Looking for hot science stories? This monthly compendium of USGS science information can help you cover the ongoing earth and natural science research and investigations at USGS. Our footage, photos and web links can enhance your story.

LEADS
The Secret is Out: Spy Photos Go Public-No longer hidden behind the cloak of secrecy, 50,000 more frames of spy satellite imagery dating back to the 1960s will soon be available to the public. Bringing these photos in from the “cold” is an ongoing initiative between the USGS, the National Archives and Records Administration and the National Imagery and Mapping Agency. Declassifying images is particularly significant to environmental researchers, providing additional data before the Landsat series of satellites were launched in the early 1970s. Preview images such as the Severodinsk Shipyard in the USSR, the cities of Hanoi and Beijing and the Aswan Dam in Egypt at http://www.usgs.gov/features/satellite_images.html. For related information visit http://edc.usgs.gov/archive/nslrsda/index.html. Karen Wood (kwood@usgs.gov) 703-648-4460.

Bear Markets, Bull Markets…Wetland Markets?-Capturing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and holding it in “sinks” on the landscape is a critical component to dealing with global climate change – curbing emissions alone will not bring the natural carbon cycle into better balance. Carbon dioxide emissions are beginning to be traded as commodities, creating a new market sector. In the Prairie Pothole Region of the Great Plains, wetlands that have been restored from agricultural use may play an important role in the world carbon market. USGS researchers are investigating where wetlands have been restored, how much carbon they hold, and how this “natural resource” can help understand greenhouse gases contributions to global climate change. Restored wetlands in the Prairie Pothole Region have the potential to sequester more than the 100 million metric ton emission reduction goal established for the United States for 2012 by President Bush. Gail Wendt (gwendt@usgs.gov) 703-648-4460.

What Lies Beneath…Crater Lake-Back in 1886, a USGS scientist named Clarence Dutton led the first expedition to determine the depth of Crater Lake in Oregon using a rowboat, a lead weight, and a piano wire. For more than 100 years, scientists have continued to marvel at the mysteries beneath the surface of the deepest lake in the U.S. New bathymetric mapping, combined with decades of past research, now provides the clearest picture yet of events that happened since the massive eruption 7,700 years ago that destroyed Mount Mazama and created Crater Lake. Additional information and photographs can be viewed at http://wrgis.wr.usgs.gov/fact-sheet/fs092-02 A.B. Wade (abwade@usgs.gov) 703-648-4460.

Knowing One’s Place in Space-Can you answer the geography questions on Who Wants to be a Millionaire? Do you know the name of the USGS topographic quadrangle that covers your community? Can you read a topographic map and speak eloquently about contour lines and digital orthophotoquadrangles? All this and more are the purview of the USGS, the government agency best recognized for its topographic maps and the place where the chief information officer is known as the Geographic Information Officer. In its role as the civilian mapping agency for the Nation and the general purveyor of all things geographic, the USGS is proud to join the National Geographic Society and many other partners to support National Geography Awareness Week, November 17-23, and GIS Day, November 20. This year’s theme is “America’s Backyard: Exploring Your Public Lands.” Activities at USGS offices across the country will include speaker presentations, a map/poster contest and gallery, mini-workshops, mapping center tours, and more. Visit http://www.usgs.gov/features/geogweek.html the USGS Geography Awareness website for details. Jon Campbell (joncampbell@usgs.gov), 703-648-4460.

After the Fire-When the flames are out and the smoke clears, other hazards like flooding and debris flows grab the science spotlight. Scientists from the USGS and the Colorado Geological Survey have assessed the potential for debris flows – the sliding of rocks, sediments, and debris from slopes – in areas burned by the Missionary Ridge and Coal Seam fires in the steep, mountainous terrain near Durango and Glenwood Springs, Colorado. Scientists are installing rain gages, establishing and monitoring channel cross sections, and collecting soil and sediment samples to determine links between rainfall amounts, occurrence of debris flows and other factors. This research provides information to better understand how the land surface and streams in mountainous terrains recover after a fire. For more on USGS wild land fire work, visit http://landslides.usgs.gov/html_files/landslides/frdebris/cannon/cannon.html and http://wwwbrr.cr.usgs.gov/projects/Burned_Watersheds/index.html. Kathleen Gohn (kgohn@usgs.gov) 703-648-4460.

FEEDS
Natural Surrealism?-A paradox of terms perhaps, but perhaps the best way to describe the astonishing patterns, vivid abstractions, and fantastic shapes exhibited in the collection of satellite imagery being displayed as “Landsat: Earth as Art.” The joint USGS and NASA collection of satellite imagery shows 41 images of Earth taken by the Landsat 7 satellite from over 400 miles high. The only human intervention in creating these graceful portraits of Earth was the color processing – the rest is nature in its most beautiful, intriguing, and illuminating aspect. And they’re not just beautiful, they’re educational, too, teaching students and general audiences something about the processes of the earth sciences that create the startling beauty of the images. The collection is currently on display at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., but anyone can take a virtual tour through a web version of the exhibit at http://landsat.gsfc.nasa.gov/earthasart/. To learn more about the Landsat 7 satellite visit http://landsat7.usgs.gov/index.php. Jon Campbell (joncampbell@usgs.gov), 703-648-4460.

How Many Turkeys in Texas?-Are national holidays like Thanksgiving a time or a place? For many, the holidays represent family gatherings with delicious edibles, but for people who live in Thanksgiving, Maryland, and Christmas, Mississippi, it is also a place called home. This year, learn about holiday place names by using the USGS Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). It is a fun and exciting research tool with over two million place names in the U.S. Many people use this database as a genealogical tool, exploring their family name or history through place names. The GNIS was developed with the U.S. Board on Geographic Names to establish uniform name usage in the federal government and provide an index of names on federal maps. Visit http://geonames.usgs.gov/ to search for unique names of streams, lakes, mountains, or populated places. Karen Wood (kwood@usgs.gov) 703-648-4460.

SEEDS
Earthquake Wrap-Up for 2002-What will the total be for 2002? What will the largest magnitude be for the year? If you’re looking for a year-end story that may shake up your readers, watch for the USGS “earthquake wrap-up” at the start of the New Year. So far in 2002, the largest U.S. earthquake was near McKinley Park, Alaska on November 3 with a magnitude 7.9. Smaller quakes in New York and southern Indiana surprised many people and caused significant damage. One of the deadliest earthquakes this year was a magnitude 6.5 in Iran with more than 250 deaths. On average, 18 major earthquakes (magnitude 7.0 to 7.9) and one great earthquake (8.0 or higher) occur worldwide. Looking back, 2001 was an average year in the number of earthquakes, although the death toll of more than 20,000 was about twice the annual long-term average. Check out Earthquake News & Highlights at http://earthquake.usgs.gov/. Kathleen Gohn (kgohn@usgs.gov) 703-648-4460.