USGS science picks

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United States Using Less Water Today

The United States uses less water today than it did 35 years ago, despite a 30 percent population increase. Declines in water use are partly attributable to alternative cooling methods at power plants and more efficient irrigation systems. According to the latest USGS water use report, nearly half of all water used in the United States goes to cooling thermoelectric power plants. Irrigation accounts for 31 percent. Eleven percent of water is used for public supply, and the remaining 9 percent is used for industrial, livestock, aquaculture, mining and rural domestic uses. For details, listen to episode 108 of the USGS Corecast (http://www.usgs.gov/corecast/details.asp?ep=108) or check out the full report (http://water.usgs.gov/watuse/). For more information, contact Susan Hutson at or (901) 246-5330.

Caves Provide Martians (or Scientists) a New Place to Hide

Caves might lie beneath a series of depressions discovered on Mars. These caves could provide shelter for future Mars exploration missions. They could also shed light on whether microbial life forms have ever existed on the "Red Planet." The depressions were detected by the USGS Astrogeology Science Center using high-resolution images conveyed through Mars-orbiting satellites. Scientists believe some of these caves were created from a massive volcano, when solid ceilings of cooled material formed over lava channels during ancient volcanic eruptions. Sections of these ceilings collapsed at some point to form the observed skylight entrances, or caves. For more information, check out http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/article.asp?ID=2330 or contact Glen Cushing at or (928) 556-7201.

Thawing Arctic May Mean More Atmospheric Carbon

One of the world's most important sinks of carbon could start to release its contents into the atmosphere. A new study by the USGS and the University of Alaska at Fairbanks shows that the Arctic has been responsible for up to 25 percent of the earth's carbon sink in recent decades. The carbon enters the Arctic from the atmosphere and is trapped in the permafrost, the frozen layer of soil underneath the land's surface. This layer is an effective carbon sink because the permafrost is too cold to for the carbon to decompose very quickly. However, global warming is causing the permafrost to thaw, exposing the previously frozen soil to decomposition and erosion, and could make the permafrost a source of atmospheric carbon, rather than a sink. For more information, check out http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/article.asp?ID=2326 or contact Dave McGuire at or (907) 474-6242.

Wallboard Woes