Home > United States Geological Survey

Founded on March 3, 1879, it is an unbiased, fact-finding research organization with no regulatory responsibility. Since 1962, it has been involved in global, lunar and planetary exploration and mapping. Part of the United States Department of the Interior, it is the department's sole scientific agency. The USGS employs approximately 10,000 people and is headquartered in Reston, Virginia, with major offices in Denver, Colorado, and Menlo Park, California.

The USGS is the primary civilian mapping agency in the United States, and is best known for its 1:24,000 scale, 7.5-minute quadrangle topographic mapsTopographic maps also called contour maps topo maps or topo quads (for quadrangles), are maps that show topography, or land contours, by means of contour lines. Contour lines are curves that connect contiguous points of the same altitude. In other words,.

The USGS operates the National Earthquake Information Center in Golden, ColoradoGolden, Colorado lies at the mouth of Clear Creek at the edge of the foothills of the Front Range. It is the county seat of Jefferson County. The Colorado School of Mines, Mount Falcon Park and the Coors Brewing Company are in Golden. It is also the birth which detects the location and magnitude of earthquakes worldwide. The NEIC informs both appropriate authorities and the media, domestic and worldwide, about significant earthquakes.

The motto of the USGS is "science for a changing world."

also see: Volcano Disaster Assistance ProgramVolcano Disaster Assistance Program was developed by the U. Geological Survey and U. Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance after the eruption of Nevado del Ruiz in 1985 that killed 23,000 people. The programs purpose is to respond to selected volcanic cri

1 Organization

The USGS has four major science disciplines:

• WaterDrinking water This article focuses on water as we experience it every day. The water (molecule) article describes water from a scientific and technical perspective. Water is an abundant substance on Earth. It exists in many forms, such as sea, rain, and
• GeologyGeology (from Greek γ&eta ge "the earth") and λογος logos "word", "reason")) is the science and study of the Earth, its composition, structure, physical properties, history, and the processes that shape it. Geolog
• GeographyGeography is the scientific study of the locational and spatial variation in both physical and human phenomena on Earth. The word derives from the Greek words g ("the Earth") and graphein ("to write," as in "to describe"). Geography is also the title of v
• BiologyBiology studies the variety of life clockwise from top-left E. coli tree fern, gazelle, Goliath beetle Biology is the science of life. It is concerned with the characteristics and behaviors of organisms, how species and individuals come into existence, an