U.S. Department of the Interior

U.S. Geological Survey

Circular 1369

Geology for a Changing World 2010–2020:

Implementing the U.S. Geological Survey

Science Strategy
Cover: View of the Grand Canyon. Photograph by Linda C.S. Gundersen, U.S. Geological Survey. 

More than 1.5 billion years of strata are exposed in the Grand Canyon, providing a magnificent 

glimpse into the rich and varied geologic history of North America. For further information, see 

http://pubs.usgs.gov/imap/i-2688/ (Billingsley, G.H., 2000, Geologic map of the Grand Canyon 30’ × 60’ 

quadrangle, Coconino and Mohave Counties, northwestern Arizona).
Geology for a Changing World 2010–2020: 

Implementing the U.S. Geological Survey 

Science Strategy

By Linda C.S. Gundersen, Jayne Belnap, Martin Goldhaber, Arthur Goldstein, 

Peter J. Haeussler, S.E. Ingebritsen, John W. Jones, Geoffrey S. Plumlee, 

E. Robert Thieler, Robert S. Thompson, and Judith M. Back

Circular 1369

U.S. Department of the Interior

U.S. Geological Survey
U.S. Department of the Interior

KEN SALAZAR, Secretary

U.S. Geological Survey

Marcia K. McNutt, Director

U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, Virginia: 2011

For more information on the USGS—the Federal source for science about the Earth, its natural and living resources, 

natural hazards, and the environment—visit http://www.usgs.gov or call 1–888–ASK–USGS

For an overview of USGS information products, including maps, imagery, and publications, 

visit http://www.usgs.gov/pubprod

To order this and other USGS information products, visit http://store.usgs.gov

Any use of trade, product, or firm names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the 

U.S. Government.

Although this report is in the public domain, permission must be secured from the individual copyright owners to 

reproduce any copyrighted materials contained within this report.

Suggested citation:

Gundersen, L.C.S., Belnap, Jayne, Goldhaber, Martin, Goldstein, Arthur, Haeussler, P.J., Ingebritsen, S.E., Jones, 

J.W., Plumlee, G.S., Thieler, E.R., Thompson, R.S., and Back, J.M., 2011, Geology for a changing world 2010–2020—

Implementing the U.S. Geological Survey science strategy: U.S. Geological Survey Circular 1369, 68 p. (Also available 

online.)

ISBN 978–1–4113–3105–1
iii

Contents

Preface ............................................................................................................................................................v

Executive Summary.......................................................................................................................................1

Introduction.....................................................................................................................................................3

Goal 1. Characterize and Interpret the Geologic Framework of the Earth Through Time..............5

Goal 2. Understand Earth Surface and Climatic Processes and Anticipate Their Effects on 

Ecosystem Health and Change.................................................................................................13

Goal 3. Understand and Quantify the Availability of Earth’s Natural Resources in a Global 

Context..........................................................................................................................................23

Goal 4. Increase the Resilience of Communities to Geologic and Environmental Hazards.........33

Goal 5. Apply the Most Advanced Technologies and Best Practices To Effectively Acquire, 

Analyze, and Communicate Our Data and Knowledge.........................................................43

Goal 6. Develop a Flexible and Diverse Workforce for the Future...................................................51

Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................................57

References Cited..........................................................................................................................................58

Appendix A. Documents Reviewed by the Geology Science Strategy Team.................................61

Appendix B. Selected Accomplishments of the Geology Science Strategy for 2000–2010.........63

Appendix C. Divisions of Geologic Time ..............................................................................................68

Highlights

1. The USGS Science Strategy ......................................................................................................iv

2. Great Southern California ShakeOut—The USGS Works with Partners and 

Communities To Save Lives and Dollars ..................................................................................vi

3. Three-Dimensional Geologic Maps of the Earth Beneath California...................................6

4. South Carolina Coastal and Nearshore Geology.....................................................................8

5. Edwards and Trinity Aquifer Study in Texas...........................................................................10

6. Geochemical Landscapes.........................................................................................................14

7. Chesapeake Bay .........................................................................................................................16

8. The Problem With Dust..............................................................................................................20

9. Mineral Resource Assessments ..............................................................................................24

10. Materials Flow.............................................................................................................................26

11. USGS Science and Information for Conventional Energy and Alternative 

Energy Resources.......................................................................................................................30

12. Hazard Vulnerability, Risk, and Resilience .............................................................................34

13. Volcano Threat to Aviation—The Creation of NVEWS.........................................................36

14. Understanding and Forecasting Coastal Change From Extreme Storms ..........................40

15. New Efforts in Data and Technology—The USGS Integrated Data Environment ...........44

16. ShakeMap and PAGER...............................................................................................................46

17. Preserving our Nation’s Geological and Geophysical Data and Materials ......................48

18. The Changing Demographics of Geologists Inside and Outside the USGS......................52

19. EDMAP—Training the Next Generation of Geoscientists ...................................................54

B1. Selected Accomplishments of the Geology Science Strategy for 2000–2010..................64
iv

The USGS Science Strategy

Highlight 1

In 2007, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) developed a science strategy 

outlining the major natural science issues facing the Nation in the next 

decade. The strategy consists of six science directions that focus on 

areas where natural science can make a substantial contribution to the 

The Role of Environment and Wildlife in Human Health: A System 

that Identifies Environmental Risk to Public Health in America

Continue to identify wild animal disease 

reservoirs and maintain critical knowledge 

about wild animal disease transmission 

to humans, drinking-water contaminants, 

air-dust-soil-sediment-rock contaminants, 

pathogens in recreational water, and the use 

of wild animals as sentinels of human health. 

Fully integrate data holdings and environmental science expertise to produce a national 

database and atlas of geology and ecology-sourced diseases and 

toxicants. Partner with allied health science agencies to support 

spatially related health research.

A Water Census of the United States: Quantifying, Forecasting, 

and Securing Freshwater for America’s Future

Develop a Water Census of the United States 

to inform the public and decisionmakers about 

(1) the status of its freshwater resources and 

how they are changing; (2) a more precise 

determination of water use for meeting future 

human, environmental, and wildlife needs; (3) 

how freshwater availability is related to natural 

storage and movement of water, as well 

as engineered systems, water use, and related transfers; (4) how to 

identify nontraditional sources (not commonly thought to be resources) 

that might provide freshwater for human and environmental needs; 

and (5) forecasts of likely outcomes for water availability, water quality, 

and aquatic ecosystem health caused by changes in land use and land 

cover, natural and engineered infrastructure, water use, and climate.

Energy and Minerals for America’s Future: Providing a 

Scientific Foundation for Resource Security, Environmental 

Health, Economic Vitality, and Land Management

Contribute comprehensively to discourse and 

decisions about future natural resource security, environmental effects of resource use, 

the economic vitality of the Nation, and management of natural resources on Federal and 

other lands. Use a multidisciplinary approach 

to understand and evaluate how the complex 

life cycle of occurrence, formation processes, 

extraction methods, use, and waste products of energy and mineral 

resources influence, or are influenced by, landscape, hydrology, 

climate, ecosystems, and human health. Improve the reliability and 

accuracy of assessments and information products.

Climate Variability and Change: Clarifying the Record and 

Assessing Consequences

Expand research and monitoring initiatives in the science of carbon, nitrogen, and 

water cycles, hydroclimatic and ecosystem 

effects of climate change, and land-cover 

and land-use change. Continue studies of 

paleoclimate and past interactions of climate 

with landscapes and ecosystems, and apply 

that knowledge to understanding potential future states and processes. Provide robust predictive and empirical tools for managers 

to test adaptive strategies, reduce risk, and increase the potential for 

hydrologic and ecological systems to be self-sustaining, resilient, or 

adaptable to climate change and related disturbances.

Leveraging Evolving Technologies

Foster a culture and resource base that 

encourage innovation, thereby advancing 

scientific discovery through the development 

and application of state-of-the-art technologies.

Data Integration

Create a more integrated and accessible environment 

for vast resources of past and future data. Invest in 

cyberinfrastructure, nurture and cultivate programs in 

natural-science informatics, and participate in efforts to build 

a global integrated science and computing platform.

A National Hazards, Risk, and Resilience Assessment Program: 

Ensuring the Long-Term Health and Wealth of the Nation

Continue to collect accurate and timely information from modern earth observation networks, 

assess areas at risk from natural hazards, and 

conduct research to improve hazard predictions. 

Work with the Nation’s communities to assess 

the vulnerability of cities and ecosystems and to 

ensure that decisionmakers have the science 

needed to reduce losses. Develop a national risk-monitoring program, 

built on a robust underpinning of hazard assessment and research, to 

visualize and provide perspectives at multiple scales of vulnerability and 

resilience to adverse land change and hazards.

Understanding Ecosystems and Predicting Ecosystem Change: 

Ensuring the Nation’s Economic and Environmental Future

Advance the understanding of ecosystem 

structure, function, patterns, and processes 

and develop new products, including standardized national maps of ecosystems. Provide regularly updated reports on the status of 

ecosystems and assessment of trends to help 

communities and managers make informed 

decisions.

well-being of the Nation and the world and two directions 

related to data and technology, which are essential for the success of the science strategy. The eight directions were described in USGS 

Circular 1309 (USGS, 2007) and are summarized below.
v

Facing page:

Top left. Bison grazing in a Montana ecosystem. Photograph from U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Center left. Glacier in Prince William Sound, Alaska. Photograph by Don Becker (USGS), August 22, 2008.

Bottom left. Wind turbines on BLM public land, California. Photograph from U.S. Bureau of Land Management.

Top right. Building affected by liquefaction in the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, California. USGS photograph.

Center right. Sample of a chemical that may enter groundwater. Photograph by Joseph Ayotte (USGS).

Bottom right. A USGS scientist measuring water quality in Holes Creek, Kettering, Ohio. USGS photograph.

Bottom center (between shaded boxes). Five data layers for the map of the conterminous United States from 

the National Atlas of the United States®: climate, vegetation growth, streams and waterbodies, geology, and roads.

Preface

In February 2007, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) released a new science strategy, 

USGS Circular 1309, “Facing Tomorrow’s Challenges—U.S. Geological Survey Science in the 

Decade 2007–2017.” This comprehensive and forward-looking document sets forth six strategic directions representing the major natural science challenges facing society today: ecosystem 

change, climate variability, energy and mineral resources for the future, natural hazard risk and 

resilience, wildlife and human health, and water availability (see highlight 1). In response to 

the new USGS science strategy, the Associate Director for Geology charged an interdisciplinary team of scientists to create an implementation strategy that would encompass all geologic 

activities across the USGS. The charge to the team was twofold: (1) describe the fundamental 

research in the geological sciences needed in the next decade and (2) define a path to integrate 

the geological sciences with the other natural sciences to more fully understand the Earth’s 

complex systems. Thus, this report identifies the geology activities, interdisciplinary activities, 

strategic actions, critical partnerships, and new products needed to meet the ambitious directions of the USGS science strategy.

Achieving much of the work proposed here will require changes in the way the USGS 

conducts and funds science. Stronger collaboration across the scientific disciplines is necessary, 

both within the USGS and with academic, public, and private partners to accomplish the goals 

of this document. Flexibility in the USGS workforce and new expertise are crucial to improving our ability to respond rapidly to changing demands and to bring the best science to bear on 

high-priority issues. Development and adoption of new technologies and information science 

will be essential to improving the quality, accessibility, and use of our science.

This geology science strategy is especially timely given the significant changes that are 

affecting the surface of our planet and the fundamental role that geologic processes play in 

mitigating or exacerbating these changes. The research strategy presented here will help us 

understand the key geologic processes involved in change and how human activity alters the 

rates and outcomes of these processes. Such an understanding will aid the United States in 

more effective, ecosystem-based land-management practices, in creating communities that are 

healthier and more resilient to hazards and change, and in the wise use of increasingly scarce 

resources.

We wish to thank all who participated in the creation of this strategy. This report benefited 

greatly from the input and review of hundreds of scientists, managers, and policymakers from 

within and outside the USGS. We want to especially thank Elizabeth Good, for her extraordinary efforts and meticulous editing, Anna Glover, for the design and production of the layout 

and her tireless efforts with the illustrations and photographs used in this document, and Bruce 

Geyman, for the conceptual design of this report. Their efforts were instrumental to the completion of this report.

An extensive body of literature was also used to inform the writing team as we developed 

the ideas in this science strategy and is provided at the end of this report (appendix A). Finally, 

this report builds on the strong foundation provided by the previous geology science strategy 

described in USGS Circular 1172, “Geology for a Changing World: A Science Strategy for the 

Geologic Division of the U.S. Geological Survey, 2000–2010.”
vi Geology for a Changing World 2010–2020: Implementing the U.S. Geological Survey Science Strategy

Great Southern California ShakeOut—The USGS Works with 

Partners and Communities To Save Lives and Dollars

Highlight 2

At 10 a.m. on November 13, 2008, millions 

of people participated in the Great 

Southern California ShakeOut Drill, which 

at the time was the largest earthquake 

preparedness activity in U.S. history. 

The USGS developed the ShakeOut 

science scenario depicting a magnitude 

7.8 earthquake striking the southern San 

Andreas fault, starting at the Salton Sea 

USGS ShakeMap of a portion of the San Andreas fault (black line) showing topographic relief overlain 

by instrumental intensities for the simulated magnitude 7.8 ShakeOut Scenario earthquake. Lowest 

shaking intensities are in blue, and highest intensities are in red. From Perry and others (2008).

Computer-generated snapshots showing ground motions for the 2008 ShakeOut Scenario earthquake at three points in time—30 (left), 60 (center), and 

120 (right) seconds after the southern San Andreas fault (dashed line) first 

begins rupturing at Bombay Beach, on the eastern shore of the Salton Sea. 

Prime Tech Cabinets Inc. worker participating in 

the 2008 Great Southern California ShakeOut. 

Photograph by Felipe J. Guerena, Prime Tech 

Cabinets Inc.

and rupturing northward 200 miles (Jones 

and others, 2008). In the scenario, the 

earthquake would kill 1,800 people, injure 

53,000, cause $213 billion in damage, and 

have long-lasting social and economic 

consequences. The USGS worked with 

many partners and communities to 

plan the drill so that people could learn 

how to reduce their risk. The ShakeOut 

exercise was so successful that it has 

become an annual State-wide exercise in 

California. Other earthquake-prone areas 

have conducted or are planning similar 

exercises (http://www.shakeout.org/): 

New Zealand’s west coast (2009); 

Nevada and Guam (2010); and Oregon, 

British Columbia, and the central United 

States (2011).

From Perry and others (2008); simulation by Rob Graves of URS Corporation 

for the Southern California Earthquake Center on high-performance computers at the University of Southern California; images courtesy of Geoff Ely, 

University of California San Diego/San Diego Supercomputer Center.

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Geology for a Changing World 2010–2020:

Implementing the U.S. Geological Survey Science Strategy

By Linda C.S. Gundersen,1 Jayne Belnap,2 Martin Goldhaber,3 Arthur Goldstein,4 Peter J. Haeussler,5 

S.E. Ingebritsen,6 John W. Jones,1 Geoffrey S. Plumlee,3 E. Robert Thieler,7 Robert S. Thompson,3 and 

Judith M. Back1

1

U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, Va.

2

U.S. Geological Survey, Moab, Utah.

3

U.S. Geological Survey, Denver, Colo.

4

National Science Foundation, Arlington, Va.

5

U.S. Geological Survey, Anchorage, Alaska.

6

U.S. Geological Survey, Menlo Park, Calif.

7

U.S. Geological Survey, Woods Hole, Mass.

academia, industry, nongovernmental organizations and, most 

importantly, the American public. The first four goals of this 

report describe the scientific issues facing society in the next 

10 years and the actions and products needed to respond to 

these issues. The final two goals focus on the expertise and 

infrastructure needed to ensure the long-term sustainability of 

the geological sciences in the USGS.

The ultimate goal of USGS science and of the strategy 

laid out in this document is to contribute to the development 

of a sustainable society that operates in harmony with the 

Earth systems that society depends upon. As we begin the 

second decade of the 21st century, our Nation faces growing 

challenges in resource availability, climate and environmental 

change, and natural hazards. Meeting these challenges will 

require strong collaboration across the natural and social 

sciences and extensive partnerships with both the public and 

private sectors. The six goals described in this document 

represent a mix of scientific focus areas and operational 

necessities that together provide a comprehensive roadmap for 

USGS geologic science to effectively contribute to the USGS 

mission, providing science for a changing world.

Goal 1. Characterize and Interpret the Geologic 

Framework of the Earth Through Time

The first goal of this report focuses on understanding 

the geology and history of the Earth through time. The 

emphasis is on creating an integrated, four-dimensional, 

digital framework for the Earth that incorporates data from 

the many subdisciplines of geology, such as tectonics, 

sedimentology, geophysics, paleontology, and geochemistry. 

Such a framework currently does not exist and will require 

new process-oriented research and mapping, interpretation 

and modeling, extensive collaboration with external partners, 

and data integration tools and technology. The knowledge 

provided by this framework will be essential to successful 

implementation of each of the strategic directions of the 

USGS science strategy and will form a strong foundation for 

future generations of scientists.

Executive Summary

This report describes a science strategy for the geologic 

activities of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) for the years 

2010–2020. It presents six goals with accompanying strategic 

actions and products that implement the science directions of 

USGS Circular 1309, “Facing Tomorrow’s Challenges—U.S. 

Geological Survey Science in the Decade 2007–2017.” These 

six goals focus on providing the geologic underpinning 

needed to wisely use our natural resources, understand and 

mitigate hazards (highlight 2) and environmental change, 

and understand the relationship between humans and the 

environment. The goals emphasize the critical role of the 

USGS in providing long-term research, monitoring, and 

assessments for the Nation and the world. Further, they 

describe measures that must be undertaken to ensure geologic 

expertise and knowledge for the future.

The natural science issues facing today’s world are 

complex and cut across many scientific disciplines. The Earth 

is a system in which atmosphere, oceans, land, and life are all 

connected. Rocks and soils contain the answers to important 

questions about the origin of energy and mineral resources, the 

evolution of life, climate change, natural hazards, ecosystem 

structures and functions, and the movements of nutrients and 

toxicants. The science of geology has the power to help us 

understand the processes that link the physical and biological 

world so that we can model and forecast changes in the system.

Ensuring the success of this strategy will require 

integration of geological knowledge with the other natural 

sciences and extensive collaboration across USGS science 

centers and with partners in Federal, State, and local agencies, 
2 Geology for a Changing World 2010–2020: Implementing the U.S. Geological Survey Science Strategy

Goal 2. Understand Earth Surface and Climatic 

Processes and Anticipate Their Effects on 

Ecosystem Health and Change

Goal 2 of this report underscores the need to apply our 

knowledge of geology to the processes that govern terrestrial 

and biological systems. Of particular importance is how the 

environment and humans respond to changes in Earth surface 

processes caused by a wide variety of drivers, from climate 

variability to resource development. The outcome of this goal 

is to understand, anticipate, model, forecast, and mitigate these 

changes, providing benefits to humans and ecosystems through 

adaptive management. This goal is most strongly focused on 

the need for understanding fundamental geologic processes 

that will support three strategic directions of the USGS 

science strategy: (1) understanding ecosystems and predicting 

ecosystem change, (2) climate variability and change, and 

(3) the role of environment and wildlife in human health.

Goal 3. Understand and Quantify the Availability 

of Earth’s Natural Resources in a Global Context

Providing the science needed to understand, quantify, and 

potentially sustain our natural resources is the purpose of goal 

3. As population increases on a finite Earth, competition for 

resources becomes a global issue. Decisions made about using 

energy, minerals, and water and managing the environment 

have far-reaching impacts, both in space and time. Knowing 

the quality and location of the Earth’s resources, anticipating 

resource needs, understanding the cascading effect of resource 

development on ecosystem services, and assessing our 

ability to sequester carbon will allow long-term sustainable 

development of resources and healthy communities. This 

goal provides the underpinning research, methodology, and 

assessments needed to implement the “energy and minerals 

for America’s future” strategic direction of the USGS 

science strategy and supports two other strategic directions: 

(1) the role of environment and wildlife in human health and 

(2) climate variability and change.

Goal 4. Increase the Resilience of Communities 

to Geologic and Environmental Hazards

Earthquakes, landslides, volcanic eruptions, fire, extreme 

storms, coastal inundation, and related events are serious 

economic, public safety, environmental, and national security 

challenges. Goal 4 emphasizes the need for providing realtime, integrated national monitoring and warning systems, 

conducting research to better understand risk, and planning 

effective communication products and partnerships to build 

resilient communities across the globe. The expansion of 

population and infrastructure in hazard-prone areas has 

dramatically increased vulnerability to damage, injury, and 

loss that can change a natural hazard into a disaster. Improved 

collaboration with communities, engineers, emergency 

responders, and policymakers will result in more effective 

planning, thus reducing the monetary and human costs of 

natural hazards and increasing our overall resilience to 

disasters. This goal supports the geologic hazard science 

and monitoring needed for the “national hazards, risk, and 

resilience assessment program” strategic direction of the 

USGS science strategy.

Goal 5. Apply the Most Advanced Technologies 

and Best Practices To Effectively Acquire, 

Analyze, and Communicate Our Data and 

Knowledge

Our fast-paced world demands that we provide 

timely data and analyses for a myriad of issues that inform 

decisions at the local to global scale. Goal 5 outlines how 

to meet this demand through use of the best technology 

and instrumentation, national monitoring networks, and an 

information infrastructure to preserve, access, and integrate the 

scientific data we produce. Careful investment and leveraging 

of resources, providing tools and training, and partnering 

across programs internally and externally will be needed to 

maintain and improve our scientific infrastructure. Improved 

computational capability is required to develop innovative 

analysis, complex modeling, and visualization applications. 

This goal supports two cross-cutting science directions of the 

USGS science strategy: (1) data integration and (2) leveraging 

evolving technologies.

Goal 6. Develop a Flexible and Diverse 

Workforce for the Future

In order to continue the critical long-term science that 

the USGS provides, we will need to hire a diverse staff with 

new skills and knowledge while maintaining continuity and 

fundamental expertise in the geological sciences. Goal 6 

places an emphasis on the people who work at the USGS—

our greatest asset in providing science for a changing 

world. Earth scientists are in high demand, and so training, 

mentoring, internships, and recruitment programs for 

secondary, undergraduate, and graduate students will need 

to be expanded. We will also explore innovative approaches 

to hiring, developing, and rewarding employees. This goal 

supports all of the strategic directions of the USGS science 

strategy.
Introduction 3

Introduction

Globalization, the integration of the Earth’s economic 

and social systems, has brought unprecedented access to 

knowledge and resources. At the same time, many parts of 

the world are experiencing rapid growth in population and an 

increasing need for natural resources, placing unprecedented 

stress on the environment. The global transportation network 

has created new pathways for disease, invasive species, and 

toxins. Further, in the coming decades, the world will face 

extremes in weather and a general rise in global temperature 

and sea level as our climate changes. With increasing 

population, especially along coasts, rivers, wilderness areas, 

and mountain ranges, the exposure and susceptibility to 

risks from volcanoes, earthquakes, landslides, tsunamis, 

wildland fires, and floods will also grow. Global competition 

for natural resources has the potential to affect our ability 

to sustain the Nation’s economy, security, quality of life, 

and natural environment. How can we sustain growth 

while providing the energy, materials, water, food, healthy 

environment, security, and safety that the Nation and the 

world require?

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has the 

capability today to help our Nation and the world benefit 

from globalization while avoiding and mitigating possible 

consequences in the future. Because the Earth behaves as 

a system in which atmosphere, oceans, land, and living 

organisms are all interconnected, the USGS needs to 

increase its global role and collaborate with governments and 

communities throughout the world. USGS science can be 

used to enhance quality of life and sustainable use of natural 

resources. The Bureau provides the advanced and integrated 

natural science information needed to adaptively manage 

critical wildlife, land, water, forests, and soils.

The goals described in this report focus on understanding 

and anticipating changes in the natural environment. They 

emphasize the unique role of the USGS in providing research, 

long-term monitoring, and assessments for the Nation and 

the world. Each goal includes the highest priority strategic 

actions that must be undertaken and the proposed products and 

outcomes needed.

For the past decade, the geological sciences in the 

USGS have been guided by “Geology for a Changing 

World: A Science Strategy for the Geologic Division of 

the U.S. Geological Survey, 2000–2010” (USGS Circular 

1172 by Bohlen and others, 1998). Successes achieved 

by implementing the strategy defined in Circular 1172 are 

highlighted in appendix B of this report. As a result of that 

strategy, we created a strong foundation in timely hazard 

warning and mitigation; strengthened our monitoring systems; 

fostered local, regional, and international partnerships; 

and developed innovative hazard science, communication, 

and visualization. Under that plan, scientific integration 

with other disciplines became a hallmark of the geologic 

mapping, coastal and marine geology, and Earth surface 

dynamics programs. USGS energy and mineral resource 

assessments of undiscovered deposits expanded across the 

globe and included new resources and economic factors. 

Adopting a life-cycle view of resources and commodities 

and examining their production, use, and disposal led to an 

improved understanding of the flow of materials. Significant 

advancements were made into new areas of earth science 

research that link geologic processes to ecosystem and human 

health.

The strategy proposed here builds on the success of 

“Geology for a Changing World” and takes it a step further by 

emphasizing even more integration across the natural sciences 

and with the economic and social sciences as well. This plan 

also focuses on the need for integrating digital data, advanced 

modeling and monitoring of geological, hydrological, and 

biological systems, and providing tools for managers to 

respond rapidly and wisely to change.

Goal 1. Characterize and Interpret the Geologic 

Framework of the Earth Through Time

The Earth’s crust hosts most of the life on 

the planet, as well as the water, energy, and 

mineral resources that sustain society. The 

crust contains the answers to questions about 

the location and origins of these resources, 

the evolution of life, climate change, natural 

hazards, and the movements of nutrients and 

toxicants. A comprehensive understanding of 

the Earth’s geologic framework is needed to 

inform the critical decisions the Nation and 

the world will make about resource utilization, 

environmental quality, and hazard mitigation.

Facing page. Detachment folds in upper Paleozoic strata of the Brooks Range, 

Alaska. The Canning River can be seen in the distance. Divisions of geologic time 

are summarized in appendix C. Photograph by Randall Orndorff, USGS.
6 Geology for a Changing World 2010–2020: Implementing the U.S. Geological Survey Science Strategy

Highlight 3

Three-Dimensional Geologic Maps of the Earth Beneath California

Barbara) will provide the foundation for a 

detailed computer simulation of seismic 

wave propagation and ground shaking 

for the 2003 San Simeon earthquake 

similar to that produced for the 1906 San 

Francisco earthquake. The Coast Ranges 

map (some information from which is 

shown below) is being used to support 

the following studies:

•	 A 4D analysis of the evolution in 

space and time of the San Andreas 

fault. The analysis explicitly 

addresses the evolution of along 

fault, cross fault, and vertical 

deformation in the rocks in the 

vicinity of the fault.

USGS researchers are constructing 

three- and four-dimensional (3D and 

4D) geologic maps as a means of better 

understanding structural anatomy and 

evolution of the California crust. These 

state-of-the-art maps also support many 

other applications such as their use as 

a basis to model the ground motion that 

resulted from the 1906 San Francisco 

earthquake (http://earthquake.usgs.gov/

regional/nca/1906/simulations/) and to 

predict strong ground motions expected 

from future earthquakes on the Hayward 

fault (Aagaard and others, 2010).

A new 3D geologic map of the central 

California Coast Ranges (Monterey-Santa 

•	 Groundwater issues and the 

structure of Coast Range basins

•	 A new probabilistic seismic hazard 

assessment of the central Coast 

Ranges

•	 The tectonic evolution of the Coast 

Ranges between the San Andreas 

and Hosgri faults and north of the 

Western Transverse Ranges

•	 Work under the Cooperative 

Research and Development 

Agreement (CRADA) between the 

USGS and the Pacific Gas and 

Electric Company (PG&E)

View to the southeast along the 3D geologic map of the central California Coast Ranges; this illustration shows the fault architecture and fault 

activity hierarchy of the 3D map and represents only part of the information contained in the full map. Hypocenters of earthquakes that occurred 

in the past 20 years are shown in blue. The main shock of the San Simeon 

earthquake occurred on December 22, 2003, and had a magnitude of 6.5. Of 

particular interest are (1) the locations of the San Simeon hypocenter on 

the Oceanic fault and its aftershocks in the hanging wall of that fault and 

(2) the locations of the deep tremor events on the San Andreas fault where 

it truncates the Oceanic fault. The Oceanic fault surface in this interpretation was constrained by its mapped trace, by the San Simeon main shock 

and its aftershocks, by other historic microseismicity, and by deep seismicreflection data. It was not constrained by the locations of the deep tremor 

events. “Beachball” is located at the hypocenter of this earthquake and 

shows its focal mechanism. Moho, the boundary between the Earth’s crust 

(above) and mantle (below) where seismic waves change velocity; VE, 

vertical exaggeration. Image from Robert Jachens, Victoria Langenheim, 

Carl Wentworth, Robert Simpson, and Russell Graymer, all USGS.

Map 

showing 

location of 

3D model.

6 Geology for a Changing World 2010–2020: Implementing the U.S. Geological Survey Science Strategy

San 

Francisco

Monterey

122° 120° 118°

36°

34° Los 

Angeles

100 MILES

0 50 100 KILOMETERS

0 50

Santa 

Barbara

Santa Barbara

N

VE = 1 Deep seismic 

 tremor

M6.5 San Simeon

 main shock 2003

Oceanic fault

San Andreas fault

Hosgri

 fault

Earthquakes

Moho
Goal 1. Characterize and Interpret the Geologic Framework of the Earth Through Time 7

Societal Needs and Benefits

The USGS will use new technology and knowledge 

coupled with the syntheses of current geologic mapping, 

geochemical and geophysical surveys, geochronology, 

paleontology, structural geology, and sedimentology to create 

dynamic and accessible geologic maps and four-dimensional 

models of the United States, its coasts, and continental shelf 

(highlights 3 and 4). Geologic mapping has traditionally been 

conducted by field geologists traversing and describing rock 

outcrops, surveying the ocean floor, or examining drill core. 

Today, geologists working on both land and sea have access 

to a broad variety of technologies that provide information 

in the third dimension (depth) and fourth dimension (time). 

Techniques such as sidescan sonar, multibeam bathymetry, 

and seismic-reflection profiling are used to define surface 

and subsurface layers and structures in oceans and lakes. 

Measurements of gravity, magnetic, and electrical fields 

are used to decipher shallow and deep crustal structures. 

Light Detection and Ranging (lidar) is providing detailed 

topographic profiles at resolutions that allow us to measure 

changes in sedimentation, erosion, and subsidence, as well as 

detect faults and deformation.

New technologies in dating rocks, sediments, and 

surfaces are improving our understanding of the timing 

and duration of geologic events and processes. As a result, 

earth scientists can understand the path that rocks took 

through temperature, depth, and time as they were formed, 

buried, exhumed, and eroded. This history informs us about 

the genesis of energy and mineral resources, the evolution 

of landscapes, soil development, and climate change. 

Although advances in technology greatly enhance geologic 

interpretation, the work cannot be done without hands-on 

fieldwork by geologists and geophysicists. Moreover, the 

effectiveness of a field geologist is heightened by experience 

and knowledge of a region. The USGS and its partners have 

benefited tremendously by having regional geologic expertise 

that allows quick response to societal issues as they arise. 

Among our highest priorities are the training and hiring of the 

next generation of field geologists.

Civilization exists by geological 

consent, subject to change 

without notice.

Will Durant

Studies of the Earth’s crust, which forms our continents 

and underlies our oceans, provide the foundation for 

understanding most geological processes of societal 

significance. Life occurs upon or within the Earth and is 

sustained by its interactions with water, the atmosphere, 

and sunlight. Moreover, the nature of available geological 

materials has been a primary influence on the rise and fall of 

past civilizations. Soils that are derived from the weathering 

and erosion of surficial geologic materials are the foundation 

of agriculture. The crust of the continents hosts substantial 

energy, mineral, and groundwater resources. New sources 

of energy and minerals vital for our Nation’s future are 

being discovered in continental margins and ocean basins. 

Continental and marine sedimentary basins record the Earth’s 

changing climate. These basins are a principal target for 

geologic carbon sequestration, a potential means of reducing 

the release of this greenhouse gas into the atmosphere. Nearly 

all damaging earthquakes and volcanic eruptions occur within 

the continental crust or at the boundaries between continental 

and oceanic crust. Thus, a geological understanding of how 

the Earth works is vital to improving our understanding of 

energy, mineral, soil, and water resources, how our climate 

is changing, where and when hazards will occur, and the 

sustainability of life itself. This geologic framework is 

essential to accomplish the strategic directions of the USGS 

science strategy.

For more than 130 years, the USGS and its partners 

in State geological surveys have been the leaders in 

understanding the geologic framework of the United States. 

Geologic mapping has been a core activity for the entire 

history of the USGS because it provides the basic foundation 

for all geologic studies and the physical science framework for 

understanding environmental processes. In essence, geologic 

mapping is analogous to deciphering the genetic code of our 

physical Earth. There is a large and increasing demand for 

USGS geologic mapping products at the regional and national 

scale by many Federal, State, and local agencies, private 

industry, nongovernmental organizations, universities, and the 

public. Meeting those needs over the next decade is one of the 

most significant challenges we face.
8 Geology for a Changing World 2010–2020: Implementing the U.S. Geological Survey Science Strategy

Aerial photograph 

showing historical 

shorelines from 

1856 to 1983 

around Waites 

Island and Little 

River Inlet. Shorenormal transects 

(gray lines), starting at a baseline 500 meters (m) offshore (red line) 

and extending inland for 2,000 m, were drawn every 

25 m along the coast. Where a transect intersected 

a former shoreline position (colored dots), the 

distance from the baseline was used to calculate 

the average rate of shoreline change over that time 

period. From Barnhardt (2009, fig. 4.1).

South Carolina Coastal and Nearshore Geology

Carolina Sea Grant Consortium conducted 

a 7-year, multidisciplinary study to better 

understand the processes that control 

sediment movement along the coast 

(Barnhardt, 2009). Geologic mapping of 

onshore and offshore areas has improved 

our understanding of the rates and 

processes of coastal change at different 

time scales (storm event, decadal, and 

millennial) and has accurately determined 

Highlight 4

1969

1962

1923

1856

1983

1933

baseline

N

Little River

Inlet

Waites Island

Block diagram of the Murrells Inlet area, South Carolina, showing the shallowest and youngest components of the Grand Strand geologic framework. 

Holocene shoreline and inner shelf sediments overlie the regionally extensive 

erosional unconformity and have been deposited in the last 7,000 years. 

Wedge-shaped shoreline deposits lie above and adjacent to the eroded 

remains of older Pleistocene shoreline deposits and thin considerably across 

Geologists towing a subbottom profiler (yellow 

pontoons) in shallow water near the beach. The 

profiler used sound waves to provide images 

of the internal structure of the sea floor. From 

Barnhardt (2009, cover).

Holocene sediment thickness,

in meters

0.5

6

Holocene

shoreline

deposits

Holocene

inner shelf

sediments

Exposed

channel fill 

Exposed

sedimentary rock 

Murrells Inlet

the shoreface onto the inner shelf. Rocks and channel fills are exposed at the 

sea floor over extensive areas lacking Holocene sediment cover. Deposits up 

to 6 meters (20 feet) thick are primarily associated with tidal inlets. Red lines 

indicate erosional unconformities. The onshore land image was compiled 

from 1999 digital-orthophoto quarter quadrangles provided by the South 

Carolina Department of Natural Resources. From Barnhardt (2009, fig. 3.1C).

the location and quantity of offshore 

sand resources. Mapping products 

and data generated by the project have 

challenged long-held assumptions about 

how beaches evolve, especially how they 

respond to storms and rising sea level. 

Municipalities and government agencies 

have used the results of the study to more 

effectively stabilize beaches and protect 

public safety.

Natural coastal systems are increasingly 

being disturbed by human activity 

and climate change. Although 

representing only about 17 percent of 

the conterminous United States, coastal 

counties were home to about 53 percent 

of our population in 2003 (Crossett and 

others, 2004). In northeastern South 

Carolina, large infusions of new sediment 

are required to maintain landwardmigrating beaches that threaten static 

infrastructure. The USGS and the South 
Goal 1. Characterize and Interpret the Geologic Framework of the Earth Through Time 9

Strategic Actions

1. Understand and predict geologic processes and rates 

of change related to water, hazards, energy, minerals, 

ecosystems, and climate change

New field technologies and a strong geologic mapping 

workforce will be used to gather and integrate data in highpriority geographic areas. Emphasis will be on geologic 

mapping needed to understand important problems related 

to resources, hazards, ecosystems, climate change, and U.S. 

Department of the Interior (DOI) land-management needs. 

High priority will be given to continental and coastal studies 

that respond to the USGS science strategy with emphasis on 

partnerships with governments and communities. This priority 

work will provide focus areas for development of the geologic 

framework datasets, encourage interdisciplinary collaboration 

on process studies, and demonstrate the scientific utility of 

USGS geologic data. Accelerating global change will require 

an increased emphasis on understanding and modeling the 

processes that link geology, ecology, and climate throughout 

Earth’s history in order to understand potential future scenarios. 

Understanding and quantifying the specific role of tectonic 

processes in resource formation and landscape dynamics will 

also be a critical area of research. We will continue to expand 

studies of sediment transport and related processes and their 

relation to river, bay, and estuarine health, sea-level change, 

subsidence, and coastal vulnerability. Understanding and 

mapping the sea floor will be critical to support marine spatial 

planning and ecosystem-based resource management.

2. Develop and adopt new capabilities for understanding 

the evolution of the Earth

The USGS will develop and adopt new technologies 

and methods to support research on the geologic framework 

of the Earth. Advances in field, laboratory, and remotely 

sensed technology and simulation methods will lead to 

efficiencies and generate the high-resolution, high-quality 

data needed to support three- and four-dimensional models 

of crustal characteristics and processes. Specific emphasis 

will be given to (1) advanced field mapping techniques using 

hand-held global positioning and digital data recording 

devices; (2) adoption and development of laser-based 

instrumentation and new sensors that allow more precise 

dating and characterization of geologic materials; and (3) new 

instrumentation and processing methods for remote sensing 

of surface and subsurface characteristics. Success in these 

areas will require collaborative relationships with other 

science agencies and universities across the globe, technology 

training programs, and new hires with skills and knowledge of 

evolving and emerging technologies.

3. Develop the interpretations, protocols, and standards 

needed to provide seamless geologic maps

Creation of seamless geologic maps that can be produced 

on demand will require adoption of a common geologic 

map data model, expansion of the use of geoinformatics, 

and establishment of publishing standards so that users 

can specify the area, size, and type of map needed, without 

regard to the boundaries of previously published geologic 

maps. Although informatics and geographic information 

system (GIS) technology will help us achieve this goal, there 

remain numerous issues related to merging maps, correlating 

rock units, and properly conveying the level of knowledge 

and spatial resolution that will require new analysis and 

interpretation. Additionally, issues related to proper citation 

and credit to original authors and institutions will need to be 

resolved.
10 Geology for a Changing World 2010–2020: Implementing the U.S. Geological Survey Science Strategy

? Catchment area ?

EDWARDS PLATEAU HILL COUNTRY GULF COASTAL PLAIN

A B

Trinity Group

Recharge

zone

Artesian

zone

Balcones fault zone

Upper

confining

units

Midway Group

Surficial

deposits

Wilcox and 

Claiborne Groups

Edwards Group

Trinity Group

Fresh-/saline-water interface

Undifferentiated Paleozoic rocks

Edwards and Trinity Aquifer Study in Texas

Highlight 5

Geologic mapping, geophysical surveys, 

geochronology, 3D subsurface modeling, 

and noble gas geochemical studies 

were integrated to better understand 

the resources of two of the most 

important aquifers in the United States. 

The Edwards aquifer, which has been 

designated a sole source aquifer by the 

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 

is one of the most productive carbonate 

aquifers in the United States. The 

Distribution of the Edwards and Trinity aquifers.

Upper Seco Creek HEM (helicopter 

electromagnetic and magnetic) 

survey of near-surface strata. Warmer 

colors indicate more resistive rocks 

(limestone and dolostone), and cooler 

colors (blues) indicate conductive rocks 

(shale and mudstone). The survey 

results were among the datasets used 

to build the 3D model at left.

Three-dimensional 

EarthVisionTM model 

of the North Seco 

Creek area, with multiple 

faults (shown in red) and the 

electromagnetic geophysical profiles (shown in blue) used to construct the model.

Edwards aquifer serves the domestic, 

industrial, and agricultural needs of 

approximately 2 million people and is 

the primary source of water for San 

Antonio, Tex. The Trinity aquifer forms 

the catchment area for the Edwards 

recharge aquifer, and it intercepts 

some surface flow above the Edwards 

recharge zone. Waters sustain critical 

habitat for federally listed endangered 

Structural schematic cross section of the Edwards aquifer and catchment area (Trinity aquifer).

species and support a vigorous tourism 

economy. Increased knowledge about 

the complex hydrologic processes that 

control water availability in the Edwards 

aquifer is imperative for effective 

resource management. Optimizing the 

use of the aquifer while ensuring that 

present and future needs are satisfied is 

the ultimate goal for the region. Figures 

below are from Blome and others (2007).

100-kHz

apparent resistivity

ohm-meters

20

36

30

42

49

57

67

77

87

98

1,259

839

654

532

435

361

288

209

123
Goal 1. Characterize and Interpret the Geologic Framework of the Earth Through Time 11

Products and Outcomes

this integrated approach to mapping to connect onshore and 

offshore geologic information, including data for the U.S. 

coastal zone, continental margin, and extended Exclusive 

Economic Zone.

3. Derivative maps, syntheses, and interpretations 

needed to make decisions

Derivative geologic maps and reports are needed 

to more effectively communicate geologic knowledge to 

specific audiences. Derivative products that emphasize the 

physical properties of rocks and soils, such as the grain size, 

chemistry, porosity, and physics of earth materials, have a broad 

spectrum of applications in engineering, hydrology, ecology, 

and agriculture. Depending on the intended audience, these 

derivative products will be thematic maps, technical articles, 

or educational materials that are digitally linked to the original 

geologic framework data. With input from stakeholders, 

derivative products can be critical to the development of timely 

and effective science, policy, and decisionmaking. Geologic 

maps provide a physical representation of the Earth, but 

they have not traditionally conveyed dynamic and predictive 

knowledge. The USGS will improve its ability to produce 

digital products that include geologic scenarios, simulations, 

and predictive models relevant to climate change, ecosystem 

change and health, groundwater flow, resource assessment, 

carbon sequestration, and potential hazards.

4. High-resolution stratigraphy, geochemistry, and 

geochronology

Technological advances now allow more precise dating 

and characterization of geologic units. Such high-resolution 

measurements have a multitude of applications, including 

improving the quality of information on geologic maps and 

allowing for modeling in the third and fourth dimensions. The 

use of laser-based instrumentation and new sensors to derive 

knowledge from geologic materials will be enhanced.

1. Three-dimensional geologic maps and interpretations 

of the continental and offshore areas of the United States 

and its territories

Geologic and geophysical maps and associated datasets 

will remain core products of the USGS and its geologic 

mapping partners. Although two-dimensional geologic maps 

will still be needed, geologic maps that better incorporate 3D 

information will become the standard. As we move toward 

better integration and innovative analyses of geologic data, 

geophysical data, and remote sensing imagery, we need to 

collect additional information on physical and geochemical 

properties to better characterize mapped units and more 

accurately create models of the third dimension. Increased 

use of high-resolution digital elevation models and lidar 

data to refine geologic and geophysical maps and understand 

processes is needed. Emphasis will be on areas with risks from 

multiple hazards, critical groundwater aquifers (highlight 5), 

new energy and mineral deposits, and the coastal zone and 

continental shelf.

2. Geologic maps and models of the Earth through time

The USGS will facilitate geologic mapping in four 

dimensions through the use of comprehensive approaches 

that integrate geophysical and drill-hole data with improved 

dating and paleoecology methods. Maps made by utilizing 

advances in database modeling and visualization will allow 

analysis of geologic changes through time and across various 

scales. Dynamic and digital, these maps will link to related 

data and interpretive products and readily incorporate new 

geological, geochemical, geophysical, paleoecological, and 

geochronological data as they become available. Working 

with partners such as State governments, the National 

Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the U.S. 

Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), and the Bureau of 

Ocean Energy Management (BOEM, formerly part of the 

Minerals Management Service, MMS), the USGS will use 

Goal 2. Understand Earth Surface and Climatic 

Processes and Anticipate Their Effects on Ecosystem 

Health and Change

Ecosystems arise from the intricate 

interactions of life and the chemical and 

physical processes that occur at or near 

the Earth’s surface. Geology, climate, and 

land-use history determine where various 

kinds of ecosystems develop. These 

factors also influence the nature and rates 

of physical, chemical, hydrological, and 

biological processes that occur within an 

ecosystem. Ecosystems are increasingly 

modified by natural and human-induced 

stresses, such as climate change, sea-level 

rise, desertification, and extinction of 

species. These and other alterations pose 

a challenge for the sustained well-being 

and security of the Nation. The USGS 

will continue to develop and expand the 

geologic knowledge needed to help the 

Nation monitor, anticipate, and adapt in 

order to maintain ecosystem sustainability 

in this changing world.

Facing page. Aerial photograph of the California Aqueduct at the Interstate 205 

crossing. Photograph by Ian Kluft (http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:KluftPhoto-Aerial-I205-California-Aqueduct-Img_0038.jpg).
14 Geology for a Changing World 2010–2020: Implementing the U.S. Geological Survey Science Strategy

Geochemical Landscapes

Highlight 6

The geochemical patterns exhibited 

by Earth surface materials result from 

the complex interactions of geologic, 

hydrologic, geomorphic, atmospheric, 

biologic, and anthropogenic processes 

operating over a range of temporal 

and spatial scales. The USGS is 

characterizing these patterns and 

processes for several regions of 

the United States. These detailed 

studies can be used to understand 

geochemical processes operating in the 

environment that may affect human and 

environmental health. In this example, 

there is a clear differentiation of soil 

geochemistry across the Sacramento 

valley of northern California. The 

separation between the two sides of 

the valley is maintained by a levee built 

up along the Sacramento River. The 

chemical differential across the valley 

reflects contrasting soil source materials 

in the Coast Ranges to the west and the 

Sierra Nevada Mountains to the east.

Calcium (Ca, upper map) and chromium (Cr, lower map) in surface soil of northern California, shown 

as proportional symbols; the larger the circle, the higher the content. The geometric mean for soil of 

the continental United States is 0.92 weight percent for calcium and 37 milligrams of chromium per 

kilogram of soil (Helmke, 2000). The red points are surface soil (upper 20 centimeters) and the purple 

points are stream sediment. Urban areas are shaded. Calcium map modified from Goldhaber and others 

(2009); chromium map from Morrison and others (2009).

Vicinity map showing location of chemical plots 

(rectangle) in relation to the Sierra Nevada 

and Klamath Mountains and Coast Ranges, 

Calif. Map from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/

File:Sacramentorivermap.jpg.

Soil Ca; weight percent

0.05–0.79

0.80–1.11

1.12–1.57

1.58–2.12

2.13–2.80

2.81–8.07

Average: 0.92
Goal 2. Understand Earth Surface and Climatic Processes and Their Effects on Ecosystem Health and Change 15

Societal Needs and Benefits

food supply, and other environmental issues have destabilized 

governments and caused armed conflict among nations; hence, 

environmental security has emerged in the last decade as an 

important concern for the United States and all other nations.

The USGS science strategy identifies research on 

interactions among ecosystems, Earth surface geologic 

processes, and climatic regimes as a core future activity for 

the USGS. Characterization of the Nation’s surficial geology, 

and the processes affecting it, has long been a strength of the 

USGS. This goal builds on this existing strength and expands 

its application to understanding ecosystem dynamics. Because 

these topics cross disciplinary boundaries, we will need to 

link geologic mapping expertise with such subdisciplines as 

geomorphology, geochemistry, biogeochemistry, climatology, 

and geoecology and with expertise from other disciplines 

such as biology, hydrology, and geography, both within and 

external to the USGS. Our interdisciplinary capabilities, 

combined with a continuing commitment to long-term studies, 

place the USGS in a unique position to address change 

in our environment. There are several steps to achieving 

this goal: (1) characterizing the components and processes 

present in ecosystems today, (2) monitoring ongoing changes, 

(3) examining past factors that resulted in the present-day 

conditions, (4) modeling past and future environmental 

changes, and (5) understanding links to human health. 

Collectively, this information will provide the foundation for 

predicting the range of possible future conditions and their 

likely consequences for ecosystems and human society. It 

will be critical to use the latest available technologies and 

to develop new approaches in monitoring, assessment, and 

research.

Soils are the thin film over the Earth’s surface in which 

geological, biological, and human processes intersect. Geology 

and ecosystems are intimately coupled. Ecosystems occur 

over a range of scales from the microscopic to the planetary. 

Regardless of scale, the processes that support ecosystems and 

human society are rooted in geology and localized within the 

rocks, soils, and waters of the outermost layer of the Earth. 

The crustal environment supports terrestrial, freshwater, and 

marine resources. Weathering converts rocks into nutrientbearing soil (highlight 6). Because soils provide the basis 

for terrestrial life, they literally and figuratively provide the 

foundation of civilization. The continental crust also hosts our 

precious freshwater resources. Shallow marine and coastal 

ecosystems are a critical interface between the continents and 

the oceans.

Humans have become a dominant agent of change on our 

planet. The rapid growth and spread of the human population 

and accompanying widespread land-use impacts, coupled 

with climatic changes related to the release of greenhouse 

gases into the atmosphere, are altering the Earth’s surface and 

its ecosystems (highlight 7). Of special concern are changes 

to soils and the water, carbon, and nutrient cycles that are 

having increasingly negative consequences for all terrestrial 

and marine ecosystems and, ultimately, for human society and 

health. Of increasing concern is the continuing decrease in the 

ocean’s pH, known as ocean acidification, that is caused by the 

dissolution of CO2

 in seawater.

There are many examples of past civilizations that have 

declined as a result of failing to conserve natural resources or 

to adapt to climate and other changing conditions (Diamond, 

2005). Our Nation and the world are facing similar risks. 

Environmental degradation, loss of water or soil resources and 
16 Geology for a Changing World 2010–2020: Implementing the U.S. Geological Survey Science Strategy

River input sediment (deltas) 

from Piedmont and the 

Appalachians 

Coastal erosion sediment from 

terraces, islands, and steep 

bluffs of Coastal Plain 

outcrops 

Atlantic sediment from 

continental shelf and 

nearby coastal erosion

EXPLANATION

Thin deposits on Tertiary rock 

outcrops and buried 

Pleistocene channels

Zone of maximum turbidity

Towns

Bathymetry, in meters

Prevailing movement of 

sediment from source 

Highlight 7

Chesapeake Bay

Chesapeake Bay, the Nation’s largest 

estuary, has been negatively affected 

by human activities as the population 

in the watershed has doubled 

since 1950, resulting in degraded 

water quality, loss of habitat, and 

declines in populations of biological 

communities. Extensive agriculture 

and urbanization in the watershed 

have put major stresses (nutrients, 

sediments, contaminants) on water 

quality in rivers, tributaries, and the 

bay itself. Since the mid-1980s, the 

USGS has worked with partners in the 

Chesapeake Bay Program to study 

ways to restore the bay ecosystem. 

The paleoclimate of the watershed 

provides insight for ecosystem 

management. USGS scientists have 

used marine, estuarine, and terrestrial 

proxies to examine impacts of climate 

change on the watershed in both its 

natural and anthropogenically altered 

states. These proxies include pollen 

(temperature and precipitation), 

microfaunal assemblages (salinity, 

dissolved oxygen levels, temperature), 

phytoplankton (dissolved oxygen, 

salinity), and shell chemistry 

(temperature, salinity).

Sediment sources to the Chesapeake Bay estuary 

from river input, coastal erosion sediment, 

Atlantic sediment, and other deposits. From 

Cronin (2007, fig. 7.1).

Digital elevation model forecasts of sea-level rise at Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge, Dorchester County, Md., for 2002 (left) and 2100 (right); the 2100 

forecast is based on an assumed 6.2-millimeter-per-year rise in sea level. Sea-level rise during the coming century will affect tidal wetlands throughout the 

estuary. From Cahoon (2007, fig. 12.1).
Goal 2. Understand Earth Surface and Climatic Processes and Their Effects on Ecosystem Health and Change 17

Strategic Actions

Field Stations (http://www.obfs.org/), and the multiagency 

National Phenology Network (http://www.usanpn.org/). 

The knowledge and data created through our monitoring 

programs will be key resources for global change 

assessments and supporting resource management planning.

3. Understand past changes in the Earth’s climate and 

ecosystems

It is critical to understand how ecosystems have 

responded to long-term climatic changes under a wide range 

of past climatic states from deep time to the present, and 

how human actions have modified ecosystem processes, to 

better understand likely future scenarios. USGS studies will 

include site-specific reconstructions of change, analyses of 

local to global patterns of climate and ecosystem change 

through time, and investigations focused on past functioning 

of key biogeochemical processes. These studies will reveal 

the rates, amplitudes, and geographic patterns of past climatic 

and environmental changes, information that is critical for 

assessing the importance of current changes. Emphasis will 

include changes in geochemical cycles, erosion rates, and 

chemical fluxes and the ecological effects of variations in 

atmospheric chemistry. Paleoenvironmental reconstructions 

will provide the basis for assessing how well models of 

climatic and environmental change simulate conditions 

different from those of today. USGS paleoenvironmental 

research will include close collaborations with the university 

community; NSF, NOAA, and other Federal agencies; and 

international consortia of paleoclimate researchers.

4. Model and forecast potential future changes in the 

Earth’s climate and ecosystems

Anticipating how global change will affect our 

environment requires understanding the complex interactions 

among climate, life, and geology. The USGS will address 

this challenge by modeling Earth surface and ecosystem 

responses to a range of past and future climate states and 

land-use scenarios. Understanding how climate change is 

linked to disturbance regimes such as fire, insect outbreaks, 

and species invasions is important for adaptive management 

on our public lands. Likely future scenarios will be created 

to assess the sensitivity of key lands and resources under a 

range of future global change conditions, with the objective 

of informing decisions by policymakers and land and 

resource managers. Specifically, the USGS will model 

biological, geological, and chemical cycles; sediment erosion 

and deposition; and ecosystem responses to climatic changes 

and to perturbations to natural disturbance regimes. This 

work will be cross disciplinary within the USGS and will 

involve extensive collaborations with external modeling 

groups.

1. Characterize and understand the key physical, 

chemical, and biological components and processes that 

determine ecosystem structure and function

In the coming decade, the USGS will map, describe, 

and strive to understand the key physical, chemical, and 

biological characteristics and processes that affect ecosystem 

structure and function. We will focus on how geologic 

materials and processes determine the distribution, abundance, 

and well-being of life on Earth. Given the critical nature of 

soils to our environment, we will expand USGS soil science 

expertise and, in collaboration with other Federal agencies, 

emphasize the processes that control soil formation and its 

physical, biological, and chemical properties (see photograph 

of soil crusts on p. 19). We will quantify atmospheric and 

riverine transport of terrestrial sediments, refine the mapping 

of our geologic units deposited during the Quaternary 

Period (see appendix C for divisions of geologic time), and 

improve our understanding of geomorphic change. We will 

continue to build our database of inorganic soil geochemical 

analyses, augment this with organic and geomicrobiological 

information, and integrate these data into national hydrologic 

and ecosystem studies. We will improve understanding of how 

geological, biological, and chemical cycles interact to support 

life and health. A special emphasis will be placed on human 

interaction with and effects on carbon, nitrogen, and water 

cycles at local to global scales.

2. Monitor processes and changes at the Earth’s surface 

to understand variation and disturbances in natural cycles

Monitoring at relevant scales provides the baseline 

and time series data needed to quantify rates and scales of 

natural processes. Current monitoring of carbon, water, 

and nutrient cycles, permafrost distribution, soil movement 

via wind and water, vegetation changes as controlled by 

geology and climate, and coastal change will be expanded 

through increased spatial coverage and finer temporal 

resolution. More effective and complementary use of in 

situ and remote observations is critical in this regard. New 

interdisciplinary efforts will mine extensive geophysical 

and remotely sensed datasets and monitor interactions 

among physical, chemical, and biotic parameters. Emphasis 

will be on geological controls of the interaction among 

vegetation, topography, climate, water, and coastal 

change and on addressing both basic science and resource 

management issues. We will engage external partners and 

monitoring efforts such as DOI’s Landscape Conservation 

Cooperatives (http://www.fws.gov/science/SHC/lcc.

html), the National Science Foundation’s (NSF’s) Long 

Term Ecological Research sites (http://www.lternet.edu/), 

the National Ecological Observatory Network 

(http://www.neoninc.org/), the Organization of Biological 
18 Geology for a Changing World 2010–2020: Implementing the U.S. Geological Survey Science Strategy

5. Interpret the links among geology, the environment, 

and human health

We will expand our interdisciplinary environmental 

research and increase collaboration with health scientists to 

address environmental and health issues. We will use geologic 

expertise from a wide range of subdisciplines to help health 

scientists understand toxicologically important characteristics 

of earth materials. Collaborations with health scientists 

will leverage our earth science databases and expertise to 

provide insights into disease epidemiology, geological and 

geochemical controls on pathogen ecology, and zoonotic 

(animal-borne) diseases. Studies examining the effects of 

climate and Earth surface change on ecosystem health will 

also consider potential effects on human health. We will 

address emerging issues such as potential environmental and 

health effects of materials used in or generated by advanced 

technology such as nanotechnology and genetic engineering.

6. Expand USGS activities that enhance environmental 

security

The USGS is in a unique position within the Federal 

Government to provide information on processes controlling 

a wide range of environmental and health issues that may 

affect the security of the United States and other governments. 

Working in cooperation with partners such as the State 

Department, United Nations Environment Program, and our 

sister agencies in other countries, the USGS can take a variety 

of actions to enhance this role. These include helping to 

track and understand geology-related or geology-influenced 

environmental and health issues in a global context, enhancing 

research on these issues that cross international borders and 

affect the United States, and providing expertise to other 

countries on their own pressing issues in environmental health.

7. Understand the regional environmental effects of 

agricultural practices

Agriculture directly affects more than 50 percent of 

the land use in the conterminous 48 States and indirectly 

affects an even larger proportion of the Nation’s terrestrial, 

aquatic, and marine resources. Changes in farming practices 

over the last 200 years have shifted the character of the 

landscape through increasing cultivation, draining of wetlands, 

intensification of agricultural production, and application of 

fertilizers, pesticides, and antibiotics. The eroded materials 

may play a significant role in the net gain or loss of carbon 

from the Nation’s surface environment and in the distribution 

of anthropogenic constituents. The fate of these eroded 

sediments is not well characterized. In cooperation with 

other Federal, State, and nongovernmental organizations, the 

USGS can bring an interdisciplinary approach to this topic 

by integrating the overall geologic and hydrologic context 

of agricultural lands with long-term research and ecosystem 

monitoring to assess the effects of agriculture on the broader 

landscape. Issues the USGS will consider include changes in 

soil composition and erosion by cultivation, carbon storage, 

generation of dust, effects of agricultural practices on soil 

and water quality, and implications of global climate change 

for agriculture. Through development of integrated mapping 

products with a goal of improving resource protection, the 

USGS will provide critical information for agricultural land 

management and conservation decisions.

Facing page. Pinnacled biological soil crusts, Arches National Park, Utah. 

Biological soil crusts are formed by living organisms (primarily cyanobacteria) 

and their byproducts. They occur in arid to semiarid regions and play an 

important role in ecosystem health by contributing to soil stability, water 

retention, and soil fertility. They are very fragile and can be easily damaged by 

human activity. Photograph by Linda C.S. Gundersen, USGS.

20 Geology for a Changing World 2010–2020: Implementing the U.S. Geological Survey Science Strategy

Highlight 8

The Problem With Dust

Most desert soil surfaces are stable 

until disturbed (Field and others, 2009). 

When disturbed, loss of soil via wind 

erosion reduces soil fertility at the 

source, as dust loss exceeds input. Dust 

in transit reduces air quality, causes 

traffic accidents, and can compromise 

human health. Dust deposition onto 

the snowpack increases melt rates 

by darkening the snow surface and 

increasing the absorption of solar 

radiation (the dominant melting force). 

As most dust is deposited in April 

and May, it coincides with high solar 

irradiance. High melt rates are sustained 

because snow melts from under the 

dust, consolidating individual dust layers 

and further darkening the surface.

Dust deposition in the southern 

Rockies increased fivefold during the 

past 150 years from the average rate 

for the past 5,000 years and may be 

related to disturbance of fragile desert 

soil surfaces by large livestock herds 

and agriculture (Neff and others, 

2008). Current activities (for example, 

recreation, energy development, 

agriculture) maintain high dust levels. 

During 2005 and 2006, dust deposition in 

Gust-front dust cloud moving across the Llano Estacado toward Yellow House Canyon near the 

residential community of Ransom Canyon, Tex. Photograph by Leaflet (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/

File:Haboob_Ransom_Canyon_Texas_2009.jpg.)

Many factors, including drought and surface disturbances from human activities, can promote wind 

erosion. Emission of dust from wind-eroded landscapes causes the loss of soil and the resources that it 

provides. Here soil levels are 30 to 35 centimeters below what they were when these shrubs were alive 

about 10 years ago. Photograph by Richard Reynolds, USGS.

Dust layers in a snowpit at the Center for Snow 

and Avalanche Studies’ Senator Beck Basin 

study area near Red Mountain Pass, Colo. 

Photograph by Chris Landry, used courtesy 

of Center for Snow and Avalanche Studies, 

Silverton, Colo.

the southern Rockies shortened snow 

cover by 18 to 35 days (Painter and 

others, 2007), whereas events in 2009 

resulted in 48 fewer days of snow cover 

(T.L. Painter, NASA, written commun., 

2010). Earlier snowmelt results in earlier 

runoff, less late season water, and 

increased evaporative loss of water from 

exposed soils, reducing total runoff. Dust 

production can be mitigated by altering 

the timing, type, and intensity of soil 

disturbance in low-elevation lands.
Goal 2. Understand Earth Surface and Climatic Processes and Their Effects on Ecosystem Health and Change 21

Products and Outcomes

implement systematic and advanced approaches to data 

compilation, synthesis, and interpretation; and produce local 

to global interpretations of past changes. Key products will 

include summaries of ecosystem and landscape characteristics 

of past climate episodes and abrupt climate change, time 

series of change focused on sensitive regions or processes, 

and assessments of the amplitudes and rates of past changes 

compared to ongoing and projected changes.

4. Digital atlas of land-use-change and climate-change 

vulnerability

Landscape sensitivity to environmental change is 

related to substrate composition, topographic position, and 

hydrology, among other factors. The USGS will identify 

ecosystem components and processes vulnerable to changes in 

climate and land use. This information will be synthesized to 

produce a national atlas of the relative vulnerability of various 

environments to global change. These maps will reflect, for 

example, sea-level change, ground subsidence, permafrost 

distribution, soil and coastal modification, the influence of 

substrate in ecosystem dynamics, and changes in coastal 

environments. Products will be designed for use by land and 

resource managers and created through collaboration with 

other scientific disciplines and State and Federal land and 

resource managers.

5. Digital national hydrogeochemical landscape map

The term “landscape geochemistry” describes the linked 

chemical transformation of near-surface fluids and materials 

as they co-evolve through biotic and abiotic processes. A 

national-level soil geochemical dataset is currently being 

compiled, which, in conjunction with existing USGS sediment 

and water geochemical databases, can be used to construct a 

geochemical landscapes map. A difficult but achievable goal 

for the next decade is to merge such a map with data from the 

National Water Information System, with regional synthesis 

maps of water-quality data from the National Water-Quality 

Assessment (NAWQA) Program, with the USGS Hydrologic 

Landscapes map, and with other relevant datasets. This 

merged product will describe movement of fluids at and near 

the Earth’s surface and will provide critical information on the 

underlying processes that control their chemistry as well. The 

resulting “hydrogeochemical landscape” maps and data will 

serve as a useful national baseline against which to compare 

future surface geochemical changes and will provide essential 

physical and chemical data for ecologic studies.

1. Digital maps of geologic and soil properties that 

influence ecosystems

The geologic and soil characteristics of a site (surficial 

and bedrock geology, geomorphology, and geochemistry) 

strongly influence the plants and animals present at that site, 

the resistance and resilience of ecosystems to land-use and 

climate change, and the resulting ecosystem services. The 

USGS will expand production of ecologically relevant maps 

and will relate those maps, at appropriate scales, to ongoing 

and future ecological studies. These maps will specifically 

target relevant physical attributes such as rock type, texture, 

and chemistry, as well as soil properties that affect organism 

and ecosystem health.

2. Quantitative assessments and digital maps of 

fundamental fluxes

Human activities have greatly accelerated the 

transport of many materials, such as waterborne sediments 

and atmospherically deposited constituents such as dust 

(highlight 8), carbon, and nitrogen compounds and elements 

of environmental concern, including mercury and lead. 

This movement can dramatically affect ecosystems, both 

where the materials originate and where they are deposited. 

For instance, abandoned farmlands and other disturbed 

soil surfaces are often a major source of windborne and 

waterborne sediments. The loss of soil reduces soil fertility 

and water-holding capacity. The deposition of soil can 

reduce water quality and aquatic biota, damage plants, and 

reduce snow albedo, accelerating snowpack melt rates, as 

well as act as a vector for transport of potentially deleterious 

constituents. The USGS will document the source of specific 

wind- and water-transported materials, as well as quantify 

the amount of loss, how the loss of this material affects the 

source ecosystem, and how deposited material affects the 

receiving ecosystem.

3. Syntheses of past ecosystem and land-surface 

changes

Research on past ecosystems provides evidence of the 

amplitudes, rates, and spatial-temporal patterns of variations 

that resulted from changes in the atmosphere-land surfacebiosphere system. The USGS will establish a framework 

for the interpretation of data on past ecosystem and landsurface change. This framework will utilize USGS strengths 

in paleontology, geochemistry, geochronology, and surficial 

geology to develop rigorous quality and dating standards; 
22 Geology for a Changing World 2010–2020: Implementing the U.S. Geological Survey Science Strategy

FL

AL GA

SC

NC

VA

MD

DE

NJ

PA

NY

CT

VT NH

RI

ME

MA

EXPLANATION

[Not all sites shown individually due to scale]

Former asbestos mine

Former asbestos prospect

Reported asbestos occurrence

Urban area

6. Geologic input for a USGS national environmental 

health system

The USGS science strategy (USGS, 2007, p. 43) calls 

for the establishment and maintenance of a national-scale 

environmental health information system that would “serve 

as a clearinghouse for spatially referenced environmental 

information (data, research, modeling interpretations) linked 

to a set of Geographic Information System (GIS) decision 

support tools.” The geologic sciences can provide fundamental 

components for this system such as bedrock geologic 

maps, national geochemical and geophysical databases, and 

databases describing aspects of energy and mineral resources 

(see map below of asbestos occurrences). These data and 

research will help in development of derivative products 

that provide insights into geology-related health issues. For 

example, integrating geological and epidemiological data may 

yield insight into where health and geological parameters are 

linked. To be effective, the USGS will need to work with the 

health community to better understand and define meaningful 

relationships among geologic and health data.

Locations of 331 natural asbestos occurrences in the Eastern United 

States. These occurrences range in size from small veins to large ore bodies 

once mined for commercial and industrial uses. Using the map and an 

accompanying digital database, the user can examine the characteristics 

and distribution of previously reported asbestos occurrences in the Eastern 

United States. Map and database from Van Gosen (2006).
Goal 3. Understand and Quantify the Availability of Earth’s 

Natural Resources in a Global Context

The Nation’s security and economic health 

depend on ready access to natural resources 

that can be developed and used in a sustainable 

manner. Increasing global population and 

standards of living are placing unprecedented 

demands on resource markets and increasing 

global competition. The USGS will conduct 

interdisciplinary investigations into the 

global availability and societal use of energy, 

mineral, water, and soil resources and develop 

methodologies to assess the potential costs 

and benefits of developing and using these 

resources by integrating geologic, economic, 

environmental, and health information.
24 Geology for a Changing World 2010–2020: Implementing the U.S. Geological Survey Science Strategy

Mineral Resource Assessments

Highlight 9

10°N

80°W 70°W 60°W 50°W

0°

10°S

20°S

30°S

40°S

50°S

The USGS responds to the Nation’s 

need for mineral resources by providing 

assessments of undiscovered resources. 

Understanding the processes that 

form mineral deposits, characterizing 

known deposits throughout the world, 

and utilizing methods and techniques 

developed over many years are all 

essential for assessment of commodities 

crucial to the economy and security of 

the United States.

A new USGS quantitative assessment 

of previously undiscovered porphyry 

copper deposits in the Andes Mountains 

of South America identified 26 different 

tracts of land where the geology is 

permissive for these deposits within 

1 kilometer of the Earth’s surface 

(Cunningham and others, 2008). The 

assessment, prepared jointly with the 

geological surveys of Argentina, Chile, 

Colombia, and Peru, estimated that 750 

million metric tons of undiscovered 

copper exists in the Andes, which means 

that there may be as much undiscovered 

copper as has already been discovered. 

This work was part of a large USGS 

study, initiated in 2002, as a cooperative 

international effort to create for the first 

time a consistent and comprehensive 

global assessment of undiscovered 

resources of copper, platinum-group 

elements (PGE), and potash in selected 

types of mineral deposits.

Map showing locations of discovered deposits and 

prospects of porphyry copper and 26 tracts (colored 

areas) that are permissive for undiscovered 

porphyry copper deposits within 1 kilometer of 

the Earth’s surface in the Andes Mountains of 

South America. Data from Cunningham and others 

(2008); map from C.L. Dicken, USGS.
Goal 3. Understand and Quantify the Availability of Earth’s Natural Resources in a Global Context 25

Societal Needs and Benefits

Resources have to be viewed in a global context that 

includes the resources found on continental shelves and in 

ocean basins. The oceans are fundamentally important to 

global ecosystems and are crucial sources of food, recreational 

opportunities, transportation, and biodiversity. These demands 

on ocean resources will increasingly come into conflict with, 

and must be balanced with, the role of ocean basins as sources 

for conventional oil and natural gas resources and their 

growing role as sources for emerging alternative energy and 

mineral resources such as gas hydrates, wind, wave, and tidal 

power, sand and aggregate, and manganese and titanium.

The USGS is recognized worldwide for assessments of 

undiscovered energy and mineral resources and for analysis 

of the global trade in mineral commodities. Our assessment 

methodologies for oil, gas, coal, and nonfuel minerals are 

the accepted standards. Recent accomplishments include the 

release of groundbreaking assessments of global mineral 

resources (highlight 9), unconventional gas, and geothermal 

energy and a methodology for geologic carbon sequestration. 

To meet our future global resource challenges and changing 

societal needs, the USGS will expand its energy and mineral 

resource information, assessment, and research activities to 

include integrated life-cycle assessments of multiple earth 

resources in a global geologic, environmental, and economic 

context. Scarce, critical, or emerging commodities for 

technology and alternative energy, such as rare earth elements, 

gas hydrates, geothermal energy, and biofuels, may require 

specific additional assessments on local to national scales. As 

the need for more domestic resources continues, the USGS 

will need to be responsive to the local, regional and national 

needs of DOI land managers and national policy. Issues such 

as national security, energy security, and economic vitality 

will require the USGS to produce knowledge of resources on a 

global scale relative to our national endowment. An important 

component of USGS resource activities will be partnerships 

with government, industry, and academia to provide expertise 

in economics and social science and to help frame resource 

needs and tradeoffs.

Many societies recognize the need to develop and 

use the Earth’s natural resources in a sustainable manner 

to ensure long-term resource availability, promote strong 

economies, and protect the environment. Sustainable 

resource development is crucial to the overall security of the 

United States and other nations worldwide. However, the 

growing global population and rapid economic development 

in many countries are increasing demand and competition 

for natural resources, resulting in rising prices of certain 

commodities, diminishing availability, and increasing pressure 

for development. Providing the natural resources needed to 

sustain a robust global economy will be a major challenge 

in this century. For example, to bridge from our Nation’s 

energy past to its future, we will need innovative strategies 

for reducing fossil energy use, capturing and storing carbon 

to mitigate its effect on climate change, and obtaining mineral 

commodities needed for the production of energy from 

nontraditional resources.

Water, soils, and ecosystems also provide natural 

resources critical to the survival and prosperity of human 

societies. Water resources are tied to supply, demand, quality, 

and economic issues, as are the development and consumption 

of energy and mineral resources. Soils and ecosystems are 

now recognized as key elements in maintaining the economic 

health of societies around the world, providing services critical 

to life and health. Sustainability will require a much better 

understanding of the complex linkages among these diverse 

resources to determine the availability of a resource for use. 

For example, the viability of a proposed energy or mineral 

resource development project may hinge on availability of an 

adequate water supply or may be balanced against the desire 

to protect the viability of an ecosystem equally dependent on 

the same water supply. Accounting for the inputs, outputs, 

and tradeoffs to develop or sustain a resource is known as 

life-cycle assessment. Life-cycle assessment of a resource 

includes understanding its formation and global occurrence; 

economic and social factors that influence its supply and 

demand; societal, economic, and environmental costs and 

benefits associated with its development and utilization; its 

flow through society; and issues of reuse or disposal.
26 Geology for a Changing World 2010–2020: Implementing the U.S. Geological Survey Science Strategy

Materials Flow

Highlight 10

Materials-flow analysis is a systematic 

way of accounting for what happens 

to materials from the time they are 

extracted, through processing and 

manufacturing, to ultimate disposition. 

The USGS studies the life cycle of 

The materials-flow cycle aids in the analysis of the flow of materials 

through the environment and economy. The cycle is used to trace the flow of 

materials from extraction, through production, manufacturing, and utilization, 

to recycling or disposal. Throughout these processes, losses occur through 

mineral materials and trends in material 

use, as well as how materials affect the 

economy. The purpose of materialsflow research is to understand how 

we use our resources and to identify 

policies and practices that encourage 

efficient resource use. Studies have 

been completed for arsenic, cadmium, 

chromium, cobalt, lead, manganese, 

mercury, salt, sulfur, tungsten, vanadium, 

and zinc (see list of materials-flow 

reports at USGS, 2010a).

Post-consumer

discards Waste or losses

Recycled

flow

Waste or losses

Renewable and

nonrenewable

resources

Landfills, impoundments, deep wells,

and ocean disposal

Releases to air,

land, and water

Production and

manufacturing Utilization

Recycling

Environment

Commodity

supply

discard of wastes or dissipation of materials to the environment. By use 

of this type of analysis, the contributions of individual processes can be 

identified. Modified from Wagner (2002, fig. 2).
Goal 3. Understand and Quantify the Availability of Earth’s Natural Resources in a Global Context 27

Strategic Actions

minerals, traditional and emerging energy materials, water, 

soil nutrients, and greenhouse gases. As the United States 

continues to shift away from importing raw materials with 

which to manufacture products and toward importing finished 

products, we will need to understand the international flow 

of materials necessary for these products. The movement 

of material through the economy will assume increasing 

importance as issues related to material use, resource recovery, 

and disposal become prominent. This work will be critical to 

our ability to conduct full-cost accounting of resource usage 

and will augment traditional assessments of undiscovered 

resources.

4. Modernize and enhance the mineral commodity 

information activities of the USGS

The USGS reports on more than 100 nonfuel mineral 

commodities produced from domestic and international 

sources, and the reports are based on research and on 20,000 

industry surveys. This information is a key foundation 

for calculating economic indices of the Federal Reserve, 

analyzing trade and market trends, and understanding the 

economic underpinnings of national security. In the next 

decade, the USGS will use advanced digital technologies 

to modernize and enhance the collection and analysis 

of commodity data, reducing the cost of collection and 

publication. These activities will provide the basis for USGS 

studies of the flow of materials through the international 

economy and the environment.

5. Understand the linkages among energy, mineral, soil, 

water, and ecosystem resources

Understanding how the occurrence, development, and 

use of any one resource can affect the quality and quantity 

of another resource will be the focus of this activity. The 

processes that form or sustain resources are intimately 

linked and include aspects of biological, hydrological, and 

geochemical cycles. Scientists need to understand these 

relationships to provide the information needed by land 

managers to evaluate multiple land-use options. We will 

need to develop new scientific methods to monitor and 

assess interdependencies among land, water, and ecosystem 

resources. These methodologies will require investigation 

of biogeochemical cycles in soils, the dynamics of carbon 

sequestration, the geologic controls on groundwater and 

surface-water aquifers and reservoirs, and baselines for 

important elements and nutrients in rocks and soils. This 

work will require close collaboration across many scientific 

disciplines and with land and resource managers.

1. Conduct targeted energy and mineral resources 

research to improve understanding and provide 

assessments for emerging resource needs

Understanding the processes that form energy and mineral 

deposits, developing geophysical and geochemical methods for 

finding undiscovered resources, and understanding environmental 

and health implications of resource occurrence and development 

are essential areas of research needing continued investments 

by the USGS. Emphasis will also be placed on alternative and 

frontier energy resources, as well as the mineral resources needed 

for technology, agriculture, infrastructure, and alternative energy 

development. Environmental and health research related to 

energy and mineral resources will focus on understanding the 

sources, transport, and fate of toxicants in the environment and 

on working with the health community to establish clearer links 

between toxic elements and human and wildlife health.

2. Establish an interdisciplinary capability for resource 

and commodity analysis

Creation of an interdisciplinary capability that combines 

geologic expertise in resource and commodity analysis with 

ecologic and water resource assessment activities of the USGS 

has the potential to create a unique and powerful ability to 

understand the future of the Earth’s resources. We propose 

a virtual center for integrated resource assessment focused 

on strategic resource questions and developing the tools and 

methodologies needed to answer them. Existing expertise 

will be augmented through selective hiring and partnerships 

with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), the Bureau 

of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), the U.S. Fish and 

Wildlife Service (FWS), the U.S. Department of Agriculture 

Forest Service, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and 

its Energy Information Administration, and others to provide 

an integrated approach that considers resource economics; 

commodity information on mineral, energy, water, soil, and 

ecosystems; materials flow; future technology; social sciences; 

engineering; and environmental sciences. Challenges that 

will need to be resolved in establishing this capability include 

integrating diverse resource assessments, analyses, and data 

in a quantitative set of methodologies and understanding the 

associated uncertainties. The center will respond to questions of 

national and global importance related to the present availability 

and future sustainability of our critical resources.

3. Conduct quantitative materials-flow studies of earth 

materials important to the Nation’s economy

The USGS will apply a materials-flow approach 

(highlight 10) for the study of metals and industrial 
28 Geology for a Changing World 2010–2020: Implementing the U.S. Geological Survey Science Strategy

6. Conduct multiresource assessments in a global 

geologic, economic, and environmental context

Managers need robust and integrated analyses of 

multiple resources to evaluate the tradeoffs and effects of 

development on Federal lands. The USGS will work with 

partners to provide integrated assessments of the global 

geologic distribution and production of energy, mineral, 

water, soil, and ecological resources. These assessments 

will include the environmental effects of development and 

use of resources and will explore interdependencies among 

resources, such as new mineral commodity needs associated 

with emerging energy technology. Global energy assessments 

will expand from studies of petroleum, gas, and coal to 

include unconventional and alternative energy sources (see 

photograph on facing page). We will expand recent work on 

geothermal, oil shale, unconventional gas, and gas hydrates 

and will include uranium, tar sands, biofuels, and other 

energy sources. The focus will also be on key metals (such 

as copper, gold, titanium, and rare earth elements), industrial 

minerals (certain clays, zeolites, and mineral fertilizers), and 

infrastructure materials (sand, gravel, aggregate, and cement). 

The USGS will expand its recent development of a geologic 

carbon sequestration methodology to conduct assessments of 

carbon sequestration in geological terranes and to look beyond 

traditional seal-and-trap-type reservoirs to understand and 

discover potential new areas for geologic sequestration. Other 

new research directions include assessments that compare the 

potential energy-, mineral-, and ecological-resource value of 

an area and assessments of baseline environmental conditions 

and ecosystem services in an area proposed for development. 

These resource assessments will draw upon appropriate 

expertise from diverse disciplines. For example, information 

on earthquake hazards would be a logical addition to resource 

assessment in regions where seismic activity might affect 

extraction methods, economics, and the environment.

7. Increase studies of offshore resources

In the next decade, our society will make important 

decisions about coastal and ocean resource use. Issues 

include establishment of offshore wind farms, beach 

nourishment to mitigate coastal erosion, preserving and 

restoring essential marine, barrier island, and wetland 

habitats, and understanding effects of coastal groundwater 

withdrawals. USGS research on coastal and marine 

issues will require enhanced partnerships with other 

agencies such as BOEM, USACE, and NOAA, as well as 

greater involvement with coastal communities and State 

governments. International laws, such as the United Nations 

Convention on the Law of the Sea, will require an increased 

USGS role in mapping, defining the extent of our continental 

shelf, and understanding our marine resources.

Facing page. Photograph of the Twin Groves wind farm in McLean County, Ill., 

by Guenter Conzelmann, Argonne National Laboratories. USGS energy studies 

will expand to include assessments of unconventional and alternative energy 

sources, such as gas hydrates, geothermal systems, and biofuels, and analyses 

of the effects of developing solar and wind energy. Multidisciplinary scientific 

assessments will provide necessary information to help land managers make 

informed decisions about developing alternative energy sources on public lands.

30 Geology for a Changing World 2010–2020: Implementing the U.S. Geological Survey Science Strategy

USGS Science and Information for Conventional Energy and Alternative Energy Resources

Highlight 11

The Nation faces simultaneous challenges 

from an increasing demand for energy 

and a concomitant need to minimize 

environmental effects associated with 

energy resource development and 

utilization. The USGS addresses these 

challenges by supporting scientific 

investigations of conventional and 

alternative energy resources—for 

example, research on the geology of (1) oil, 

gas, and coal resources, (2) emerging 

resources such as gas hydrates, and 

(3) underutilized resources such as 

about energy resources and directly 

support the DOI mission of protecting and 

responsibly managing the Nation’s natural 

resources. Collectively, this information 

advances the scientific understanding of 

energy resources, contributes to plans for 

a balanced and secure energy future, and 

facilitates the strategic use and evaluation 

of resources. As the energy mix diversifies, 

USGS research directions will change 

in anticipation of and as a reflection of 

regional, national, and international trends.

geothermal systems. The USGS also 

studies the effects associated with 

energy resource occurrence, production, 

and utilization. Unbiased, scientifically 

sound knowledge describing domestic 

and international energy resources is 

important to Federal, State, and local 

leaders for developing informed policies 

about commerce, the environment, and 

national security. The USGS is the sole 

provider of much of this information around 

the world. USGS study results provide 

impartial, robust scientific information 
Goal 3. Understand and Quantify the Availability of Earth’s Natural Resources in a Global Context 31

Products and Outcomes

resources and an overview of the potential ecological effects 

that could result from their extraction. Followup assessments 

involving more extensive collection of new data will target 

specific geographic areas, such as those areas with ecological 

sensitivity or multiuse conflicts or commodities with a high 

likelihood of development.

4. Issue-driven resource assessments at local to global 

scales

The USGS will maintain the staffing and funding 

flexibility to provide rapid resource assessments that address 

strategic and critical mineral resource needs at various 

scales. Examples include assessments of the national and (or) 

global occurrence of a mineral or energy resource for which 

demand is emerging and increasing, impartial assessments of 

potential environmental considerations in an area of future 

mineral or energy resource development, or multiple resource 

assessments and environmental baseline assessments of a 

particular Federal land unit such as a National Forest.

5. Total resource endowment and life-cycle assessments 

of specific land units

The USGS will work with land managers to develop 

the interdisciplinary methodologies needed to provide fullcost accounting of the total energy, mineral, water, soil, and 

ecological resource endowment of a particular region or 

Federal land unit. This assessment would provide resource 

managers and planners with an impartial view of the total 

and relative value of all resources in the area. Relative 

value would incorporate diverse factors such as economic 

costs and benefits, infrastructure development, and the 

costs of mitigating environmental effects of resource 

development. This is a particularly challenging product to 

create, given the difficulty in understanding the value of 

noncommodity resources, but the assessment methodology 

will be a critical tool to develop as multiuse demands on 

public land increase.

1. Periodic reports on the state of the Nation’s earth 

resources

The USGS will prepare periodic reports to summarize 

supply, consumption, and production trends, emerging needs, 

environmental or societal issues, and other key aspects of 

the Nation’s energy, mineral, water, soil, and ecological 

resources. Data gathering will be coordinated across the 

USGS and augmented with the help of external partners 

where appropriate. The purpose is twofold: (1) provide 

decisionmakers and other customers with an integrated 

overview of the Nation’s resource status in a global context 

and (2) summarize information that can be used to guide 

future USGS resource activities.

2. Integrated multiresource assessments at local to 

global scales

The USGS will prepare integrated assessments to provide 

policymakers and other users with fundamental information 

on key energy, mineral, water, soil, and ecological resources 

in a region of interest (highlight 11). Global assessments 

will provide context within which local- to regional-scale 

assessment activities can be prioritized and implemented. The 

assessments will require development and use of common 

geological, geochemical, geophysical, hydrological, and 

biological datasets, as well as collaboration among scientists 

across the USGS. These assessments will anticipate the 

costs and benefits associated with developing and using the 

resources by integrating appropriate economic, environmental, 

and health information. The USGS will need to partner with 

land managers and others in government and academia to 

develop the relevant cost-and-benefit methodologies.

3. Integrated multiresource assessment of the world’s 

ocean basins

The USGS will provide an initial overview assessment of 

key energy and mineral resources in the world’s oceans within 

the next 5 years. This assessment will include information 

on the geologic occurrences and spatial distribution of the 

Goal 4. Increase the Resilience of Communities to 

Geologic and Environmental Hazards

The expansion of population and 

infrastructure into areas prone to geologic 

and environmental hazards has dramatically 

increased vulnerability to damage, injury, 

and loss. In response, the USGS will improve 

our monitoring networks, understanding and 

assessment of hazards, and communication of 

risk to the public. Increased collaboration with 

communities, engineers, emergency responders, 

and policymakers will support more effective 

planning, reduce disaster cost, and increase 

overall resilience to hazards.

Facing page. View of Mount Hood from Portland, Oreg. Volcanic threat is 

the combination of hazards (the dangerous or destructive natural phenomena 

produced by a volcano) and exposure (the people and property at risk from 

the volcanic phenomena). A recent ranking of U.S. volcanoes by threat level 

included Mount Hood among the 18 volcanoes at the highest threat level (Ewert 

and others, 2005). Photograph by Michael Wiley (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/

File:Bancorpmthood.jpg).
34 Geology for a Changing World 2010–2020: Implementing the U.S. Geological Survey Science Strategy

Highlight 12

Hazard Vulnerability, Risk, and Resilience

USGS research on and monitoring 

of natural hazards help decrease 

vulnerability and risk and increase 

resilience when hazards occur. Although 

earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, 

landslides, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, 

and other hazards occur in nature, 

a community’s vulnerability and risk 

can be minimized and its resilience to 

natural hazards can be increased. The 

USGS response to the catastrophic 

Station fire of 2009 in the San Gabriel 

Mountains of southern California is 

an example of how USGS science has 

decreased vulnerability and risk. Within 

weeks of the fire, the USGS released 

a state-of-the-art hazard assessment 

showing which basins were most likely 

to produce the largest debris flows and 

which areas could be impacted by the 

flows (Cannon and others, 2009). This 

information was used by land managers 

and emergency-response agencies to 

prioritize mitigation approaches and 

plan for warnings and evacuations. 

Information provided by the USGS on 

the rainfall conditions that could lead to 

debris flows and floods from the burned 

area and data from real-time monitoring 

equipment installed in the most severely 

burned portions of the area were used 

by the National Weather Service (of 

the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration) to issue advisories, 

watches, and warnings and provided 

critical information to emergencyresponse personnel.

Combined relative debris-flow hazard ranking for basins burned by the Station fire in response to a 

hypothetical widespread, 12-hour-duration, 2-year-recurrence storm. From Cannon and others (2009, 

fig. 5B). Dunsmore Canyon (location of area shown below) is labeled.

Debris-flow deposits in Dunsmore Canyon of the San Gabriel Mountains in 

southern California resulting from a storm on February 6, 2010. The Station 

fire burned 65,000 hectares (250 square miles) of the steep, rugged San 

Gabriel Mountains during the fall of 2009. Photograph by Jason Kean, USGS.

Conceptual diagram of societal risk from 

disasters. Modified from Wood (2007, fig. 3).
Goal 4. Increase the Resilience of Communities to Geologic and Environmental Hazards 35

Societal Needs and Benefits

Service (NPS) and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) 

to develop management and response plans. The USGS has 

a mandated role in geologic hazards through the Disaster 

Relief Act of 1974 and the Earthquake Hazards Reduction 

Act of 1977 and subsequent reauthorizations. In addition, 

there is a growing role for USGS input to risk and resilience 

assessments associated with environmental hazards.

Certain geographic areas are vulnerable to multiple, 

unrelated hazards; for instance, a coastal community may be 

susceptible to both tsunamis and hurricanes. Other locations 

may be vulnerable to hazards that are linked through cause 

and effect, such as when vegetation removal by wildfire in 

the dry season may make a mountain community vulnerable 

to flash floods and debris flows in wetter periods. The 

multidisciplinary and multiprogram nature of the USGS 

fosters integrated scientific research that can be used to 

understand how multiple hazards in an area are linked and to 

communicate the overall risks associated with these multiple 

hazards. The recently established USGS Southern California 

Multi-Hazards Demonstration Project uses an interdisciplinary 

approach and strong collaborations with community partners 

to understand, assess, and increase resilience to the multiple 

natural hazards in that region.

The complexity of multiple hazards creates certain 

organizational challenges. USGS responses to Hurricane 

Katrina (2005) and the 2007 southern California wildfires 

characterized the inherent geological, hydrological, chemical, 

ecological, and health hazard challenges of such events and 

highlighted the power of linked geologic and environmental 

hazards responses to disasters. Each USGS discipline brought 

an extensive mix of expertise, data, and technologies to these 

problems that collectively made the USGS unique among all 

Federal agencies in the strength and breadth of its hazards 

capabilities. However, the Katrina and wildfire responses 

also illustrated the policy and funding challenges faced by 

the USGS in bringing expertise to bear from throughout 

the organization. In order to achieve the goals of the USGS 

science strategy, we will need to better integrate our activities, 

engaging and enabling scientists across the USGS to develop 

holistic assessments of individual and multiple hazards and 

place them in a timely and useful context for decisionmakers.

The vulnerability of the Nation to a spectrum of natural 

and anthropogenic hazards is increasing. Sudden events 

such as earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, landslides, tsunamis, 

volcanic eruptions, and wildfires pose immediate threats to 

people and the environment. They also have ripple effects 

that are often not anticipated, such as causing energy and food 

shortages. Longer term, chronic hazards such as sea-level 

rise, coastal erosion, and climate-related changes threaten 

our social structures, economy, and ecosystems. The costs of 

responding to disasters will continue to increase as population 

grows in hazard-prone areas such as coasts, flood plains, 

unstable terrain, and seismically active zones.

The USGS is well positioned to take on the challenges 

of hazards research in the next decade. The USGS has long 

been a national and global leader in understanding the basic 

processes of geologic hazards, as well as in monitoring, 

assessing, warning about, and responding to earthquakes, 

volcanic eruptions, and landslides. USGS seismic hazards 

maps inform the building codes adopted nationwide, and 

USGS alerts of volcanic activity are used by the U.S. 

Department of Defense, the Federal Aviation Administration 

(FAA), and airline pilots to keep air traffic safely flowing. The 

Volcano Disaster Assistance Program, a partnership between 

the USGS and the U.S. Agency for International Development, 

provides expertise, portable monitoring equipment, and 

crisis response for volcanic eruptions worldwide. The Global 

Seismographic Network, a partnership with the National 

Science Foundation and the Incorporated Research Institutions 

for Seismology, provides real-time data to the USGS National 

Earthquake Information Center and NOAA’s tsunami warning 

centers, illustrating our capability in partnering and responding 

to global disasters. The USGS–NOAA debris flow warning 

system for wildfire-denuded hillslopes in southern California 

has been used for effective and highly targeted alerts of 

potential mud and debris flows, resulting in life-saving 

evacuations (highlight 12).

Hazard assessments are also critical for management of 

our public lands, and the USGS is taking the lead in providing 

risk-assessment information to DOI land and resource 

managers. USGS coastal mapping and modeling are being 

used to create hurricane-vulnerability maps and sea-levelrise-vulnerability indices that are used by the National Park 
36 Geology for a Changing World 2010–2020: Implementing the U.S. Geological Survey Science Strategy

Highlight 13

Volcano Threat to Aviation—The Creation of NVEWS

Dangerous encounters of aircraft 

with volcanic ash in the 1980s caused 

engine failures and led to the realization 

that there are no “remote” volcanoes 

with respect to aviation. Airplanes 

are vulnerable to volcanic ash clouds 

from explosive volcanic eruptions. 

Approximately half of the 169 active 

and potentially active volcanoes in the 

United States are dangerous because 

of their proximity to communities and 

infrastructure. The USGS, in partnership 

with the Consortium of U.S. Volcano 

Observatories, is creating a coordinated 

volcano monitoring network, called 

the National Volcano Early Warning 

System (NVEWS). The goal of NVEWS 

is to reduce community and air traffic 

vulnerability to volcanic hazards by 

connecting the monitoring and research 

efforts of USGS scientists and its partners 

with decisionmakers, emergency 

managers, the Federal Aviation 

Administration, and the general public.

Graduate student Mingsen Xu checks on a spider 

(spindly frame holding an instrument) in the crater 

of Mount St. Helens Volcano, Wash. Photograph 

by Rick LaHusen, USGS, 2009.

How the National Volcano Early Warning System will work. From Ewert and others (2005, fig. 2).

Gas Seismicity

Remote

sensing

Deformation

Partners:

University,

State, and

Federal 

Emergency

management

agencies,

officials, and

the public 

Volcano observatory

Other USGS

laboratories and

observatories

Geology and

geochemistry

Hydrology

Locations of active and potentially active U.S. volcanoes. Colors indicate priority for monitoring: highest, red; high, orange; other, green. From USGS (2010b).
Goal 4. Increase the Resilience of Communities to Geologic and Environmental Hazards 37

Strategic Actions

portability, automation, and longevity. We will coordinate 

with, and take advantage of, unique research opportunities 

with the NSF-funded Earthscope facilities and integrate our 

diverse monitoring networks where advantageous. New 

partnerships will be developed to expand the USGS–NOAA 

debris flow warning system to other vulnerable parts of the 

country, such as the Pacific Northwest, and to continue work 

with NOAA on understanding tsunamis and improving the 

tsunami warning system. Increasing our understanding of and 

providing effective warnings for the potential magnitude and 

location of aftershocks from large earthquakes will also be a 

future emphasis.

3. Incorporate multiple hazards, vulnerability, risk, and 

resilience into USGS hazard assessments

The core USGS hazards mission will continue to be 

providing effective warnings through monitoring, assessment, 

and targeted research, with the goal of delivering the best 

possible hazards information when and where it is needed. 

In the case of hazard assessments, an important step toward 

making the hazard more real to decisionmakers and the 

public alike is the addition of information about risk and 

vulnerability. This information also makes it possible to 

prioritize mitigation measures and to aid decisionmakers in 

focusing their hazard response efforts. Translating hazard 

science into risk and vulnerability assessments will entail 

reaching out to partners inside and outside the USGS to 

engage economic and social science expertise. We will 

build partnerships to develop methodologies to incorporate 

new information, such as inventories of housing, societal 

demographics, transportation infrastructure, and economic 

considerations, into hazard assessments to better portray 

and understand vulnerability, risk, and potential community 

resilience. The USGS will continue to build capability into 

systems such as PAGER (Prompt Assessment of Global 

Earthquakes for Response) that include information on 

potential loss of life and property.

In order to improve their emergency response plans and, 

ultimately, their resilience, communities also need information 

on the entire range of geologic and environmental hazards to 

which they are vulnerable. The USGS is uniquely positioned 

to provide such multiple-hazard assessments and convey the 

associated risk and will build on the success of the Southern 

California Multi-Hazards Demonstration Project by extending 

its application to other areas of the country. Effective 

communication of the risk associated with hazards and 

community vulnerability will entail collaboration within and 

outside of the USGS to build shared communication products 

and strategies. An emphasis will be on building effective 

hazard scenarios to understand and improve mitigation and 

response.

1. Conduct targeted hazards research that will lead to 

next-generation monitoring and assessment capabilities

Understanding the processes controlling hazards is 

essential to our ability to assess those hazards, provide hazard 

and disaster information when and where needed, understand 

risk, and forecast events. The USGS faces increasing public 

demand and expectations for its monitoring systems, hazards 

assessment, and communication products. For the USGS to 

meet this demand in the future, it must maintain its traditional 

strength in supporting both internal and external research on a 

wide range of geologic hazards, research that has underpinned 

the successes to date and is critical to continuous improvement 

of our monitoring networks and assessment methodologies. 

Research investigations will target geographic areas of greatest 

vulnerability and outstanding opportunities for scientific 

discovery focused on the following topics: developing hazard 

early warning technology; understanding the natural processes 

and human actions that can produce hazards and increase or 

reduce risk; improving hazard models, simulations, prediction, 

and forecasting; quantifying uncertainty; and understanding 

past and future rates of hazard occurrence.

2. Improve and expand capability in hazard monitoring, 

warnings, and prediction

Monitoring is vital to understanding the fundamental 

processes that cause hazards and increasing our ability to issue 

timely and adequate warnings. The USGS will make new 

investments in expansion and modernization of our monitoring 

networks, including the Advanced National Seismic System, 

the Global Seismographic Network, the National Volcano 

Early Warning System (highlight 13), and the USGS 

geomagnetic observatories. Other emphases include expansion 

of our geodetic capabilities and use of radar- and laser-based 

remote sensing. These investments will take advantage of 

improvements in sensor and telecommunications technology 

to provide real-time and early warning systems. The goal of 

an early warning seismic system, for example, is to reduce the 

time needed for detection and notification such that warning 

messages arrive before damaging shaking. Goals of volcano 

monitoring systems are to provide the earliest possible (weeks 

to months) detection of volcano deformation and unrest, 

giving communities and aviation authorities time to prepare 

for likely eruption scenarios; to provide short-term warning 

(hours before to minutes after onset) of an eruption; and to 

acquire and share data from real-time tracking of the progress 

of the eruption. The USGS will also support the development 

and use of state-of-the-art technology for measuring, 

analyzing, and monitoring the Earth through continued 

investment, training, and collaboration with partners. Our 

focus will also be on improving instrument sensitivity, 
38 Geology for a Changing World 2010–2020: Implementing the U.S. Geological Survey Science Strategy

4. Develop a formal interdisciplinary science capability 

to rapidly respond to disasters

Geologic, environmental, and anthropogenic disasters 

affect the economy, infrastructure, and people of the Nation. 

Perishable evidence is left behind in the wake of these events 

that, if investigated promptly, can be used to understand 

the recent event and to help anticipate the effects of future 

disasters (see map of Manhattan on facing page). The USGS 

will establish a formal, bureauwide, rapid-response capability 

to comprehensively document a broad range of destructive 

events and help to characterize their environmental and 

human-health effects. The exact roles and responsibilities 

of the USGS will be determined through cooperation with 

appropriate Federal, State, and local agencies. This capability, 

which will draw upon expertise from across the USGS, should 

include plans and funding for the initial disaster response 

and complementary analyses; release of preliminary data and 

interpretations; longer term monitoring; eventual publication 

of results in the scientific literature; and followup research as 

appropriate.

Facing page. Spectral shape map of lower Manhattan, September 16, 2001. Two days after the 

September 11, 2001, attack on the World Trade Center (WTC), the USGS was asked by the U.S. 

Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Public Health Service to conduct a rapid remote 

sensing and mineralogical characterization study of lower Manhattan around the WTC to help 

emergency response teams. The study was conducted in cooperation with the National Aeronautics 

and Space Administration and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Preliminary results were released to 

emergency response teams on September 18 and September 27, 2001. The map of lower Manhattan 

shows spatial variations in the reflectance characteristics of concrete, gypsum, and iron-rich 

materials after the WTC collapse. The image indicates that the dust plume generated by the building 

collapse generally traveled to the south-southeast from the WTC (white numbers 1 and 2 indicate 

where the towers stood). It also shows that heavier, coarser materials with abundant concrete 

and steel (dark red and yellow pixels) tended to settle closer to the WTC than lighter, finer particles 

composed of powdered gypsum wallboard, concrete, glass fibers, and paper (blue, aqua, green, and 

orange pixels). For more information, see Clark and others (2001).

40 Geology for a Changing World 2010–2020: Implementing the U.S. Geological Survey Science Strategy

Highlight 14

Understanding and Forecasting Coastal Change From Extreme Storms

Beaches serve as a natural 

barrier between the ocean and 

inland communities, ecosystems, 

and resources. These dynamic 

environments move and change 

in response to winds, waves, and 

currents. During extreme storms, such 

as hurricanes and nor’easters, changes 

to the beach can be large, and the 

results are sometimes catastrophic. 

Lives are lost, communities are 

destroyed, and millions of dollars are 

spent on rebuilding. USGS coastal 

hazards research is identifying 

coastal areas that are likely to 

undergo dramatic coastal change 

during extreme storm events. This 

includes determining the risk level 

Observations of coastal change during storms has led to increased understanding of the characteristics and distribution of vulnerable areas. Waves and surge 

during Hurricane Isabel in 2003 battered an area of low, narrow dunes and created a 500-meter-wide breach that cut road transportation and utilities to and 

from the village of Hatteras, N.C. From Stockdon and Sallenger (2010).

The USGS predicted that the beaches on the Bolivar Peninsula, Tex., would 

be inundated by storm surge during Hurricane Ike in 2008 and would undergo 

large magnitudes of erosion. The map above shows predictions of inundation 

exceeding 2 meters (6.5 feet) along much of the coast. Comparisons of 

photographs from before (top right) and after (bottom right) the storm reveal 

extensive structural damage, as well as signs of water flow over the island 

associated with human development 

and infrastructure. The USGS provides 

scientific support for both extremestorm planning and post-storm 

response. Using observations of 

beach changes and models of waves 

and storm surge, predictions of the 

coastal response and identification of 

vulnerable areas can be made.

Gilchrist

Galveston Bay Gulf of

Mexico

-1.8 0 ≥3.0

meters

Inundation (Surge) - (Dune Height)

Vertical

erosion

≤-3.0 -0.3 to 0.3 ≥3.0

meters

12345

Kilometers

and subsequent erosion. Measurements of elevation changes due to the 

hurricane indicate widespread erosion and an almost complete destruction of 

the seaward dune, likely increasing vulnerability to future storms. Accurate 

forecasts of the coastal response to hurricanes play an essential role in 

successful mitigation and resiliency planning. From Stockdon and Sallenger 

(2010).

9.0

1.0

Elevation, 

in meters

September 16, 2003 September 21, 2003 September 21, 2003

September 9, 2008

September 15, 2008
Goal 4. Increase the Resilience of Communities to Geologic and Environmental Hazards 41

Products and Outcomes

maps, and vulnerability and risk-assessment maps. Moving 

beyond traditional hazard assessments to address vulnerability, 

risk, and, ultimately, resilience will require the USGS to develop 

new capabilities or access them through partnerships. The 

USGS already has a unique range of expertise, and partnerships 

will allow us to conduct studies of sustainability and resilience 

using geospatial analysis of the relations among hazards, land 

use, and environmental systems. New hazard assessments will 

be prioritized relative to the associated risk to communities, 

albeit with recognition that exposure to hazards is not limited to 

proximal threats. For instance, remote volcanoes can threaten 

global air traffic, and earthquakes, landslides, and volcanoes far 

from urban areas can sever key transportation corridors. Riskbased interdisciplinary products that address multiple-scale 

scenarios will support communities in land-use planning and 

emergency-response coordination. To further support community 

resilience, the USGS will become a resource and clearinghouse 

for best practices learned during recovery from natural disasters. 

Environmental and health hazards assessments will become 

an integral component of USGS natural-hazards assessments, 

contributing to the understanding of mitigation and resiliency to 

anthropogenic hazards.

4. Communication products that provide hazard 

information when and where it is needed and that 

promote disaster resilience and risk-wise behavior

USGS hazards information represents an important public 

face for the USGS, as millions of people visit the hazard Web 

sites, and thousands receive alerts directly through various 

media. Going forward, the USGS will continue to find new 

pathways for effectively disseminating its hazard information, 

including a common Web portal for partners, stakeholders, 

and the general public. This portal will facilitate robust access 

to diverse information including hazard descriptions, hazard 

assessments and maps, and near-real-time data. Development 

of a common information technology (IT) infrastructure across 

the geographically and organizationally diverse workforce of 

the USGS will facilitate interoperability and access to data and 

information. Outreach on hazards issues, currently performed 

mainly at the program or observatory level as resources 

permit, will be supplemented by a more formal program of 

outreach in which the USGS partners with other Federal 

agencies active in the hazards arena (NOAA, FAA, Federal 

Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), U.S. Environmental 

Protection Agency (EPA), Smithsonian). There will be 

increased use of targeted, general-audience products such as 

“Putting Down Roots in Earthquake Country” (USGS, 2005, 

General Information Product 15) to guide hazard-avoidance 

and adaptation strategies and increase community resilience. 

An emphasis will also be placed on partnering to conduct 

scenario-based emergency exercises such as the Great Southern 

California ShakeOut (see highlight 2).

1. Research on the processes that lead to hazards

USGS geologic hazards research priorities should include 

building realistic and reliable physically based models of 

earthquake, volcano, landslide, tsunami, and inundation processes 

(highlight 14). Areas of priority include understanding and 

modeling coastal inundation and erosion processes, volcanic 

eruption processes, rates, and cycles, debris flow cycles and 

triggers, earthquake initiation and ground motion, toxicity 

characteristics of materials generated by disasters, and hazard 

prediction and uncertainty. Such research relies on increased 

investment in new computational and observational technologies, 

including partnering for capabilities in high-powered computing, 

hyperspectral imaging, interferometric synthetic aperture radar 

(InSAR) surveying, deploying Global Positioning System 

(GPS) receivers, seismic monitoring, and high-resolution lidar 

surveying.

2. Improved alert and warning capabilities from 

expanded and integrated monitoring networks

Monitoring networks are necessary to deliver alerts 

and warnings when and where needed. They also provide 

data that underpin hazard assessments. Effective monitoring 

entails investment in both in situ and remote-sensing 

instrumentation, network transmission paths, data processing, 

and data-distribution systems for rapid response. Substantial 

leveraging of current USGS capabilities will be achieved 

through full implementation of the Advanced National Seismic 

Network and the National Volcano Early Warning System 

and by facilitating citizen-scientist observation networks (for 

example, Did You Feel It? and other interactive Web tools). 

The USGS should continue to pursue effective partnerships 

with NSF in global seismic monitoring, with NOAA to support 

its national and global tsunami warning systems, with FAA 

and NOAA to provide ash cloud warnings to aircraft, and with 

multiple agencies to enhance geodetic monitoring capabilities; 

the USGS should also develop partnerships with NOAA and 

other Federal and State agencies to build a national landslide 

monitoring network. There will be an effort to maximize the 

amount of data and information that is cataloged, retained, 

and accessible online via an easy-to-use search mechanism. 

A continuous around-the-clock multiple-hazard watchoffice capability will be established at the earliest possible 

opportunity with an emphasis on partnerships and integration 

of monitoring network data streams where appropriate, such as 

for earthquake and volcano seismicity.

3. Hazard and risk assessments tailored to user needs

Hazards assessment will evolve toward an increasing 

emphasis on probabilistic assessments of individual and multiple 

hazards, multiple-hazard assessments, time-dependent hazard 

Goal 5. Apply the Most Advanced Technologies and 

Best Practices To Effectively Acquire, Analyze, and 

Communicate Our Data and Knowledge

USGS scientists create a wide variety of 

important and unique data. Our ability to 

acquire, analyze, and share this information 

is critical to the achievement of USGS and 

DOI missions, the work of our collaborators, 

and the public welfare. The USGS will 

comprehensively manage scientific data 

and knowledge from collection through 

communication, adopt or develop advanced 

approaches to analyze and disseminate data, 

and provide facilities, training, and tools for 

users.

Facing page. USGS researchers on the dock of the Woods Hole Oceanographic 

Institution in Massachusetts prepare an instrumented tripod for measuring 

waves, currents, and bottom stresses on the inner continental shelf off Martha’s 

Vineyard, Mass. The big orange balls are recovery floats that bring lines to the 

surface. The instruments visible low on the tripod are high-resolution acoustic 

Doppler current meters. Photograph by Dann Blackwood, USGS.
44 Geology for a Changing World 2010–2020: Implementing the U.S. Geological Survey Science Strategy

Highlight 15

New Efforts in Data and Technology—The USGS Integrated Data Environment

Geosciences information comes from many 

varied sources and disciplines and resides in 

widely distributed databases in government 

agencies at the local, State, and Federal level, 

as well as in universities, nongovernmental 

organizations, and the private sector. Modern 

informatics designers have developed the 

concept of service-oriented architecture (SOA) 

to connect disparate databases into a flexible 

information management system where 

interoperability, information exchange, and 

information and application technologies are 

intrinsically linked. For the USGS, the basic 

components of such a system could include 

Diagram of a possible USGS integrated data environment.

a central catalog of USGS data sources that 

contains consistent metadata about each data 

collection; discovery and analysis tools; and access to databases with high-quality metadata 

that utilize common vocabularies and Web 

services that provide tools for interoperability 

such as the Web Feature Service (WFS), Web 

Mapping Service (WMS), and Web Coverage 

Service (WCS) implementation standards developed by the Open Geospatial Consortium, Inc.®

(OGC; http://www.opengeospatial.org/).

USGS scientists are working with members of the informatics community (Brady 

and others, 2008) to tackle the many challenges to such an infrastructure including 

the following: creating common standards 

and protocols across diverse information 

suppliers; discovering and linking to the 

vast number of distributed data resources; 

establishing practices for recognition of and 

respect for intellectual property; developing 

distributed integrated catalogs and sustaining a central catalog; building mechanisms to 

encourage development of Web service tools 

for analyses and exchange; and sustaining 

business models for continuing maintenance 

and evolution of information resources and 

analytical tools.

USGS

central

catalog

Federal catalog

services data

State and local

catalog services

data

University catalog

services data

Other catalog

services data

OGC standard services (such as WMS, WFS, WCS)

Discovery and 

access services Analytical and 

decision tools

Users
Goal 5. Apply the Most Advanced Technologies and Best Practices To Communicate Our Data 45

Societal Needs and Benefits

being developed for all of the USGS. This environment 

will increase collaboration among researchers and provide 

greater integration of the vast stores of USGS scientific data 

and materials. As stressed in the USGS science strategy, 

data integration across scientific disciplines and geographic, 

temporal, and political boundaries is vital to the future success 

of the USGS. Providing metadata and understanding the 

quality and uncertainty of data are essential in creating robust 

models. Further, increased participation of geologists in 

landscape and ecosystem modeling is needed to improve the 

representation of geologic parameters such as geomorphology 

and geochemistry as they affect ecosystem form and function.

The materials we collect and create in the course of our 

studies (including rocks, soils, fossils, cores, geophysical logs, 

and seismic profiles) must be preserved in systematic ways 

to be useful to future generations of scientists. Repositories 

across Federal and State governments, academia, and industry 

are struggling to manage the materials collected during many 

years of research and exploration. The USGS is partnering 

with States and industry to create a networked system of 

repositories and also to rescue data and materials in danger of 

being lost. We will need to invest in upgraded repositories and 

to partner with the Smithsonian, Federal and State agencies, 

academia, and industry to more effectively preserve these 

priceless data and materials.

Access to the best tools to collect and analyze data supports 

innovation and increases the quality of our science. Access to 

leading-edge technology will require strategic investment and 

management. New technologies in laser-based instrumentation 

allow analysis of very small amounts of material and produce 

very high resolution surveys of topography and rock properties. 

Laptop computers, hand-held data collectors and analyzers, and 

Global Positioning System (GPS) technologies provide real-time 

digital data collection, transmittal, organization, and analysis. 

New remote-sensing methods and sensors acquire data from 

inaccessible areas and provide global coverage. Faster computer 

processors and storage and memory technology are expanding 

the capability to analyze and model data. Much of this technology 

requires new expertise and training, as well as new investments 

and joint ventures with partners.

Data and materials collected by USGS scientists and 

our partners are fundamental building blocks of the scientific 

enterprise. The amount of complex data and materials 

produced by individual scientists and monitoring systems 

often exceeds our ability to use, preserve, and disseminate it 

beyond our projects and programs. USGS scientists convert 

data to knowledge through a sequence of steps including 

organization, integration, analysis, and interpretation, 

resulting in the ability to understand, model, and predict 

Earth processes. The success of these endeavors depends on 

our ability to communicate knowledge to our partners and 

the public in a way that they can understand and use. We 

must adopt and develop new information and communication 

technologies and work collaboratively to develop common 

standards and methods to find and integrate data. We must 

support and help create an integrated network for scientific 

exchange and data and material preservation (highlight 15). 

These tasks will involve working closely with users of USGS 

data and collections to provide services and science in more 

clear and usable forms. This step is an often neglected aspect 

of knowledge gathering, but it is critical to transferring 

our knowledge and providing services and science for 

decisionmaking.

The USGS currently disseminates many large and 

unique geological databases through the World Wide Web. 

We are also involved in national and international efforts 

to create global standards for data. For example, the USGS 

recently published standards for geologic map symbols to 

be used in State and Federal agencies nationwide (USGS, 

2006) and participated in an international working group to 

create GeoSciML, a markup language that allows seamless 

integration of digital geologic maps. The USGS will continue 

to participate in community data repositories and networks 

such as the Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology 

Data Management System for seismic data; EarthChem for 

geochemical data; and the Global Earth Observation System 

of Systems for satellite and other Earth-monitoring networks.

For our stewardship and dissemination efforts to 

be successful, they must begin with individual scientists 

entering metadata into an integrated information environment 
46 Geology for a Changing World 2010–2020: Implementing the U.S. Geological Survey Science Strategy

Highlight 16

ShakeMap and PAGER

Immediately following a large 

earthquake, information is needed on 

the extent and severity of strong shaking 

and the likely impacts on people and 

infrastructure. Improvements in seismic 

monitoring, coupled with advances in 

real-time data analysis and information 

technology, have enabled the USGS and 

its partners to develop a growing suite 

of earthquake information products. 

Produced and released online within 

minutes of any large earthquake, these 

products provide situational awareness 

well in advance of news accounts or 

onsite evaluations. ShakeMaps are 

near-real-time maps of ground motion 

and shaking intensity, providing an 

immediate synopsis of the region 

affected by shaking. PAGER (Prompt 

Assessment of Global Earthquakes 

for Response) provides near-real-time 

estimates of the human impacts resulting 

from significant earthquakes around the 

world and alerts emergency responders, 

government and aid agencies, and the 

media about the estimated ranges of 

fatalities and economic losses caused 

by an earthquake (Wald and others, 

2010).

David Wald, USGS, beside an earthquake information display outside of Hanwang City, China, which 

was destroyed in the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake. The display describes the earthquake and rebuilding plans for Hanwang City. Inset in yellow/orange/red is the PAGER map of population and shaking 

intensity for the magnitude 7.9 earthquake. Photograph by Kishor Jaiswal, USGS.

Shaking intensity map of the magnitude 7.0 

earthquake in Haiti on January 12, 2010. From 

USGS (2010c).

Population exposure map of the magnitude 7.0 

earthquake in Haiti on January 12, 2010. From 

USGS (2010c).

→
Goal 5. Apply the Most Advanced Technologies and Best Practices To Communicate Our Data 47

Strategic Actions

3. Turn our data into scientific knowledge

Translating the data we collect into scientific understanding 

is the core of USGS research. It is critical that both individual 

researchers and the larger community be able to assess, analyze, 

and interpret collected data. To support this interpretive effort, 

we will foster the continued development and use of tools 

that facilitate the transition from data to understanding, such 

as geospatial, visualization, and modeling tools. Many of 

the datasets and tools may be outside of all users’ individual 

skills and knowledge. We will therefore also need to provide 

opportunities for interaction among the various disciplines and 

education on the appropriate use of various tools and datasets.

4. Communicate our data and scientific understanding to 

partners and customers

Because our work is focused on societal needs, we need 

to communicate our data and understanding to decisionmakers 

and the public, as well as the scientific community. The USGS 

must continue to enhance communication of our scientific 

understanding to diverse audiences, involving user groups and 

stakeholders in the development of decision-support products 

(highlight 16).

5. Develop and adopt state-of-the-art information 

technology

All aspects of information technology are advancing 

at rapid rates. The USGS needs to participate in and stay 

abreast of these advances and incorporate them into our 

data collection, analysis, preservation, and knowledge 

dissemination efforts. In collaboration with the larger scientific 

community, we will contribute to the development of a USGSwide cyberinfrastructure. In addition, we will participate 

in the development of global interoperability and metadata 

standards, an international geoinformatics system, and Web 

services, data catalogs, and computer infrastructure to support 

national geologic databases (highlight 15).

1. Provide state-of-the-art scientific infrastructure for the 

study of the Earth

The USGS will enhance the facilities, laboratories, 

and instruments needed for geochemical, geophysical, and 

geological analyses and mapping and will create long-term 

plans for the acquisition of new systems and technology. In 

collaboration with partners, we will improve our capability 

for sea-floor, coastal, and onshore mapping using lidar and 

other remote-sensing techniques. We will provide support 

for and upgrade our computer systems and partner with 

universities and the National Science Foundation for access 

to supercomputing facilities. The USGS will continue to 

collaborate with DOE, NASA, NOAA, universities, and 

NSF in the development of new sensors with application to 

understanding the underlying geologic processes related to 

resources, ecosystem health, hazards, and climate.

2. Assure that USGS data are preserved and available to 

the widest possible community of researchers

The USGS will invest in resources, tools, and facilities to 

ensure long-term data management and stewardship of scientific 

data and materials. Data and materials collected by the USGS 

must be widely available to other scientists both within and 

outside the USGS. We will collaborate with the broad earth 

science community, both within and outside the USGS, to 

develop standardized tools for documenting and publishing 

data. We will make existing, major USGS databases accessible 

and interoperable. This action will require new technologies, 

Web services, and applications to facilitate data sharing among 

scientists. Curation and preservation of materials (such as rocks, 

soils, cores, and fossils) are critical for future research and can 

reduce the need for future data collection. The USGS will help 

to establish new repositories with well-defined protocols for 

acquiring, curating, and preserving materials and making them 

accessible. Current facilities such as the USGS Core Research 

Center (established in 1974) will require new investments for 

maintenance and expansion.
48 Geology for a Changing World 2010–2020: Implementing the U.S. Geological Survey Science Strategy

Highlight 17

Preserving our Nation’s Geological and Geophysical Data and Materials

Scattered across the Nation are 

collections of geological and 

geophysical materials and data (in 

a wide range of formats) that have 

long been recognized as valuable. 

Information that resides in these 

collections, as diverse as rock and 

ice cores, fossils, rock samples, 

geophysical tapes, and paper well 

logs, is invaluable to future scientific 

research and educational activities. The 

National Geological and Geophysical 

Data Preservation Program (NGGDPP) 

is working to identify, catalog, and 

preserve a wide range of materials and 

data that support a variety of activities, 

including the following:

•	 Identifying new oil and gas and 

mineral deposits

•	 Contributing to research on climate 

change

•	 Addressing issues related to water 

quality

•	 Enhancing the ability to identify 

geologic hazards

•	 Supporting research on development of unconventional energy 

sources

Since its beginning in 2007, NGGDPP 

has provided financial and technical 

assistance to State geological surveys 

and bureaus within the DOI in an effort 

to identify, catalog, and preserve 

geological and geophysical data and 

samples. The program is developing 

a National Digital Catalog that allows 

users to identify (via the Web) and 

access geoscience data and collections 

maintained by Federal or State agencies 

to improve the breadth of information 

available to inform science and 

decisionmaking.

The return of the Anvil Points oil 

shale cores to the USGS was one of 

the NGGDPP’s 2009 highlights and 

exemplifies the value of geoscience data 

preservation. Approximately 170,000 feet 

(52,000 meters) of oil shale core from 220 

wells were transferred from the Anvil 

Points Mine near Rifle, Colo., where 

they had been stored for the last 13 

years, and relocated at the USGS Core 

Research Center (CRC) in Denver, Colo. 

(Hicks and Adrian, 2009). These cores 

comprise a combination of USGS-drilled 

cores and cores donated by industry 

partners with the understanding that the 

USGS would curate them and provide 

access to those wishing to perform 

oil shale research. The collection is 

composed predominantly of cores from 

the world-class Green River oil shale 

deposit of the Western United States 

with a few cores from Devonian oil 

shales in Michigan and Kentucky, as 

well as from foreign deposits in Sweden 

and Morocco. The cost of redrilling the 

Green River cores alone would be in 

excess of $150 million. The USGS CRC 

has curated the cores and crushed 

samples, and they are now available for 

viewing and sampling at the CRC.

Boxes of oil shale cores from the Green River Formation in Wyoming that had been stored in the Anvil Points Mine near Rifle, Colo., and are now available for 

study at the Core Research Center in Denver, Colo. Photograph by Joshua Hicks, USGS.
Goal 5. Apply the Most Advanced Technologies and Best Practices To Communicate Our Data 49

Products and Outcomes

3. Long-term repositories for geologic materials and 

scientific collections

We will expand and maintain our national repositories 

for geologic materials, scientific collections, and related data, 

establishing facilities internally and through partnerships (highlight 

17). Where feasible, we will decrease paper and material holdings 

and increase accessibility by creating digital representations.

4. Applications that facilitate interoperability and ease 

of use

We will work with others internally and externally 

to develop Web services and data catalogs and to support 

metadata that facilitate data retrieval and discovery. We will 

continue to be involved in international efforts to develop 

markup languages (including XML, KML, and GeoSciML) 

and Web services that facilitate interoperability.

5. Innovative, real-time, and transparent communication 

of data, interpretations, and results

We will transfer the concepts and technology behind the 

Earthquake Notification System and the Prompt Assessment of 

Global Earthquakes for Response (PAGER) system (highlight 

16) to implement similar communication and warning 

applications for coastal storm and inundation vulnerability, the 

National Volcano Early Warning System, the debris-flow warning 

system, and other areas as appropriate. We will develop decisionsupport and model applications to facilitate decisionmaking by a 

wide variety of users, especially resource managers, emergency 

responders, and government officials. We will increase Internet 

access to digital files of USGS publications and data.

1. Advanced facilities, laboratories, instruments, 

computers, and monitoring networks for conducting earth 

science

We will invest strategically and collaborate locally, 

nationally, and globally to ensure that USGS geological, 

geochemical, and geophysical investigations are supported 

with the needed infrastructure. Facilities and laboratories 

will have strategic plans and investment strategies for 

replacement and renewal of instruments and equipment. 

Joint ventures with partners will facilitate access to 

supercomputers, large-format instruments, research vessels, 

and remote-sensing platforms. Web sites and training will 

be created to enhance knowledge of and access to this 

infrastructure.

2. Comprehensive regional, national, and global 

earth science databases accessible through a shared 

catalog

We will support the creation and digital publication of 

community databases in the geosciences to serve nationally 

and globally integrated thematic, geographic, and topical 

data. We will adopt metadata standards, Open Geospatial 

Consortium, Inc.®, standards, and international and 

community standards to facilitate interoperability. Geologic 

programs will contribute to the establishment of a USGS data 

catalog that will provide a systematic searchable window 

into USGS data and material collections. We will partner 

with other geological surveys and universities to extend the 

catalog, eventually providing a common earth sciences catalog 

that allows users to register data, collections, and attendant 

metadata.

Goal 6. Develop a Flexible and Diverse Workforce for the 

Future

Our great diversity of expertise enables the 

USGS to carry out large-scale multidisciplinary 

investigations that provide essential knowledge 

about the Earth. The capabilities of our 

workforce must evolve to meet the needs of 

society and accomplish the USGS science 

strategy. Hiring flexibility is needed to respond 

to long- and short-term changes in priorities 

and funding. Maintaining core competencies 

while acquiring new expertise will require 

a strategic workforce plan and innovative 

approaches to meet the demands associated 

with interdisciplinary science and advanced 

technology. The accelerating attrition of the 

workforce makes it imperative that we act now.

Facing page. Principal investigator Bob Hatcher of the University of Tennessee 

working with students funded by the USGS EDMAP program in the Blue Ridge of 

North Carolina in January 2004. Photograph by Lydia Quintana, USGS.
52 Geology for a Changing World 2010–2020: Implementing the U.S. Geological Survey Science Strategy

Highlight 18

The Changing Demographics of Geologists Inside and Outside the USGS

One of the biggest challenges facing the 

USGS is building and maintaining a strong 

scientific workforce. In 2009, 42 percent 

of USGS geologists and 37 percent of 

USGS geophysicists were eligible to retire 

(see lower graph). Earth scientists are in 

ever-increasing demand, but the number 

of students entering the earth sciences 

peaked in the early 1980s and leveled off in 

the 2000s (see upper graph). The number 

of students earning graduate degrees has 

been relatively level since the early 1990s. 

The USGS needs to be aggressive in earlystage educational initiatives to encourage 

more students to become interested in 

the earth sciences. We will work with 

partners to create recruitment efforts and 

internships to attract and retain future 

scientists (see highlight 19).

U.S. geoscience degrees granted, 1973–2010. Modified from Keane (2010); used with permission.

Professor and students from Illinois State University working under the EDMAP program at the Bee 

Creek porphyry copper prospect near Chignik, Alaska, in summer 2005. Photograph by David Malone, 

Illinois State University; used with permission.

Student conducting fieldwork at Wilder Lake, 

Minn., as part of the EDMAP program. Photograph 

by James D. Miller, University of MinnesotaDuluth; used with permission.

Retirement eligibility for USGS scientists in fiscal year 2009.
Goal 6. Develop a Flexible and Diverse Workforce for the Future 53

Societal Needs and Benefits

and acquiring an ability to recognize and promote the role that 

geologic methods, such as mapping or geochemistry, can bring 

to biological and hydrological issues. The accelerating attrition 

of the workforce is undermining our capacity to fulfill our 

mission and to meet the new challenges posed by changing 

societal needs. With attrition, however, comes the opportunity 

to renew our workforce.

The USGS will need to develop strategic workforce 

plans and policies that seek to provide the proper mix of 

scientists and support staff to accomplish the USGS science 

strategy and provide for a diverse and flexible workforce. 

Science positions will need to be balanced among research, 

development, and operational staff to meet mission needs. 

Support staff positions need to be structured to provide 

attractive career options and development opportunities. 

Limited resources will require sharing of both support 

staff and research expertise across organizational units. 

Development and training programs with schools and 

other organizations need to be nurtured to provide the next 

generation of earth scientists (highlight 19). The USGS will 

need to partner with diverse organizations and disciplines to 

acquire nontraditional and new expertise.

The USGS faces critical workforce challenges (highlight 

18). Limitations on funding resources have dictated limited 

replacement of departing employees. As a result, core 

expertise in many areas has been diminished, and critical 

mentoring and training opportunities have been missed. We 

must hire new staff before the precipitous loss of our most 

experienced employees. Our talent base must be renewed both 

to maintain our core competencies and to gain new expertise 

to meet the science needs of the future.

The USGS is composed of a community of scientists 

who provide a breadth of expertise and innovation not found 

anywhere else in the Federal Government. Because of the 

nature of the USGS mission, USGS scientists often have the 

unique opportunity to focus large portions of their careers 

on a region, a specific hazard, a specific natural resource, 

or a particular physical process. As a result, they often 

become critical information resources to the larger science 

community, as well as the public. On the other hand, the 

complex challenges we face today in the earth sciences also 

demand that geologists be able to work across disciplines, be 

skilled with multiple technologies, and understand connections 

to global natural processes. This demand often requires 

developing expertise outside of traditional geological training 
54 Geology for a Changing World 2010–2020: Implementing the U.S. Geological Survey Science Strategy

meet inspiring people, and learn 

about opportunities for careers in the 

geosciences. Of the original 80 students 

who started with GeoFORCE in 2005, 76 

were admitted to college. Fifty percent of 

these students declared majors in earth 

science, engineering, or mathematics. 

NCGMP is tracking these students to 

encourage them to participate in EDMAP.

Highlight 19

EDMAP—Training the Next Generation of Geoscientists

Development of observational skills 

and vision is enhanced through guided 

apprenticeship. Fieldwork is the 

formative experience central to geologic 

sciences, and the USGS is well suited 

to guide the upcoming workforce. 

The primary objective of EDMAP, the 

educational component of the National 

Cooperative Geologic Mapping Program 

(NCGMP), is to train the next generation 

of geologic mappers. To do this, NCGMP 

provides funds for graduate and selected 

undergraduate students in academic 

research projects that involve geologic 

mapping as a major component. Through 

these cooperative agreements, NCGMP 

expands the research and educational 

capacity of academic programs that 

teach earth science students the 

techniques of geologic mapping and field 

data analysis. Another important goal is 

to increase the level of communication 

between the Nation’s geological surveys 

(both State geological surveys and the 

USGS) and geologic mappers in the 

academic community. This improved 

communication has two results: (1) the 

academic mapping community learns 

more about the societal needs that 

drive geologic mapping projects at the 

USGS and State geological surveys 

and (2) more geologic maps produced 

in academia are made available to the 

public.

EDMAP facts follow:

•	 Since 1996, EDMAP has funded 750 

students from 140 universities. All 

Federal funds are matched 1:1 by 

the universities.

•	 Funding levels are $17,500 for 

graduate students and $10,000 for 

undergraduate students.

•	 Of students surveyed, 95 percent 

either received jobs in geoscience 

fields or pursued further degrees 

(this high percentage of EDMAP 

students remaining in the geosciences is well above the national 

average).

•	 Student work contributes to 

geologic mapping of the United 

States.

To encourage more students to 

major in the geosciences, NCGMP 

also has been working closely with the 

University of Texas GeoFORCE Program. 

GeoFORCE is a summer program that 

rewards outstanding 8th through 12th 

grade minority students from South 

Texas and Houston schools by providing 

the opportunity to travel the country, 

USGS geologist Randall Orndorff relating the geologic map of the Harpers Ferry area, West Virginia, to 

the topography during a trip with GeoFORCE students. Photograph by Lydia Quintana, USGS.

EDMAP students from Idaho State University working in the Kings Peak area of Idaho in summer 2008. 

Photograph by Paul Link, Idaho State University; used with permission.
Goal 6. Develop a Flexible and Diverse Workforce for the Future 55

Strategic Actions

members; sabbaticals for visiting faculty members and USGS 

scientists; and temporary, career, and National Association of 

Geoscience Teachers (NAGT) appointments for students. We 

also will maintain robust volunteer, emeritus, and postdoctoral 

programs. The Mendenhall Research Fellowship Program 

for postdoctoral scientists will continue to be one of our most 

important programs for recruitment of people having new 

skills and capabilities, as well as conducting state-of-the-art 

research.

4. Enhance employee development and re-energize our 

scientists

Evaluation, promotion, and reward systems, rotational 

assignments, and training mechanisms will all be oriented 

to meet the goals outlined in the USGS science strategy, 

challenge our scientists, and enhance their experience. While 

continuing to reward outstanding scientific achievements, our 

performance evaluation and promotion systems will be adapted 

to more fully recognize the value of science leadership, crossdisciplinary work, and working in teams. Clear career ladders 

will be provided for the development of our scientists and 

managers, and managers across the USGS will work to develop 

common practices in the creation and evaluation of support and 

operational scientific positions. To encourage more integrated 

scientific study, we will develop cross-disciplinary classes to 

allow scientists to learn fundamental principles and issues of 

biology, geography, geology, and hydrology. Finally we will 

foster collaboration with the broader scientific community by 

facilitating USGS scientist participation in leadership positions 

for professional societies and as adjunct and affiliated faculty at 

academic institutions.

1. Build on the existing workforce strategies and help 

develop a bureauwide approach to renew our workforce

USGS studies of its workforce have identified gaps in 

our capabilities on the basis of future research requirements, 

projected retirements, and current capabilities. These studies 

should be updated and enhanced collaboratively across the 

USGS and should be used to create a plan to proactively 

renew our workforce and achieve the goals outlined in the 

USGS science strategy. The new plan should include new 

tools and procedures to create and support interdisciplinary 

teams and rapidly respond to changing needs for expertise.

2. Ensure the core discipline expertise and experience 

needed to fulfill the USGS mission

We must maintain our core geologic expertise and 

transfer valuable experience across generations of USGS 

scientists. Our internal perception of this need has been 

reinforced by advice from stakeholders, including users of 

USGS data, information, and knowledge. Others depend 

on our geologic expertise, and our future depends on our 

continued scientific excellence.

3. Use a wide variety of tools and hiring practices to 

meet special scientific and technical needs

A mix of permanent, temporary, and volunteer expertise 

is needed to respond to the fast-changing nature of science 

and technology. We will expand interaction and collaboration 

with the academic community by using appointments such as 

the “when actually employed” (WAE) positions for faculty 
56 Geology for a Changing World 2010–2020: Implementing the U.S. Geological Survey Science Strategy

Products and Outcomes

program and be more proactive in the use of Interagency 

Personnel Agreements to provide midcareer development 

experiences. The USGS will also analyze internal workflow 

needs and use short-term details, internships, and longer term 

temporary assignments to provide development opportunities. 

A formal scientific mentoring program will be created to 

transfer knowledge and expertise from experienced scientists 

to new scientists, so that institutional knowledge is not 

only maintained but enhanced during a period of increased 

workforce turnover.

3. Enhanced mechanisms to communicate the 

attractiveness of a career with the USGS, recruit diverse, 

high-quality candidates, and retain expertise

The USGS will continue and expand the USGS Mendenhall 

Research Fellowship Program and the scientist emeritus program. 

We will provide centralized information regarding student 

and intern hiring mechanisms and better publicize available 

opportunities. Through partnerships with other DOI bureaus and 

scientific societies, we will expand our summer intern and student 

learning programs, providing early career opportunities for 

women and minorities. We will work with the NSF to expand the 

earth science curriculum in grades K–12, and we will work with 

high schools and undergraduate programs to provide educational 

and employment opportunities.

1. A diverse and flexible workforce with the capability 

and expertise needed to accomplish the USGS mission

The USGS will create a comprehensive bureauwide 

workforce plan that examines current and future workforce 

issues within the context of the USGS science strategy. The 

workforce plan will define a 10-year hiring strategy to renew 

the workforce that will include increasing diversity, enhancing 

both core and new expertise, and providing for succession 

planning. We will examine the possibility of expanding 

programs such as EDMAP, which is helping to train the next 

generation of geologic mappers, to other critical subdisciplines 

of the earth sciences.

2. Employee evaluation, support, and development 

programs that foster worker satisfaction, retention, and 

effectiveness for the long term

The USGS will review and update its implementation 

of the Research Grade Evaluation Guide to appropriately 

reward teamwork and integrated science. Updated training for 

members of review panels will be required to ensure equitable 

evaluation of scientific achievement. We will use Web and 

video-streaming technology more effectively to provide 

low-cost scientific training and seminars. We will work with 

other agencies and universities to create a USGS sabbatical 
Conclusion 57

Conclusion

The ultimate goal of USGS science and of the strategy 

laid out in this document is to contribute to the sustainability 

of society and the ecosystems that support us. As we begin 

the second decade of the 21st century, our Nation faces 

growing challenges in resource availability, climate change, 

environmental degradation, and natural hazards. The growing 

human population places increasing stress on the resources 

and ecosystems of our planet. These problems are shared with 

other nations across the globe and have resulted in significant 

modifications to the global environment and its physical and 

biological processes. In fact, human actions may be altering 

some natural processes faster than scientists can recognize 

these changes and faster than society can adapt to them. As a 

consequence, it is more essential than ever that earth scientists 

apply their understanding of the natural world to benefit 

society. The USGS has responded to this urgent societal need 

by developing a bold plan laid out in Circular 1309, “Facing 

Tomorrow’s Challenges,” which will unite the capabilities of 

USGS biologists, hydrologists, geologists, and geographers 

to provide decisionmakers the comprehensive, unbiased 

natural science information they require. The success of this 

endeavor demands that each scientific discipline within the 

USGS remain at the forefront of its distinct sphere of research, 

as well as integrate its expertise across the full spectrum of 

the natural sciences. The six goals described in this document 

represent a mix of scientific focus areas and operational 

necessities that together provide a comprehensive roadmap for 

USGS geologic science to effectively contribute to the USGS 

mission to provide science for a changing world.
58 Geology for a Changing World 2010–2020: Implementing the U.S. Geological Survey Science Strategy

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2007–2017: U.S. Geological Survey Circular 1309, 70 p. 

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region: U.S. Geological Survey Web page accessed July 

29, 2010, at http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/pager/

events/us/2010rja6/index.html.

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Van Gosen, B.S., 2006, Reported historic asbestos mines, 

historic asbestos prospects, and natural asbestos occurrences in the Eastern United States (version 2.0): U.S. 

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60 Geology for a Changing World 2010–2020: Implementing the U.S. Geological Survey Science Strategy

database, accessed July 21, 2010, at http://pubs.usgs.gov/

of/2005/1189/.

Wagner, L.A., 2002, Materials in the economy—Material 

flows, scarcity, and the environment: U.S. Geological 

Survey Circular 1221, 29 p., accessed August 6, 2010, at 

http://pubs.usgs.gov/circ/2002/c1221/.

Wald, D.J., Jaiswal, K.S., Marano, K.D., Bausch, D.B., 

and Hearne, M.G., 2010, PAGER—Rapid assessment 

of an earthquake’s impact: U.S. Geological Survey Fact 

Sheet 2010–3036, 4 p., accessed November 8, 2010, at 

http://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/2010/3036.

Williams, C.F., Reed, M.J., Mariner, R.H., DeAngelo, Jacob, 

and Galanis, S.P., Jr., 2008, Assessment of moderate- and 

high-temperature geothermal resources of the United States: 

U.S. Geological Survey Fact Sheet 2008–3082, 4 p., accessed 

July 26, 2010, at http://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/2008/3082/.

Wood, Nathan, 2007, Variations in city exposure and sensitivity to 

tsunami hazards in Oregon: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific 

Investigations Report 2007–5283, 37 p. and database, accessed 

July 26, 2010, at http://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2007/5283/.
Appendix A. Documents Reviewed by the Geology Science Strategy Team 61

Appendix A. Documents Reviewed by the Geology Science Strategy Team

of the U.S. Geological Survey: Washington, D.C., 

National Academies Press, 80 p. (Also available 

at http://books.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_

id=6297&page=R1.)

National Research Council, 1999, Our common journey—A 

transition toward sustainability: Washington, D.C., 

National Academies Press, 384 p. (Also available at 

http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=9690.)

National Research Council, 1999, Science for 

decisionmaking—Coastal and marine geology at the U.S. 

Geological Survey: Washington, D.C., National Academies 

Press, 124 p. (Also available at http://www.nap.edu/

openbook.php?isbn=0309065844.)

National Research Council, 2000, Review of the U.S. 

Geological Survey’s Volcano Hazards Program: 

Washington, D.C., National Academies Press, 152 p. (Also 

available at http://books.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_

id=9884&page=R1.)

National Research Council, 2001, Basic research opportunities 

in earth science: Washington, D.C., National Academies 

Press, 168 p. (Also available at http://www.nap.edu/

catalog.php?record_id=9981.)

National Research Council, 2001, Future roles and 

opportunities for the U.S. Geological Survey: Washington, 

D.C., National Academies Press, 192 p. (Also available at 

http://books.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=10069.)

National Research Council, 2001, Grand challenges 

in environmental sciences: Washington, D.C., 

National Academies Press, 106 p. (Also available at 

http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=9975.)

National Research Council, 2002, Evolutionary and 

revolutionary technologies for mining: Washington, D.C., 

National Academies Press, 102 p. (Also available at 

http://books.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=10318.)

National Research Council, 2002, Research opportunities 

in geography at the U.S. Geological Survey: Washington, 

D.C., National Academies Press, 144 p. (Also available at 

http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=10486.)

National Research Council, 2003, Living on an active 

Earth—Perspectives on earthquake science: Washington, 

D.C., National Academies Press, 432 p. (Also available at 

http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=10493.)

National Research Council, 2003, Summary of a Workshop 

on U.S. Natural Gas Demand, Supply, and Technology—

Looking Toward the Future: Washington, D.C., 

National Academies Press, 112 p. (Also available at 

http://books.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=10806.)

National Research Council, 2004, A geospatial framework 

for the coastal zone—National needs for coastal mapping 

and charting: Washington, D.C., National Academies 

American Association for the Advancement of Science, 2006, 

Review and guidance to the United States Geological 

Survey National Cooperative Geologic Mapping Program: 

American Association for the Advancement of Science, 

51 p., available at http://ngmdb.usgs.gov/Info/reports/

AAAS_2006FinalReport.pdf.

Bohlen, S.R., Halley, R.B., Hickman, S.H., Johnson, S.Y., 

Lowenstern, J.B., Muhs, D.R., Plumlee, G.S., Thompson, 

G.A., Trauger, D.L., and Zoback, M.L., 1998, Geology for 

a changing world—A science strategy for the Geologic 

Division of the U.S. Geological Survey, 2000–2010: U.S. 

Geological Survey Circular 1172, 59 p. (Also available at 

http://pubs.usgs.gov/circ/c1172/.)

Brantley, S.L., White, T.S., White, A.F., Sparks, D., Richter, 

D., Pregitzer, K., Derry, L., Chorover, J., Chadwick, 

O., April, R., Anderson, S., and Amundson, R., 2006, 

Frontiers in exploration of the Critical Zone—Report 

of a workshop sponsored by the National Science 

Foundation (NSF), October 24–26, 2005, Newark, Del.: 

Critical Zone Exploration Network, 30 p., available at 

http://www.czen.org/files/czen/CZEN_Booklet.pdf.

Clark, W.C., Crutzen, P.J., and Schellnhuber, H.J., 2005, 

Science for global sustainability—Toward a new paradigm: 

CID (Center for International Development at Harvard 

University) Working Paper No. 120, 28 p., available at 

http://www.cid.harvard.edu/cidwp/120.htm. (Originally 

published as chap. 1 of Schellnhuber, H.J., Crutzen, P.J., 

Clark, W.C., Claussen, Martin, and Held, Hermann, eds., 

2004, Earth system analysis for sustainability: Cambridge, 

Mass., MIT Press.)

Climate Change Science Program and the Subcommittee on 

Global Change Research, 2006, Our changing planet—The 

U.S. Climate Change Science Program for fiscal year 2007; 

A supplement to the President’s budget for fiscal year 2007: 

262 p. (Also available at http://www.usgcrp.gov/usgcrp/

Library/ocp2007/default.htm.)

McMahon, Gerard, Benjamin, S.P., Clarke, Keith, Findley, 

J.E., Fisher, R.N., Graf, W.L., Gundersen, L.C., Jones, 

J.W., Loveland, T.R., Roth, K.S., Usery, E.L., and Wood, 

N.J., 2005, Geography for a changing world—A science 

strategy for the geographic research of the U.S. Geological 

Survey, 2005–2015: U.S. Geological Survey Circular 

1281, 54 p. (Also available at http://geography.usgs.gov/

feature_scienceplan.php.)

National Research Council, 1996, Mineral resources and 

society—A review of the U.S. Geological Survey’s Mineral 

Resource Surveys Program Plan [1995]: Washington, 

D.C., National Academies Press, 99 p. (Also available at 

http://books.nap.edu/openbook.php?isbn=NI000047.)

National Research Council, 1999, Meeting U.S. energy 

resource needs—The Energy Resources Program 
62 Geology for a Changing World 2010–2020: Implementing the U.S. Geological Survey Science Strategy

Press, 168 p. (Also available at http://www.nap.edu/

openbook.php?isbn=0309091764.)

National Research Council, 2004, Future challenges for the U.S. 

Geological Survey’s Mineral Resources Program: Washington, 

D.C., National Academies Press, 154 p. (Also available at 

http://books.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=10817.)

National Research Council, 2004, Materials count—The 

case for material flows analysis: Washington, D.C., 

National Academies Press, 144 p. (Also available at 

http://books.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=10705.)

National Research Council, 2004, Partnerships for 

reducing landslide risk—Assessment of the national 

landslide hazards mitigation strategy: Washington, 

D.C., National Academies Press, 144 p. (Also available 

at http://books.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_

id=10946&page=R1.)

National Research Council, 2006, Improved seismic 

monitoring—Improved decision-making; Assessing 

the value of reduced uncertainty: Washington, D.C., 

National Academies Press, 196 p. (Also available at 

http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=11327.)

National Research Council, 2007, Coal—Research and 

development to support national energy policy: Washington, 

D.C., National Academies Press, 184 p. (Also available at 

http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=11977.)

National Research Council, 2007, Earth materials and 

health—Research priorities for earth science and 

public health: Washington, D.C., National Academies 

Press, 188 p. (Also available at http://www.nap.edu/

catalog.php?record_id=11809.)

National Research Council, 2008, Managing materials 

for a twenty-first century military: Washington, D.C., 

National Academies Press, 208 p. (Also available at 

http://books.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=12028.)

National Research Council, 2008, Minerals, critical 

minerals, and the U.S. economy: Washington, D.C., 

National Academies Press, 264 p. (Also available at 

http://books.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=12034.)

Sarewitz, Daniel, Pielke, R.A., Jr., and Byerly, Radford, Jr., 

eds., 2000, Prediction—Science, decision making, and the 

future of nature: Washington, D.C., Island Press, 405 p.

U.S. Geological Survey, 2007, Facing tomorrow’s 

challenges—U.S. Geological Survey science in the 

decade 2007–2017: U.S. Geological Survey Circular 

1309, 70 p. (Also available at http://pubs.usgs.gov/

circ/2007/1309/.)
Appendix B. Selected Accomplishments of the Geology Science Strategy for 2000–2010 63

Appendix B. Selected Accomplishments of the Geology Science Strategy for 

2000–2010

This report builds on the strong foundation provided by 

the geology science strategy described in U.S. Geological 

Survey Circular 1172, “Geology for a Changing World: 

A Science Strategy for the Geologic Division of the U.S. 

Geological Survey, 2000–2010” (Bohlen and others, 1998). 

As noted in the introduction of this report, implementing the 

strategy defined in Circular 1172 led to scientific integration 

with other disciplines becoming a hallmark of the geologic 

mapping, coastal and marine geology, and Earth surface 

dynamics programs.

Highlight B1 gives examples of successful results 

achieved by working toward the seven goals of Circular 1172:

• Goal 1. Conduct Geologic Hazard Assessments for 

Mitigation Planning

• Goal 2. Provide Short-Term Prediction of Geologic 

Disasters and Rapidly Characterize Their Effects

• Goal 3. Advance the Understanding of the Nation’s 

Energy and Mineral Resources in a Global Geologic, 

Economic, and Environmental Context

• Goal 4. Anticipate the Environmental Impacts of 

Climate Variability

• Goal 5. Establish the Geologic Framework for 

Ecosystem Structure and Function

• Goal 6. Interpret the Links Between Human Health 

and Geologic Processes

• Goal 7. Determine the Geologic Controls on GroundWater Resources and Hazardous Waste Isolation

References Cited

2007 Working Group on California Earthquake Probabilities, 

2008, The Uniform California Earthquake Rupture 

Forecast, version 2 (UCERF 2): U.S. Geological Survey 

Open-File Report 2007–1437 and California Geological 

Survey Special Report 203, accessed August 4, 2010, at 

http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2007/1437/.

Bohlen, S.R., Halley, R.B., Hickman, S.H., Johnson, S.Y., 

Lowenstern, J.B., Muhs, D.R., Plumlee, G.S., Thompson, 

G.A., Trauger, D.L., and Zoback, M.L., 1998, Geology for 

a changing world—A science strategy for the Geologic 

Division of the U.S. Geological Survey, 2000–2010: U.S. 

Geological Survey Circular 1172, 59 p. (Also available at 

http://pubs.usgs.gov/circ/c1172/.)

Field, E.H., Milner, K.R., and the 2007 Working Group on 

California Earthquake Probabilities, 2008, Forecasting 

California’s earthquakes; What can we expect in the next 

30 years?: U.S. Geological Survey Fact Sheet 2008–3027, 

4 p., accessed August 4, 2010, at http://pubs.usgs.gov/

fs/2008/3027/.

Grauch, V.J.S., Phillips, J.D., Koning, D.J., Johnson, P.S., 

and Bankey, Viki, 2009, Geophysical interpretations 

of the southern Española Basin, New Mexico, that 

contribute to understanding its hydrogeologic framework: 

U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1761, 88 p., 

accessed August 4, 2010, at http://pubs.usgs.gov/pp/1761/.

Robinson, Marci, and Dowsett, Harry, 2010, Why study 

paleoclimate?: U.S. Geological Survey Fact Sheet 2010–

3021, 2 p., available only online at http://pubs.usgs.gov/

fs/2010/3021/.

Rodriguez, B.D., Deszcz-Pan, Maria, and Sawyer, D.A., 

2007, Electromagnetic studies and subsurface mapping of 

electrical resistivity in the La Bajada constriction area, New 

Mexico, chap. F of Minor, S.A., ed., The Cerillos uplift, the 

La Bajada constriction, and hydrogeologic framework of the 

Santo Domingo basin, Rio Grande rift, New Mexico: U.S. 

Geological Survey Professional Paper 1720, p. 121–162, 

accessed August 4, 2010, at http://pubs.usgs.gov/pp/1720/.

U.S. Geological Survey, 2009, 2008 Bay Area earthquake 

probabilities: U.S. Geological Survey Web site accessed 

August 4, 2010, at http://earthquake.usgs.gov/regional/nca/

ucerf/.

Williams, C.F., Reed, M.J., Mariner, R.H., DeAngelo, Jacob, 

and Galanis, S.P., Jr., 2008, Assessment of moderate- and 

high-temperature geothermal resources of the United 

States: U.S. Geological Survey Fact Sheet 2008–3082, 

4 p., accessed July 26, 2010, at http://pubs.usgs.gov/

fs/2008/3082/.
64 Geology for a Changing World 2010–2020: Implementing the U.S. Geological Survey Science Strategy

Selected Accomplishments of the Geology Science Strategy for 2000–2010

Highlight B1

Goal 1 of 2000–2010 Geology Strategy

Conduct Geologic Hazard Assessments for Mitigation 

Planning

“Regional- and national-scale probabilistic hazard maps and 

interactive data bases ... will be prepared for hazards such 

as earthquakes, volcanoes, landslides, coastal erosion, and 

floods ... ” (Circular 1172, p. 15)

In 2008, the USGS released the Uniform 

California Earthquake Rupture Forecast, version 

2 (2007 Working Group on California Earthquake 

Probabilities, 2008). The forecast was a collaborative effort 

with the California Geological Survey, the Southern California 

Earthquake Center, and the California Earthquake Authority. 

Results indicate that the probability of California having one or 

more magnitude 6.7 earthquakes between 2007 and 2036 is more 

than 99 percent. 

The overall probability of a magnitude 6.7 or greater earthquake in the San 

Francisco Bay region by 2036 is 63 percent. From USGS (2009).

Landsat 7 image of the San Francisco Bay region showing fault traces. From 

http://sfbay.wr.usgs.gov/highlight_archives/images/SanFran.jpg.

280

580

880

680

17

1

1

80

101

101

101

21%

3%

6%

7%

3%

31%

1%

CALAVERAS FAULT

RODGERS CREEK FAULT

CONCORD–GREEN VALLEY FAULT

HAYWARD FAULT 

GREENVILLE

 FAULT

MT. DIABLO

THRUST FAULT

CALAVERAS FAULT

 FAULT

CONCORD–GREEN VALLEY FAULT

 SAN ANDREAS FAULT

P a c i f i c

O

c e a

n

SAN GREGORIO FAULT RODGERS CREEK FAULT

HAYWARD FAULT 

Monterey

Bay

San Francisco Bay

Probability of magnitude 

 6.7 or greater quakes

 before 2036 on the

 indicated fault 

Expanding urban areas

Increasing probability

 along fault segments

0

0 20 KILOMETERS

20 MILES

N

%

San Francisco

Half Moon Bay

Pacifica

Oakland

Sacramento

Stockton

Danville

Antioch

Palo

Alto

San

Mateo

Walnut

Creek

Livermore Pleasanton Hayward

Tracy

Santa Cruz

Watsonville

Gilroy

Monterey

Salinas

San

Jose

Santa

Rosa

Petaluma

Novato

San

Rafael

Napa Sonoma

Vallejo

EXTENT OF RUPTURE

IN LOMA PRIETA QUAKE IN LOMA PRIETA QUAKE

Three-dimensional elevation map of California showing the probability 

in the next 30 years for one or more magnitude 6.7 or greater earthquakes 

capable of causing extensive damage and loss of life. The map shows the 

distribution throughout the State of the likelihood of having a nearby earthquake 

rupture (within 3 or 4 miles). From Field and others (2008).
Appendix B. Selected Accomplishments of the Geology Science Strategy for 2000–2010 65

Goal 3 of 2000–2010 Geology Strategy

Advance the Understanding of the Nation’s 

Energy and Mineral Resources in a Global Geologic, 

Economic, and Environmental Context

“Focus interdisciplinary research on the key geologic processes 

that control the origin and distribution of energy resources ... 

with present or anticipated high demand.” (Circular 1172, p. 25).

USGS scientists recently completed a national assessment 

of geothermal resources capable of producing electricity. 

Scientists estimated the electric power generation potential of 

identified and undiscovered conventional geothermal systems, 

as well as the potential from unconventional Enhanced 

Geothermal Systems (EGS) resources. The results indicate 

that full development of identified conventional geothermal 

systems alone could increase current geothermal power 

production by about 260 percent. If unconventional EGS 

resources are successfully developed, they could provide 

an installed geothermal electric power generation capacity 

equivalent to about 50 percent of the total 2008 U.S. electric 

power generating capacity.

Goal 2 of 2000–2010 Geology Strategy

Highlight B1

Provide Short-Term Prediction of Geologic Disasters and 

Rapidly Characterize Their Effects

“In collaboration with USGS divisions and other agencies, the 

[Geologic Division] will ... establish alert levels, and provide 

appropriate warnings for volcanic eruptions ...” (Circular 1172, 

p. 19)

During the decade 2000–2010, the USGS Volcano Hazards 

Program advanced rapidly in its ability to deliver short-term 

forecasts and warnings of eruption impacts to partner agencies 

and the public. Digital imagery of seismic records (known as 

webicorders) and other geophysical datasets enabled scientists 

to make real-time assessments of seismicity associated with 

precursory activity and eruptions. Periodic updates on eruptions 

and images from Web cameras were put on public Web sites. 

Specialized warnings in standardized format were introduced 

for the aviation industry. Particle dispersion models were used in 

predicting the path and evolution of ash clouds from eruptions. 

Responses are based on hazard assessments from field 

investigations and on plans developed carefully with partner 

agencies. The result is that people and property are kept out of 

harm’s way to the maximum extent possible, and disruptions to 

travel, commerce, and daily life are minimized.

Selected Accomplishments of the Geology Science Strategy for 2000–2010—

Continued

The operations room at the Alaska Volcano Observatory where multiple 

webicorder displays, satellite images, and other geophysical data can be 

viewed simultaneously. USGS photograph.

Map showing the relative favorability of occurrence for geothermal resources 

in the western contiguous United States. Warmer colors equate with higher 

favorability. Identified geothermal systems are represented by black dots. 

From Williams and others (2008, fig. 3).

The eruption at Mount Redoubt (left) on April 16, 2009, was monitored at 

the Alaska Volcano Observatory, where the webicorder (right) of the seismic 

activity was recorded. Photograph by Cyrus Read, USGS.
66 Geology for a Changing World 2010–2020: Implementing the U.S. Geological Survey Science Strategy

Goal 4 of 2000–2010 Geology Strategy

Anticipate the Environmental Impacts of Climate Variability

Highlight B1

PRISM3 February SST (°C)

Sea surface temperature (SST) sites Deep ocean temperature (DOT) sites Sites with both SST and DOT estimates Vegetation sites

13

-5 -3 -1 1 3 5

Mean annual sea-surface-temperature anomaly; the colors show the mean annual temperature 

differences in degrees Celsius when modern temperatures are subtracted from those estimated for the 

Pliocene Warm Period of approximately 3.3–3.0 million years ago. From Robinson and Dowsett (2010).

Goal 5 of 2000–2010 Geology 

Strategy

Establish the Geologic Framework 

for Ecosystem Structure and Function

“Determine rates of floral, faunal, 

and other environmental changes ... 

by using stratigraphy, paleontology, 

sedimentology, soil science, 

geochemistry, and high-resolution 

geochronology” (Circular 1172, p. 37)

USGS scientists have been studying tree 

islands in the Everglades to determine 

the development and timing of treeisland formation throughout the greater 

Everglades ecosystem and to document 

the response of tree islands to climatic and 

human-induced changes. Tree islands are 

small forested islands in the Everglades 

wetlands that are known for their 

biodiversity. Findings indicate that tree 

island development was triggered by four 

climatic events ranging from about 2,600 

years to 200 years ago. Twentieth-century 

water management practices reduced 

the size of the islands and affected the 

plant communities. Knowing the history 

of tree island development and the rate of 

response to water management practices 

will help managers predict ecosystem 

responses to Everglades restoration plans.

Aerial photograph of tree islands in Shark River 

Slough, Everglades National Park. Photograph by 

Thomas P. Sheehan, USGS.

Under the PRISM (Pliocene Research, 

Interpretation and Synoptic Mapping) 

Project, USGS scientists are 

reconstructing and systematically 

documenting the magnitude and 

variability of Pliocene surface and deep 

ocean temperatures and circulation, ice 

volume, and sea level on a global scale 

for a focused interval (approximately 

3.3–3.0 million years ago). The main 

purpose of efforts to reconstruct 

“Reconstruct key past climates under a range of conditions and 

compare these to atmospheric general-circulation model results. 

These reconstructions will emphasize warm climates of the 

past but will also include some studies of cold climates and the 

transitions between past climate states. Highly interdisciplinary 

paleoclimate studies of both terrestrial and marine records and 

frequent interaction with the climate-modeling community will 

be required.” (Circular 1172, p. 30)

Selected Accomplishments of the Geology Science Strategy for 2000–2010—

Continued

Pliocene paleoenvironmental 

parameters is to provide a conceptual 

model and synoptic view of the Earth 

during an interval considerably warmer 

than present to be used in model 

experiments designed to explore the 

impacts of climate variability and 

resultant feedbacks. PRISM findings are 

aiding our understanding of the climate 

system and possible future climate 

conditions.
Appendix B. Selected Accomplishments of the Geology Science Strategy for 2000–2010 67

Goal 6 of 2000–2010 Geology Strategy

Interpret the Links Between Human Health and Geologic 

Processes

“Continue research on the geologic occurrence, geoavailability, 

environmental mobility and degradation, and health effects of 

potential toxins.” (Circular 1172, p. 41)

Since the publication of Circular 1172, USGS earth scientists 

have forged many exciting new research collaborations 

with health scientists to examine potential links between 

geologic processes and the health of humans and ecosystems 

(http://health.usgs.gov/). For example, USGS research is 

helping health scientists better understand potential health 

effects resulting from exposure to dusts of asbestos or other 

fibrous silicate minerals that are natural components of some 

rocks and mineral deposits such as vermiculite at Libby, Mont. 

Detailed mineralogical characterization of asbestiform or 

fibrous mineral particles in dust samples and source materials 

documents the complexities of the particles to which various 

populations have been exposed. The USGS has also taken 

a leadership role in the development of well-characterized 

dosing materials for asbestos-related toxicity testing, in 

compiling information on the range of geologic environments 

in which asbestiform minerals occur nationwide and globally, 

and in understanding how these mineral particles may interact 

chemically with the body to cause toxicity.

Goal 7 of 2000–2010 Geology Strategy

Highlight B1

Determine the Geologic Controls on GroundWater Resources and Hazardous Waste Isolation

“Conduct multidisciplinary research on the origin, development, 

and hydrologic properties of fracture and fault systems.” 

(Circular 1172, p. 46)

The Española basin in New Mexico is the primary groundwater 

resource for the cities and surrounding urbanizing areas 

of Santa Fe, Española, Los Alamos, and eight Pueblo 

Nations. Sound management of the groundwater in the 

basin requires understanding the subsurface geology 

that affects groundwater flow, quality, and storage. USGS 

scientists conducted a multidisciplinary study, collecting 

and synthesizing high-resolution aeromagnetic data, deeplooking electrical geophysical soundings, and gravity data 

compilations with geology and other geophysical information 

to develop a three-dimensional geologic framework that 

will improve regional groundwater flow models for sound 

groundwater management (Rodriguez and others, 2007; Grauch 

and others, 2009).

Perspective view (looking east) of the modeled elevation of the base of the 

Santa Fe Group in relation to topography of the southern Española basin. 

Topographic surface is raised above the base. From Grauch and others (2009, 

fig. 32).

Scanning electron photomicrograph showing asbestiform (fibrous) 

amphiboles in vermiculite insulation produced at Libby, Mont.; the scale bar 

is 10 micrometers long. Photograph by G. Meeker, USGS.

Selected Accomplishments of the Geology Science Strategy for 2000–2010—

Continued
68 Geology for a Changing World 2010–2020: Implementing the U.S. Geological Survey Science Strategy

Appendix C. Divisions of Geologic Time 

Effective communication in the geosciences requires 

the consistent use of divisions of geologic time. The chart 

shows major chronostratigraphic and geochronologic units 

and boundary ages approved by the U.S. Geological Survey 

Geologic Names Committee in 2010.

Reference Cited

U.S. Geological Survey Geologic Names Committee, 2010, 

Divisions of geologic time—Major chronostratigraphic 

and geochronologic units: U.S. Geological Survey 

Fact Sheet 2010–3059, 2 p., accessed July 27, 2010, at 

http://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/2010/3059/. (Supersedes USGS Fact 

Sheet 2007–3015.)

Divisions of geologic time approved by the U.S. Geological 

Survey Geologic Names Committee in 2010. Map symbols are 

in parentheses. From U.S. Geological Survey Geologic Names 

Committee (2010).

EONOTHEM / EON ERATHEM / ERA SYSTEM,SUBSYSTEM / PERIOD,SUBPERIOD

SERIES / 

EPOCH 

Age estimates ofboundaries inmega-annum (Ma)unless otherwise noted

Age estimates ofboundaries inEONOTHEM / EON ERmega-annum (Ma)unless otherwise noted 

ATHEM / ERA 

SYSTEM / 

PERIOD

Holocene 

Pleistocene

Pliocene

Miocene 

Oligocene 

Eocene 

Paleocene 

Upper / Late 

Upper / Late 

Lower / Early 

Middle 

Upper / Late 

Lower / Early 

Middle 

Upper / Late 

Lower / Early 

Middle 

Upper / Late 

Lower / Early 

Middle 

Upper / Late 

Lower / Early 

Middle 

Pridoli 

Ludlow 

Wenlock 

Llandovery 

Upper / Late 

Lower / Early 

Middle 

Upper / Late 

Lower / Early 

Middle 

Lopingian 

Cisuralian 

Guadalupian 

Lower / Early 

11,700 ±99 yr*

5.332 ±0.005

23.03 ±0.05

33.9 ±0.1

55.8 ±0.2

65.5 ±0.3

99.6 ±0.9

145.5 ±4.0

161.2 ±4.0

175.6 ±2.0

199.6 ±0.6

228.7 ±2.0*

245.0 ±1.5

251.0 ±0.4

260.4 ±0.7

270.6 ±0.7

299.0 ±0.8

307.2 ±1.0*

311.7 ±1.1

318.1 ±1.3

328.3 ±1.6*

345.3 ±2.1

359.2 ±2.5

385.3 ±2.6

397.5 ±2.7

416.0 ±2.8

418.7 ±2.7

422.9 ±2.5

428.2 ±2.3

443.7 ±1.5

460.9 ±1.6

471.8 ±1.6

488.3 ±1.7

501.0 ±2.0

513.0 ±2.0

542.0 ±1.0

Ediacaran 

Cryogenian 

Tonian 

Stenian 

Ectasian 

Calymmian 

Statherian 

Orosirian 

Rhyacian 

Siderian 

635* 

850

1000

1200

1400

1600

1800 

2050 

2300 

2500 

2800 

3200 

3600 

~4000 

~4600*

2.588*

** 

*

Changes to the time scale since 

March 2007.

**The Ediacaran is the only 

formal system in the Proterozoic 

with a global boundary stratotype 

section and point (GSSP). All 

other units are periods.

Gundersen and others—Geology for a Changing World 2010–2020: Implementing the U.S. Geological Survey Science Strategy—Circular 1369