What We Do

The release of elastic energy associated with earthquakes generates seismic waves that propagate through the Earth and along the Earth’s surface across large distances. Most earthquakes are the result of plate tectonic processes. The geologic monitoring manual provides guidance for determining status and trends of geologic resources within the National Park System, and to further the understanding of how geologic processes impact dynamic ecosystem.

Hot springs, geysers, mud pots, and fumaroles are dynamic surface features that represent interacting subterranean systems of water, heat, and rocks. Identifying the locations of these features and monitoring their heat, water flow, and chemistry can provide land managers with data needed to make informed decisions about management options.

Volcanoes, by virtue of their geology and typography, display evocative landscapes and are home to diverse ecosystems, many of which are delicate and unique. Volcanic eruptions can obliterate landscapes and threaten lives, ecosystems and property. The geologic monitoring manual provides guidance for determining status and trends of geologic resources within the National Park System, and to further the understanding of how geologic processes impact dynamic ecosystem.

Different types of slope movement, such as fall, topple, slide, spread, and flow, can occur in a variety of materials and degrees of slopes. The geologic monitoring manual provides guidance for resource managers seeking to establish the status and trends of geologic resources within the National Park System, and to further the understanding of how geologic processes impact dynamic ecosystems.

The start of the El Calderon Trail, bringing you through the oldest volcanism of El Malpais National Monument.

Start your hike across the youngest lava flow at El Malpais National Monument at the Lava Falls Trailhead. This trailhead features a vault toilet, picnic tables, and interpretive signage to utilize before heading out on the one-mile Lava Falls Trail loop.

Begin your journey into a volcanic landscape at the Big Tubes Trailhead. Be prepared to encounter rough basaltic terrain and witness massive lava tube features.

These two mountain ranges formed by different geological forces and processes. The Sierra Nevada mountains can be thought of as an enormous tilted fault block with a long slope westward to California's Central Valley and steep eastern slope. The Cascades form an arc-shaped band extending from British Columbia to Northern California with 13 major volcanic centers that lie in sequence.

The eruption of Novarupta in 1912 in Katmai National Park and Preserve was the largest in recent history and devastated a large mountainous and coastal region. In 2004, the National Park Service initiated an effort to acquire, relocate, and rephotograph some of these scenes as part of a larger effort to document changes in the landscape throughout the park lands of southwestern Alaska.