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Publications

Products (journal articles, reports, fact sheets) authored by current and past scientists are listed below. Please check the USGS Pubs Warehouse for other USGS publications.

Filter Total Items: 1815

Roles of regional structures and country-rock facies in defining mineral belts in central Idaho mineral province with detail for Yellow Pine and Thunder Mountain mining districts

The central Idaho metallogenic province hosts numerous mineral deposit types. These include Late Cretaceous precious-polymetallic vein deposits, amagmatic Paleocene–Eocene breccia-hosted gold-tungsten-antimony deposits, and Eocene mercury deposits in metasedimentary roof pendants and in Late Cretaceous granitoids. Hot-springs gold deposits in Eocene volcanic rocks are also included in the central
Authors
Karen Lund, John N. Aleinikoff, Christopher Holm-Denoma

Kesem-Kebena-Dulecha study area, Ethiopia

In 1988 and 1989, the Paleoanthropological Inventory of Ethiopia (PIE) field expedition discovered numerous localities of prehistoric significance across Ethiopia (WoldeGabriel et al., 1992). One of the regions surveyed by the Inventory team was the Dulecha administrative district (Gabi Rasu), Afar Zone (Fig. 1). The surveyed area (geographic reference: 9.407° N, 40.057° E) includes the watershed
Authors
W. Henry Gilbert, V.B. Doronichev, L.V. Golovanova, Leah E. Morgan, Luis Nunez, Laura Rodriguez, Nohemi Sala, D. Cusimano, I. de Gaspar, Paul Mazza, N. Garcia

Potassium-39-derived 36Ar production during fission-neutron irradiation and its effect on 40Ar/39Ar ages

Various interference reactions producing unwanted Ar isotopes from K, Ca, Cl and Ar require correction to satisfy the 40Ar/39Ar age equation. Using GEANT4, we design and build a model Cadmium Lined In Core Irradiation Tube (CLICIT) irradiation facility, as used in the Oregon State TRIGA Reactor (OSTR). We illustrate the complexity of the irradiation of geologic samples within this framework and de
Authors
Jack N. Carter, Paul R. Renne, Leah E. Morgan

First observation of the ground-state electron-capture of 40K

Potassium-40 is a widespread, naturally occurring isotope whose radioactivity impacts estimated geological ages spanning billions of years, nuclear structure theory, and subatomic rare-event searches—including those for dark matter and neutrinoless double-beta decay. The decays of this long-lived isotope must be precisely known for its use as a geochronometer, and to account for its presence in lo
Authors
L. Hariasz, M. Stukel, P.C.F. Di Stefano, B.C. Rasco, K.P. Rykaczewski, N.T. Brewer, D.W. Stracener, Y. Liu, Z. Gai, C. Rouleau, J. B. Carter, J. Kostensalo, J. Suhonen, H. Davis, E.D. Lukosi, K.C. Goetz, R.K. Grzywacz, M. Mancuso, F. Petricca, A. Fijalkowska, M. Wolinska-Cichocka, J. Ninkovic, P. Lechner, R.B. Ickert, Leah E. Morgan, P.R. Renne, I. Yavin

Rare 40K decay with implications for fundamental physics and geochronology

Potassium-40 is a widespread, naturally occurring isotope whose radioactivity impacts subatomic rare-event searches, nuclear structure theory, and estimated geological ages. A predicted electron-capture decay directly to the ground state of argon-40 has never been observed. The KDK (potassium decay) collaboration reports strong evidence of this rare decay mode. A blinded analysis reveals a nonzero
Authors
M. Stukel, L. Hariasz, P.C.F. Di Stefano, B.C. Rasco, K.P. Rykaczewski, N.T. Brewer, D.W. Stracener, Y. Liu, Z. Gai, C. Rouleau, J. B. Carter, J. Kostensalo, J. Suhonen, H. Davis, E.D. Lukosi, K.C. Goetz, R.K. Grzywacz, M. Mancuso, F. Petricca, A. Fijalkowska, M. Wolinska-Cichocka, J. Ninkovic, P. Lechner, R.B. Ickert, Leah E. Morgan, P.R. Renne, I. Yavin

Hyperspectral cathodoluminescence and quantitative EPMA mapping of angrite northwest Africa 15507

Angrite meteorites represent alkali depleted planetary crust of basaltic composition, and have both plutonic and volcanic lithologies. NWA 15507 is a microgabbroic specimen (mean grainsize ~1.4 mm) composed predominantly of zoned Al-Ti-augite, Ca-bearing olivine and anorthite together with accessory kirschsteinite, rhönite, hercynite, low-Ni kamacite, merrillite, magnetite and troilite. Upon ini
Authors
Heather A. Lowers, Jay Michael Thompson, Paul K. Carpenter, Zoe Wilbur, Anthony Irving

Compressional-wave seismic velocity, bulk density, and their empirical relations for geophysical modeling of the Midcontinent Rift System in the Lake Superior region

Compressional-wave seismic velocity (velocity) and bulk density (density) data were compiled from published sources for rock suites and earth materials that are significant for geophysical modeling of the Mesoproterozoic Midcontinent Rift System in the Lake Superior region. The data include laboratory measurements of outcrop and drill core samples, seismic refraction studies, and a sonic log from
Authors
V. J. S. Grauch

Automated georeferencing and feature extraction of geologic maps and mineral sites

The predictive power of mineral prospectivity analysis depends on high quality, spatially accurate, analysis-ready datasets. Of paramount importance are geologic maps and mineral site data, but the state of readiness for utilizing these datasets remains sub-optimal for advanced computational techniques. As the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) fulfils its mission to map the distribution of critical mi
Authors
Graham W. Lederer, Joshua Mark Rosera, Margaret A. Goldman, Garth E. Graham, Asitang Mishra, Amanda Towler, Brian Wilson, Dustin Graf, Michael Milano, Elizabeth Roberts, Gabrielle Hedrick, Carsten Oertel, Anastassios Dardas, Thomas McEntee

Constraints on near-ridge magmatism using 40Ar/39Ar geochronology of enriched MORB from the 8°20' N seamount chain

Our understanding of the spatial-temporal-compositional relationships between off-axis magmatism and mid-ocean ridge spreading centers is limited. Determining the 40Ar/39Ar ages of mid-ocean ridge basalt (MORB) lavas erupting near mid-ocean ridges (MOR) has been a challenge due to the characteristically low K2O contents in incompatible element-depleted normal MORB (NMORB). High-precision 40Ar/39Ar
Authors
Molly Anderson, Michael Perfit, Leah E. Morgan, Daniel Fornari, Michael A. Cosca, V. Dorsey Wanless

U.S. Geological Survey Rocky Mountain Region 2022 science exchange, showcasing interdisciplinary and state-of-the-art USGS science

IntroductionThe Rocky Mountains and the Colorado River Basin in the Western United States represent complex, interconnected systems that sustain a number of species, including tens of millions of humans. These systems face several challenges, including worsening drought, altered wildfire regimes, climate change, and the spread of invasive species. These factors can exacerbate one another, further
Authors
Dana E. Peterson, Katherine L. French, Jeannette H. Oden, Patrick J. Anderson, Timothy N. Titus, Katharine G. Dahm, Jessica M. Driscoll, William J. Andrews

Monazite and xenotime petrochronologic constraints on four Proterozoic tectonic episodes and ca. 1705 Ma age of the Uncompahgre Formation, southwestern Colorado, USA

The Proterozoic tectonic evolution of the south-western USA remains incompletely understood due to limited constraints on the timing and conditions of the tectono-metamorphic phases and depositional age of metasedimentary successions. We integrated multi-scale compositional mapping, petrologic modeling, and in situ geochronology to constrain pressure-temperature-time paths from samples of Paleopro
Authors
Ian William Hillenbrand, Michael L. Williams, Karl E. Karlstrom, Amy K. Gilmer, Heather A. Lowers, Michael J. Jercinovic, Kaitlyn Suarez, Amanda (Kate) Souders

The March 1940 superstorm: Geoelectromagnetic hazards and impacts on American communication and power systems

An analysis is made of geophysical records of the 24 March 1940, magnetic storm and related reports of interference on long-line communication and power systems across the contiguous United States and, to a lesser extent, Canada. Most long-line system interference occurred during local daytime, after the second of two storm sudden commencements and during the early part of the storm's main phase.
Authors
Jeffrey J. Love, E. Joshua Rigler, Michael D Hartinger, Greg M. Lucas, Anna Kelbert, Paul A. Bedrosian