United States Geological Survey (USGS)
Servicio Geológico de EE. UU. (USGS)
- Date
- 1879 · confidence high
- Place
- Washington, D.C., United States
- Credited to
- United States Congress; Clarence King (first director)
- Field
- Cosmos & Earth
What it is
Created by Congress in 1879 to unify the geological surveys of the western expeditions (King, Hayden, Wheeler and Powell), with Clarence King as first director. It became the world's largest geological survey and a pioneer of national topographic and geological mapping.
Powell directed it from 1881 and made it a first-rate scientific body; today it runs the national seismic network. Records of 19th-century state surveys (Maclure, etc.) are earlier.
What it led to
- national topographic and geological maps
- monitoring of earthquakes and volcanoes
- assessment of water and mineral resources