest active flows observed anywhere. Among recent discoveries about Io, perhaps most astonishing since Voyager, is that some lavas possess emission temperatures greater than any lavas erupted on Earth today and possibly since the start of Earth's geologic history. The Io science community has identified three alternative interpretations of Io's hottest lavas: (1) ultramafic material similar to komatiite; (2) superheated lava; or (3) an ultra‐refractory substance deficient in silica and rich in Ca‐Al oxides.

Eos, Transactions, American Geophysical Union↗
USGS2000

A geologic guide to Wrangell-Saint Elias National Park and Preserve, Alaska: A tectonic collage of northbound terranes

Wrangell-Saint Elias National Park and Preserve, the largest unit in the U.S. National Park System, encompasses near 13.2 million acres of geological wonderments. This geologic guide presents history of exploration and Earth-science investigation; describes the complex geologic makeup; characterizes the vast college of accretion geologic terranes in this area of Alaska's continental margin; recapitulates the effects of earthquakes, volcanoes, and glaciers; characterizes the copper and gold resources of the parklands; and describes outstanding locales within the park and preserve area. A glossary of geologic terms and a categorized list of additional sources of information complete this report.

Alaska↗
USGS2020

Landsat 9: Empowering open science and applications through continuity

The history of Earth observation from space is well reflected through the Landsat program. With data collection beginning with Landsat-1 in 1972, the program has evolved technical capabilities while maintaining continuity of land observations. In so doing, Landsat has provided a critical reference for assessing long-term changes to Earth's land environment due to both natural and human forcing. Poised for launch in mid-2021, the joint NASA-USGS Landsat 9 mission will continue this important data record. In many respects Landsat 9 is a clone of Landsat-8. The Operational Land Imager-2 (OLI-2) is largely identical to Landsat 8 OLI, providing calibrated imagery covering the solar reflected wavelengths. The Thermal Infrared Sensor-2 (TIRS-2) improves upon Landsat 8 TIRS, addressing known issues including stray light incursion and a malfunction of the instrument scene select mirror. In addition, Landsat 9 adds redundancy to TIRS-2, thus upgrading the instrument to a 5-year design life commensurate with other elements of the mission. Initial performance testing of OLI-2 and TIRS-2 indicate that the instruments are of excellent quality and expected to match or improve on Landsat 8 data quality. Landsat-9 will maintain the current data acquisition rate of up to 740 scenes per day, with these scenes available from the Landsat archive at no cost to users. In this communication, we provide background and rationale for the Landsat 9 mission, describe the instrument payloads and ground system, and discuss data products available from the Landsat 9 mission through USGS.

Remote Sensing of Environment↗
USGS2004

Book review: Earth’s magnetism in the age of sail

For many centuries, the source, behavior, and even the essential nature of geomagnetism were enigmatic. Despite this, the effect of geomagnetism was familiar, by imparting a directional preference on the magnetized needle of the compass and providing a useful, if somewhat annoyingly complicated, reference for navigators. Although the compass seems to have first been invented in China, it was the Europeans who made the most systematic early studies of magnetism, who made the first elaborate and practical usage of the compass, and who developed most of the early theories as to the cause of the compass needle’s north-seeking tendency. From the centuries of the Middle Ages, through the late 16th century of the Renaissance, to the 17th century of philosophical enlightenment and the 18th century of discovery, the subject of magnetism and, more specifically, geomagnetism, evolved from a hodgepodge of mystical beliefs into something that we can today recognize as the object of modern scientific pursuit. Those same centuries witnessed the great transoceanic sailing voyages undertaken by European nations for reasons of exploration, territorial claim, religious mission, and mercantile trade. Naturally, the navigator’s compass, and therefore geomagnetism, played an important role in these developments. This romantic intersection of science and history is the subject of Earth’s Magnetism in the Age of Sail , a pleasantly written and scholarly book by A.R.T. Jonkers.

Physics of the Earth and Planetary Interiors↗
USGS1969

Anorthosite belts, continental drift, and the anorthosite event

Most anorthosites lie in two principal belts when plotted on a predrift continental reconstruction. Anorthosite ages in the belts cluster around 1300 ± 200 million years and range from 1100 to 1700 million years. This suggests that anorthosites are the product of a unique cataclysmic event or a thermal event that was normal only during the earth's early history.

Science↗
USGS2009

Development of time series stacks of Landsat images for reconstructing forest disturbance history

Forest dynamics is highly relevant to a broad range of earth science studies, many of which have geographic coverage ranging from regional to global scales. While the temporally dense Landsat acquisitions available in many regions provide a unique opportunity for understanding forest disturbance history dating back to 1972, large quantities of Landsat images will need to be analysed for studies at regional to global scales. This will not only require effective change detection algorithms, but also highly automated, high level preprocessing capabilities to produce images with subpixel geolocation accuracies and best achievable radiometric consistency, a status called imagery-ready-to-use (IRU). This paper describes a streamlined approach for producing IRU quality Landsat time series stacks (LTSS). This approach consists of an image selection protocol, high level preprocessing algorithms and IRU quality verification procedures. The high level preprocessing algorithms include updated radiometric calibration and atmospheric correction for calculating surface reflectance and precision registration and orthorectification routines for improving geolocation accuracy. These automated routines have been implemented in the Landsat Ecosystem Disturbance Adaptive System (LEDAPS) designed for processing large quantities of Landsat images. Some characteristics of the LTSS developed using this approach are discussed.

International Journal of Digital Earth↗
USGS2015

Minerals, lands, and geology for the common defence and general welfare, Volume 4, 1939-1961: A history of geology in relation to the development of public-land, federal science, and mapping policies and the development of mineral resources in the United States from the 60th to the 82d year of the U.S. Geological Survey

The fourth volume of the comprehensive history of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is titled “Minerals, Lands, and Geology for the Common Defence and General Welfare—Volume 4, 1939‒1961.” The title is based on a passage in the preamble of the U.S. Constitution. The late Mary C. Rabbitt (1915‒2002), a geophysicist who served with the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey (1948‒1949) and the USGS (1949‒1978), wrote the first three volumes in this series of USGS Special Books. “Volume 1, Before 1879” (1979), “Volume 2, 1879‒1904” (1980), and “Volume 3, 1904‒1939” (1986), although long out of print and out of stock, are now available online; see links at right. The 704-page Volume 4, supplemented by more than 200 illustrations, was begun by Rabbitt and completed by coauthor Clifford M. Nelson, a geologist with the USGS since 1976. The book is described as “A History of Geology in Relation to the Development of Public-Land, Federal Science, and Mapping Policies and the Development of Mineral Resources in the United States From the 60th to the 82d Year of the U.S. Geological Survey.” Volume 4 focuses on the United States and the USGS in war and peace from the beginning of World War II in Europe to the end of the administration of President Dwight D. Eisenhower. Like the earlier books in the series, Volume 4 places the nature and significance of USGS operations in mapping and the earth sciences in the wider contexts of national and international history. The new volume, like its three predecessors, is intended for general readers and historians alike, so it follows a chronological rather than a thematic pattern, although themes are traced throughout the book. After preparing Volumes 1–3, Rabbitt wrote a brief report summarizing the agency's history in its first century, “The United States Geological Survey: 1879‒1989,” which was originally issued as USGS Circular 1050 in 1989. It was reissued in 2000 as part of USGS Circular 1179, which also contains Renée M. Jaussaud’s inventory of documents accessioned through 1997 into Record Group 57 (USGS) at the National Archives and Records Administration’s Archives II facility (NARA II) in College Park, Maryland.

Book↗
USGS2004

Geology of the National Capital Region: Field trip guidebook

The 2004 Joint Northeast-Southeast Section Meeting of the Geological Society of America is the fourth such meeting and the third to be held in or near Washington, D.C. This guidebook and the field trips presented herein are intended to provide meeting participants, as well as other interested readers, a means to understand and enjoy the rich geological and historical legacy of the National Capital Region. The field trips cover all of the major physiographic and geologic provinces of the central Appalachians in the Mid-Atlantic region. Trip 1 outlines the tectonic history of northern Virginia along an east-to-west transect from the Coastal Plain province to the Blue Ridge province, whereas the other field trips each focus on a specific province. From west to east, these excursions investigate the paleoclimate controls on the stratigraphy of the Paleozoic rocks of the Allegheny Plateau and Valley and Ridge province in West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Maryland (Trip 3); Eocene volcanic rocks that intrude Paleozoic rocks in the westernmost Valley and Ridge province in Virginia and West Virginia (Trip 4); age, petrology, and structure of Mesoproterozoic gneisses and granitoids located in the Blue Ridge province within and near Shenandoah National Park, Virginia (Trip 2); the use of argon data to unravel the complex structural and thermal history of the metamorphic rocks of the eastern Piedmont province in Maryland and Virginia (Trip 5); the use of cosmogenic isotopes to understand the timing of bedrock incision and formation of terraces along the Potomac River in the eastern Piedmont province near Great Falls, Virginia and Maryland (Trip 6); the nature of the boundary between rocks of the Goochland and Chopawamsic terranes in the eastern Piedmont of Virginia (Trip 7); the role of bluffs and fluvial terraces of the Coastal Plain in the Civil War Battle of Fredericksburg, Virginia (Trip 8); and the Tertiary lithology and paleontology of Coastal Plain strata around the Chesapeake Bay of Virginia and Maryland (Trip 9). Some of the field trips present new geochronological research that uses isotopic techniques to unravel Earth history and processes, including U-Pb dating to determine the timing of metamorphism and igneous activity associated with the Mesoproterozoic Grenville orogeny (Trip 2); argon (4DAr/39Ar) analysis to understand the complex Paleozoic history of deformation and metamorphism in the Piedmont (Trip 5); and cosmogenic beryllium-10 data to derive exposure ages of landforms and deposits of the Potomac River valley (Trip 6). Several trips shed insight on significant or enigmatic geologic features of the region. Trip 3 presents evidence for global paleoclimate controls on the Paleozoic stratigraphy of the Appalachian basin, including evidence for Late Devonian glacial deposits. Trip 4 investigates unusual Eocene igneous rocks in the Eastern United States, and Trip 2 visits several local ductile high-strain zones, offering geologists opportunities to consider the importance of such structures relative to the poorly understood Rockfish Valley fault zone in the Blue Ridge province. In the Piedmont province, Trip 7 focuses on a controversial terrane boundary, whereas Trip 5 crosses several lithologic belts with distinct thermotectonic histories that suggest terrane boundaries. Trip 6 sheds new light on the erosional history of a major river gorge cut into crystalline rocks in the Fall Zone. Four trips are recommended for Earth science teachers and are cosponsored by the National Association of Geologic Teachers (NAGT). These trips focus on the tectonic history of northern Virginia (Trip 1), terraces of the Potomac River at Great Falls and cosmogenic isotope analysis to date the terraces and the incision history (Trip 6), and Tertiary lithology and paleontology of the Chesapeake Bay region (Trip 9). Trip 8 takes advantage of the rich Civil War history of this region to look at the role that geology played in the strategies and outcome of the Battle of Fredericksburg. This guidebook is the result of much hard work by many individuals. The editors wish to thank the field trip leaders and authors, the technical reviewers, and Nancy Stamm of ths USGS Geologic Names Committee. We also owe a very special thanks to Linda Gundersen, Chief Scientist, Geologic Discipline, USGS, who provided funding for the guidebook.

Maryland, Virginia, Washington DC↗
USGS1955

Development of the hydrosphere and atmosphere, with special reference to probable composition of the early atmosphere

A satisfactory hypothesis of the development of the hydrosphere and atmosphere depends upon evidence from many sciences and the solution of many other fundamental problems of earth history. But because it is so closely related to many other problems, any progress toward unravelling the history of the hydrosphere and atmosphere limits the range of permissible speculation about such distantly related questions as the origin of the solar system, continents, mountains, and living organisms. Several hypotheses of the source of the earth’s air and waters are examined for their consistency with established principles and observed geologic evidence, and special attention is given to the probable composition of the early atmosphere. Hypotheses of the origin of the atmosphere and hydrosphere fall into two chief categories: (1) that all air and water of the earth are residual from a dense primitive atmosphere that once enveloped a molten globe; or (2) that they have accumulated at the earth’s surface by leakage from the interior. The quantities of water, carbon dioxide, organic carbon, nitrogen, sulfur, etc., that have been or are now part of the earth’s atmosphere and hydrosphere may be estimated within reasonable limits of uncertainty and these “excess” volatiles afford a basis for testing chemical consequences of the alternative hypotheses. Several writers have suggested that the primitive atmosphere may have been composed largely of CH 4 and NH 3 . However, the equilibrium constants for reactions of these and other gases, combined with the evidence of the “excess” volatiles, indicate that CO 2 and N 2 are much more likely. The stabilities of methane and ammonia depend upon the presence of free hydrogen; and the escape rate of hydrogen from the earth is such that methane probably could have persisted in significant amounts in the early atmosphere no more than 10 6 to 10 8 years. For all but a relatively brief period at the very beginning of earth history, the atmosphere probably contained CO 2 and N 2 rather than CH 4 and NH 3 . When the consequences of a dense atmosphere of CO 2 and N 2 (but with almost no free O 2 or H 2 ) are examined, it is found that several chemical effects (such as the quantity of rocks that would have to be weathered, of sodium dissolved in sea water, and of CaCO 3 deposited on the sea floor very early in early history) are not borne out by the observed geologic record. From this and other lines of evidence it seems extremely improbable that the present atmosphere and hydrosphere are residual from any such dense primitive atmosphere. Instead, it seems likely that the atmosphere and hydrosphere have accumulated gradually during geologic time by the escape of water vapor, CO 2 , CO, N 2 , and other volatiles from intrusive and extrusive rocks that have risen more or less continuously from the deep interior of the earth. The amount of free oxygen in the early atmosphere is a separate problem that cannot be solved until the evidence of the earliest rocks has been appraised more fully. Current hypotheses of the origin of life appear to require a reducing atmosphere, yet it seems likely that oxygen has been accumulating from the photodissociation of water vapor ever since the earth was formed. The oxidation of ferrous iron and sulfides in the earliest sediments may have kept the oxygen content very low, and life may have begun in local reducing environments.

GSA Special Papers↗
USGS2026

Hyperspectral narrowband imaging spectroscopy: A new paradigm for Earth observation

This editorial introduces the Special Issue entitled “Hyperspectral Narrowband Imaging Spectroscopy: A New Paradigm for Earth Observation” in the August 2026 issue of Photogrammetric Engineering & Remote Sensing (PE&RS), the flagship journal of the American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ASPRS). This volume represents the fourth dedicated hyperspectral special issue published in PE&RS, following earlier contributions by Thenkabail et al. (2025, 2024a, 2024b), and continues ASPRS’s commitment to advancing cutting‑edge imaging spectroscopy research and its applications across Earth system science. Remote sensing is undergoing one of the most profound transformations in its history. The emergence of hyperspectral narrowband (HNB) imaging spectroscopy data, capable of acquiring hundreds of contiguous, narrow spectral bands, has shifted the discipline from observing Earth in a handful of broad spectral windows to capturing continuous spectral signatures of the Planet. This transition marks a decisive break from the multispectral paradigm that has dominated satellite remote sensing for nearly five decades, driven by the advent of new orbital imaging spectrometers such as EnMAP, PRISMA, and NASA’s EMIT, and by the forthcoming Surface Biology and Geology (SBG) mission ((Pires Silva et al., 2026; Bourriz et al., 2025; Thenkabail et al., 2025; Chabrillat et al., 2024; Aneece et al., 2024; Dave et al., 2024; Thenkabail et al., 2024a; Thenkabail et al., 2024b; Thenkabail, 2024a; Thenkabail, 2024b; Thompson et al., 2022; Kokaly et al., 2022; Aneece & Thenkabail, 2022; Cawse Nicholson et al., 2021; Guanter et al., 2021; Vangi et al., 2021; Thenkabail et al., 2021). These missions (e.g., Table 1) deliver unprecedented spectral fidelity, improved signal to noise ratios, and global coverage capabilities, enabling a new era of quantitative, spectroscopy based Earth observation. Where multispectral broadbands (MBBs) provide only a few discrete measurements along the electromagnetic spectrum, HNB systems deliver rich, diagnostic information that enables scientists to characterize Earth’s surface with unprecedented biochemical, biophysical, and structural detail (Figure 1a, 1b). The implications for environmental monitoring, agriculture, water resources, and mineral exploration are profound. Several overarching themes emerge: • Spectral fidelity matters. The ability to preserve subtle absorption features is essential for mineral mapping, vegetation trait retrieval, and biochemical modeling. • AI and deep learning are indispensable. From destriping to classification, modern analytics must be scalable, label‑efficient, and capable of exploiting the full spectral–spatial richness of HNB data. • Physics‑based and data‑driven approaches must converge. Radiative transfer models such as PROSAIL, enhanced with localized soil parameterizations, remain foundational for biophysical retrievals and model‑based inference. • Dimensionality reduction and feature extraction are critical. Techniques such as L1‑ISOMAP demonstrate that intelligent manifold learning can unlock the structure of fused, high‑dimensional datasets. • Next‑generation architectures must be interactive and multimodal. ICTNet exemplifies the future of hyperspectral classification: hybrid, synergistic, and capable of modeling both local textures and global spectral dependencies.

Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing (PE↗
USGS2021

Solar-system-wide significance of Mars polar science

1. The North Polar Layered Deposits contain thousands of ice layers that record accumulation and climate history for at least several million years, making the most accessible and most complete climate record aside from the Earth’s – and the only one to record the impact of large obliquity shifts. 2. Mars Polar Science is a diverse and integrated system spanning much of the planet, above and below the surface: geographic poles, mid- and high-latitudes, numerous active volatile processes that interact with the near-surface, and the lower and middle atmosphere circulations, even influencing the upper atmosphere and atmospheric escape. 3. Mars polar processes serves as an analogue and scientific link to numerous solar system bodies. Mars has two volatile cycles that influence surface processes, atmospheric processes, and climate cycles. Mars, with many data sets and observations, serves as a proxy for outer planets and moons that undergo the same physics but with other volatile species. Additionally, technology designed for Mars polar exploration benefits exploration elsewhere. 4. Mars Polar and Atmospheric Science results are critical for future human exploration and in situ resources and the study of planetary habitability.

Bulletin of the AAS↗
USGS2015

The U.S. Geological Survey Geologic Collections Management System (GCMS)—A master catalog and collections management plan for U.S. Geological Survey geologic samples and sample collections

**Updated guidance is available in USGS Instructional Memorandum CSS 2019-01 .** Abstract The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is widely recognized in the earth science community as possessing extensive collections of earth materials collected by research personnel over the course of its history. In 2006, a Geologic Collections Inventory was conducted within the USGS Geology Discipline to determine the extent and nature of its sample collections, and in 2008, a working group was convened by the USGS National Geologic and Geophysical Data Preservation Program to examine ways in which these collections could be coordinated, cataloged, and made available to researchers both inside and outside the USGS. The charge to this working group was to evaluate the proposition of creating a Geologic Collections Management System (GCMS), a centralized database that would (1) identify all existing USGS geologic collections, regardless of size, (2) create a virtual link among the collections, and (3) provide a way for scientists and other researchers to obtain access to the samples and data in which they are interested. Additionally, the group was instructed to develop criteria for evaluating current collections and to establish an operating plan and set of standard practices for handling, identifying, and managing future sample collections. Policies and procedures promoted by the GCMS would be based on extant best practices established by the National Science Foundation and the Smithsonian Institution. The resulting report—USGS Circular 1410, “The U.S. Geological Survey Geologic Collections Management System (GCMS): A Master Catalog and Collections Management Plan for U.S. Geological Survey Geologic Samples and Sample Collections”—has been developed for sample repositories to be a guide to establishing common practices in the collection, retention, and disposal of geologic research materials throughout the USGS. While constructing this report, the GCMS’s potential customers and their needs were considered. Two critical definitions have been clarified: a repository is a facility for the long-term management of geologic collections, and a collection is a set of specimens that have been brought together on the basis of some common characteristic. Required sample metadata for newly collected samples, as well as for older collections, were also stipulated and are listed and explained in this report. Several basic policies are also recommended by the GCMS in order to standardize operations among the physical repositories where collections are currently housed. The GCMS Collection Management Plan provides a set of protocols and templates for the management of scientific collections, including access, storage, transfer, and disposal of physical geologic samples and data. This plan is flexible to allow each repository to adapt the practices best suited to its collections. The general consideration for implementation of the GCMS is that all active USGS geologic sample repositories will form the core of GCMS and that participating science centers will develop procedures based on proposed GCMS methodologies. The GCMS is a collective resource for the entire USGS community and the users who discover the geologic materials kept in these repositories and seek to access them.

Circular↗